Welcome to the first edition of the Office Resource Kit Q&A column. This column highlights the benefits that Microsoft® Office XP enterprise editions offer to corporate customers and explains the differences between retail and enterprise versions.

Q: Microsoft Office XP is available in both an enterprise and a retail edition. What's the difference?

A: Enterprise editions of Office XP are designed for corporate customers and include administrative tools and other features not available in the retail edition. For example, if you want to create a custom configuration of Office and deploy it from a network share, you must use an enterprise edition.

Q: What additional features are available only with enterprise editions?

A: The enterprise CD includes Microsoft Office XP Resource Kit documentation and tools. Although all customers can acquire the tools from the Office Resource Kit Web site, the Custom Installation Wizard and Custom Maintenance Wizard work only with an enterprise edition. Enterprise editions include support for the /a (administrative Setup) and /q (quiet installation) command-line options; you cannot run Setup from a retail Office XP CD with either of these command-line options. In addition, enterprise editions come with a Volume License Product Key, which allows you to deploy Office without requiring users to activate the product.

Q: Can I install an enterprise edition with support for multiple languages?

A: Yes. In fact, if you are installing Office Multilingual User Interface Packs (MUI Packs) to multilingual users, then you must use an enterprise edition. Retail editions of Office XP do not include support for MUI Packs.

Q: Which Office XP products are available in an enterprise edition?

A: Microsoft Office XP Professional and Microsoft Office XP Standard are sold in both an enterprise and a retail edition. Microsoft Office XP Professional with FrontPage® is available only in an enterprise edition.

Q: Where can I get an enterprise edition?

A: Enterprise editions are available only through Microsoft's volume licensing programs — they are not sold through retail outlets. When you purchase Office XP though the Open License or Enterprise Agreement program, you receive an Office XP enterprise edition CD. When you participate in the Select program, you receive a Select CD, which includes enterprise editions of all the Office XP products covered by the license. For more information about volume licensing programs, see the Microsoft Microsoft Licensing Web site.

Q: How do I deploy an enterprise edition?

A: You can legally copy and redistribute the Office enterprise edition CD under most volume license agreements. However, many organizations find it more efficient to deploy and maintain Office from a central location on the network. By running Office XP Setup with the /a command-line option, you can create an administrative installation point on a network share. When you create the administrative image, you can accept the end-user license agreement (EULA), supply an organization name, and enter the Volume License Product Key on behalf of all users who will install Office from this location. For more information about deploying Office, see Installing and Customizing Office.

Q: What is different about deploying Office from a Select CD?

A: Because the Select CD may contain multiple Office XP SKUs, the package (MSI file), Setup.exe, and Setup.ini files for each product have unique names. (For example, the files for Office XP Professional are named Pro.msi, Setuppro.exe, and Setuppro.ini.) Each Setup program automatically looks for the corresponding MSI file and INI file. There is no difference in functionality among the Setup programs, but you must reference the correct one on the command line.

Q: When I deploy an enterprise edition, are all the users in my organization required to activate the product?

A: No. Mandatory activation, or registration, is required only when you install Office with a retail product key. When you install an enterprise edition, you can bypass mandatory activation.

Q: How do I avoid mandatory activation when I deploy an enterprise edition?

A: Enterprise editions of Office come with a 25-character Volume License Product Key. If you use this product key when you create the administrative installation point, then users are not required to enter a product key or to activate Office.

Q: What happens if I use the retail product key to install Office throughout my organization?

A: If you enter a retail product key when you create the administrative installation point, then all users who install Office from the network share are required to activate Office. This behavior is new in Office XP.

Q: What happens if I use a Volume License Product Key to install a retail edition of Office?

A: The Volume License Product Key works only with enterprise editions of Office. If you install a retail edition with a Volume License Product Key, the installation completes. However, the first time an Office application starts, the user is prompted for a valid product key. If the user supplies a retail product key, the Office Activation Wizard starts; otherwise, the Office application exits.

The Office Resource Kit Q&A column addresses frequently asked questions received by Microsoft Product Support Services about deploying and maintaining Office XP in an organization.