Microsoft Office Student 2010 is now on sale. You can get the cheapest price if you know how to find it. I will show you how to find today's cheapest price.
Why is Microsoft Office so Cheap Now?
The answer is simple. Microsoft makes a new "Office" program around every 3 years (remember Office 2000, 2003, 2007 and now 2010?) I would expect the next one to come out around 2013. Office 2010 will be the "newest" Office for another three years but in 2011 people just won't pay top price anymore for "last year's model" so the stores must lower their prices.
Why buy a Newer Version?
When Office 2010 first came out, many people ran to buy the newest product. People who didn't run to get the new one are perfectly happy with the older versions so sales started going down. You can certainly keep using the older versions for awhile longer.
People buy the new one because:
They actually want some feature of the newer one
While mostly compatible, you may own some program that doesn't work with an older version
They bought a new computer/laptop and want to install Office
What Applications Come With Office 2010 Home & Student?
Office 2010 comes with:
Microsoft Word 2010
Microsoft Excel 2010
Microsoft PowerPoint 2010
Microsoft OneNote 2010
Most of them are "Old", familiar programs complete with new and improved tools and features to help you create, communicate, and stay productive.
Buy Only a Licensed Copy!
I am telling you this as a warning - People try to get away with using their friend's copy, downloading trials and buying "knockoffs". In the end you will be sorry. Microsoft now knows how to control pirate copies and how many copies are made with the same license. In the end you will be sorry.
Now that the price has gone down so much, think of it as just an investment for at least the next 3 years.
Where Do I Get a Good Price Today?
You can spend hours surfing the web and you'll probably end up with nothing (Google returns over one billion sites when you put in "office home and student 2010"!)
I prefer to ask some who's just bought it or look at reliable sites that update their facts very often.