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https://github.com/gyk4j/o2010s

PowerShell script to download the free Microsoft Office Starter 2010 as a locally-cached copy for reuse or archival
https://github.com/gyk4j/o2010s

autoit downloader microsoft office-2010

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PowerShell script to download the free Microsoft Office Starter 2010 as a locally-cached copy for reuse or archival

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README 

        
# o2010s

PowerShell script to download the free 

[Microsoft Office Starter 2010][msoffice-starter-2010] as a locally-cached copy 

for reuse or archival.



Created after watching 

[CyberCPU Tech: How To Get Legit Microsoft Office For Free][cybercpu] :tv:



[![CyberCPU Tech: How To Get Legit Microsoft Office For Free](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ud0WTQcTgSE/0.jpg)][cybercpu]



Inspired and rewritten from 

[Office Starter 2010 downloader AutoIt script by Jemboy][downloader].



Written for studying [AutoIt][autoit] and practising [PowerShell][pwsh] 

scripting.



# How it works



In [Microsoft's own words][msoffice-starter-2010],



> Microsoft Office Starter 2010 is a simplified, ad-funded version of Microsoft 

> Office 2010 that comes pre-loaded and ready to use on your computer. Office 

> Starter includes the spreadsheet program Microsoft Excel Starter 2010 and the 

> word processing program Microsoft Word Starter 2010.



Microsoft Office Starter 2010 is packaged using the [Microsoft App-V][ms-app-v] 

virtualization technology for downloading and running on-demand without prior 

installation.



`o2010s` is a PowerShell script that downloads the appropriate required files 

for Microsoft Office Starter 2010 to install and run successfully. To do so, it

downloads and parses the App-V's manifest and catalog files in XML format. 



The downloaded files can be archived and preserved as a local copy for future 

reuse.



# Caution



A word of caution against using Microsoft Office 2010 though.



> [!CAUTION]

>

> There is NO REASON to use Microsoft Office 2010 today.

>

> It is a *seriously outdated and unmaintained* software, with no security 

> updates and perhaps plenty of security vulnerabilities ever since 

> [support ended on October 13, 2020][support-end].

> 

> There is a safer yet free alternative available (see recommendations).



# Recommendations



- Use [Microsoft Office Web Apps][office-web-apps] with a 

  [Microsoft account][ms-acct]. They are available for free.

- If Microsoft Office 2010 is used for whatever reason, use it with the 

  following security measures:

  1. Run from within a virtual machine

  2. Without Internet connectivity

  3. With up-to-date anti-virus and anti-malware protection

  4. Open or edit only trusted documents from known sources



# Usage



*o2010s* only requires *PowerShell 3.0* and above.



Windows 10 and 11 come with *PowerShell 5.1* out-of-the-box, so no further 

action is required.



From `PowerShell`



```pwsh

.\o2010s-downloader.ps1

```



From `Command Prompt`



```bat

powershell.exe o2010s-downloader.ps1

```



# Settings and Customizations



There are some variables and constants in the PowerShell script that allow users

to specify custom settings before executing the script. They include:



- `$DEBUG`: Runs in debug mode which simulates and skips downloading files from 

  servers while reusing existing files already on storage. Used only for 

  testing during development only. (default: `false`)

- `$lang`: Downloads the "English-US" version by default. (default: `en-us`)

  Languages still available for download include:

  - ar-sa (Arabic)

  - da-dk (Danish)

  - de-de (German)

  - en-us (English)

  - es-es (Spanish)

  - fr-fr (French)

  - he-il (Hebrew)

  - hi-in (Hindi)

  - it-it (Italian)

  - ja-jp (Japanese)

  - ko-kr (Korean)

  - nl-nl (Dutch)

  - pl-pl (Polish)

  - pt-br (Portuguese)

  - ru-ru (Russian)

  - sv-se (Swedish)

  - th-th (Thai)

  - zh-cn (Chinese Simplified)

  - zh-tw (Chinese Traditional)



[msoffice-starter-2010]: https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/office/getting-started-with-office-starter-379fba5a-6d82-4e19-aa2e-d41627f5ea5e

[downloader]: https://www.autoitscript.com/forum/topic/205471-office-2010-starter-downloader/

[autoit]: https://www.autoitscript.com/site/

[pwsh]: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/

[cybercpu]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ud0WTQcTgSE

[ms-app-v]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_App-V

[support-end]: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/end-of-support-for-office-2010-3a3e45de-51ac-4944-b2ba-c2e415432789

[office-web-apps]: https://www.office.com/?ms.officeurl=webapps

[ms-acct]: https://account.microsoft.com/account/Account