Topband: AutoEZ

[Richard (Rick) Karlquist]

Slightly off topic:

The stumbling block with AutoEZ is that you have to
have a copy of Microsoft Excel, and it has to be
exactly that, not a clone like Open Office or Libre.
I am currently using my office computer at work
for AutoEZ because the IT dept installed Microsoft
Office on it without asking me.  I would like to
get AutoEZ going on my home machines.

In trying to buy Excel, I find that I must pay about as much as
a complete version of Office, because standalone
Excel is about the same price.  AutoEZ supports
old versions of Excel back to 97, but similarly,
I find that I can cannot find an old version for
much less than the latest version.  In some cases,
the older versions cost MORE than the latest one,
which BTW will not run on my XP laptop.

Furthermore, I find that much of what is for sale is
installable on only one machine, and can never be
moved to a new machine, so I get to buy it again when I get a new
laptop.  This is the "product key" version.  The
boxed version is hard to find and expensive.

I have absolutely no use for any aspect of Office
other than to run AutoEZ, so whatever I buy is effectively
added onto the price of AutoEZ for me.

Can anyone point me to an economical solution to
this dilemma?  I suspect many others would also be
interested.  With the latest version of AutoEZ this
becomes more urgent.

Rick N6RK