Many sell Licenses Office-2021 very cheaply in online stores. Is the license genuine and usable? To find out, I have tried buying. The license I purchased is Office Professional Plus 2021 for IDR 25,000.
List of contents
Why is it Cheap?
I once read an answer to the question why Office licenses sold on Tokopedia are cheaper. In the answer, it is stated that the reason it is cheap is because the license is idle, unused remaining procurement. Is that true??
Here's the snippet
Read the responses, made me interested in trying and proving whether the license for IDR 25,000 could be activated and was genuine.
Official Office-2021 License Price
Let's see how much the Office-2021 license is sold in the official store. For Office Professional 2021, Microsoft sells on price Rp8,899,999.
Meanwhile on Tokopedia, Official Store Microsoft Authorized menjual Office Home and Student 2021, the cheapest version at a price Rp1.470.000.
Try comparing with other unofficial stores, they sell Office-2021 license prices very cheaply.
The price difference is very big. Initially I was not interested in buying, because the price difference is so big that it makes me think that it doesn't make sense. But after reading the answer to the question above, it piqued my curiosity to buy.
After paying IDR 25,000 with free shipping, a few minutes later I got an email from the seller containing a download link, Office-2021 Pro Plus license code and activation instructions.
I carefully read every instruction. If there is an error, I was asked to open Command Prompt then type some commands.
I think, Why is the activation process so complicated?? Like the codes I've seen in films hacker.
In an email, there is an ip address. After I open it in the browser, I found a website in Mandarin.
Because I do not understand, I translated using Google Translate
It turns out that the website is a KMS server.
KMS at a glance
KMS is a Key Management Server which in general is a server whose function is to store, authenticate and manage the licenses of products registered to the KMS.
KMS uses a client server model for active clients and is used for volume activation. The KMS client connects to the KMS server, called a KMS host, for activation and must be on the local network.
KMS can be used to activate Office products 2016, Office 2019 and Office LTSC 2021.
KMS can activate physical and virtual computers and is valid for as long as 180 day. KMS clients must renew their activation by connecting to the KMS host at least once each 180 day to stay active. For complete documentation on KMS please read here.
The product page I purchased states that the license is for life, but what I got was not as expected. I felt uncomfortable and thought about deleting the 4.8GB application that I had just downloaded, but out of curiosity I decided to install it anyway and follow the activation instructions in the email.
Activation
Activation is the process of validating software and confirming that the product is genuine—not a counterfeit copy—and that the product key or serial number is valid and has not been compromised or revoked. Activation also creates a link or relationship between the product key and a particular installation.
After installing and entering the Office Professional Plus product key 2021, Office activation failed. Office did not accept the product key I entered.
Then I tried to follow the instructions if there was an error, still failed. For a moment it seemed to work, but after I closed it and opened it again, Office keeps asking me to enter the product key.
I tried contacting the seller, The seller is quite responsive in responding to emails. The seller asked me to do this and that and then repeat the steps.
After following the seller's directions, Office displays a warning that I may be a victim of software fraud.
After I closed it then tried to create a new document, under toolbar there is a warning stating that the license is not genuine and bla bla bla. In the warning there are two buttons Get genuine Office and Learn more.
I clicked Learn more, then a web page opens. The page states that the Office products installed on my device are not legitimate and that I may be a victim of software fraud.
Conclusion
So, Have you been able to draw a conclusion whether the Office-2021 license for IDR 25,000 is GENUINE or FAKE??
My conclusion is, Office License 2021 which is sold cheaply for IDR 25,000 on the Marketplace is FAKE because it uses a KMS license. Because Microsoft only sells KMS licenses to organizations that have signed a volume licensing agreement, if you are not a member of that organization, You have no legal right to use the KMS license
Most likely the seller who sells at a very cheap price does not need capital, in other words they don't buy the product. They only sell activation methods via KMS.
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