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Last year I found a promotion code which entitled me to 50% discount on Microsoft Action Pack (190 instead of 380 euro, excluding VAT). I was not convinced if I should re-enroll (see below why, if you're interested) but with a bit of searching I found that there's again a promotion code around which actually worked. So with again 50% discount I decided to re-enroll.

The code which worked is ACTIONPACKCLOUDFIRST
and otherwise ACTIONPACK2017 may work too. So if any of you wants Action Pack or needs to re-enroll...

Why I hesitated is because the 10 included support incidents, the most valuable part of the Action Pack IMO, turned out to be very poor. Usual reaction was that they simply closed my requests because they were "not the right department". Who was the right department was unclear... But Friday I was finally helped by a lady in Bangalore, India with my VS 2017 problem. From the included software I have only installed Office 2016 because I had some rare occasions with Office 2003 not being able to read XLSX files. Another advantage is that OneNote 2016, which I really like, needs a full Office 2016 to enable saving on your own disk (otherwise it's free, even without any Office license). But for almost anything which I do in Excel and Word, I prefer to open the 2003 version.

For Visual Studio 2017 I installed Community. There's only one thing absent there which is available from VS 2017 Professional and that's CodeLens, which I do have in VS 2015.

Dick

Hi Dick,

thank you very much! I have used the code you gave us last year, and I will use the new one this year.
Personally, I need more the Office and OS that are included in the ActionPack than the support incidents.
Currently, I have only VS 2015 Community installed, and I will keep it until I need VS 2017.
My main work is currently VO and X# using XIDE, and I still use Office 2010 Professional, not because I don't like newer versions, but because Access 2010 is the latest Access version that can open MDB files that are used by a software I need to integrate my own.

Wolfgang

Personally I think the action packs are incredible value.... I've been subscribing for several years now and pay the £300 annual fee with (nearly!) pleasure.

Apart from the Office and Windows licences you get SQL Server licences, windows server and RD clients, and £75 monthly Azure credits.... so for the £300 we pay, we save £900 just on Azure which we would need to use anyway.

Tech support can be a bit labyrinthine, but on the rare occasions I've needed it it has worked, and with phone calls from actual human beings rather than just remote web chats.

My 2 cents

Nick

Hello Nick,

How are you doing - it's been a while!

Objectively speaking, it is true of course, the incredible value. I don't use Azure (I played a bit with it last year and didn't get it to work but as I didn't need it I didn't bother further). Only for some Office and Windows licenses it is of less value, especially when paying full price (a couple of years fees pays the licenses unless you really want Office 2018 at some point in time).

For me the added value were the 10 incidents. Each of the 3 I posted last year earlier took me already several hours of searching a solution in vain. The first one was the impossibility to install any W10 apps (Phone + PC) on my regular account. This was not "officially" solved but the support operator in Spain found a solution: obscure XBox settings (unchanged since August 2015) suddenly prevented app downloads. Te 2nd (Desktop Bridge app didn't work and could not be properly reinstalled) was never attended too and I solved it by a reinstall of Windows using Media Creation Tool. The 3rd was the problem with the VS 2017 installation.

As you say, it's not easy to get the right person and with the 2nd case I've tried almost anything to get the issue attended too. But once that works, it could still be a time saver justifying the costs.

Dick