microsoft MS Office 2013 and MS Office 365

[Guest LilBambi]

Office 2013 retail licensing change ties suite to specific PC forever - computerworld

 

'If your computer dies, so does your Office license,' says licensing guru; move seen as prod to adopt subscription-based Office 365

 

Microsoft yesterday confirmed that a retail copy of Office 2013 is permanently tied to the first PC on which it's installed, preventing customers from deleting the suite from one machine they own and installing it on another.

 

The move is a change from past Office end-user licensing agreements (EULAs), experts said, and is another way Microsoft is pushing customers, especially consumers, to opt for new "rent-not-own" subscription plans.

 

"That's a substantial shift in Microsoft licensing," said Daryl Ullman, co-founder and managing director of the Emerset Consulting Group, which specializes in helping companies negotiate software licensing deals. "Let's be frank. This is not in the consumer's best interest. They're paying more than before, because they're not getting the same benefits as before."

 

BOLD emphasis mine.

[ross549]

This will more likely drive more users to alternative office suites. I wonder how many folks actually have multiple computers in the household? (ourselves not included in this question, because we are abnormal users. )

 

In any case, Office 365 does allow installation on up to 5 machines for 10.00 per month or if paid yearly, 8.00 per month.

 

Plenty of options for those who have unusual situations.

 

Adam

[Guest LilBambi]

This will more likely drive more users to alternative office suites. I wonder how many folks actually have multiple computers in the household? (ourselves not included in this question, because we are abnormal users. )

 

 

Abnormal in these terms is a good thing.

 

 

Here's a quote from ericfredrickson who responded to the ZDNet article by Ed Bott here:

 

My Opinion

 

Let’s look at how this change affects various segments of the market.

 

1. Large Businesses – No change. They already are on a subscription basis, so this means nothing to them.

 

2. Small Businesses – They just got a big price increase. The only reason they use Office is because they need to do business with the big businesses. I have worked at both, and in small businesses the subscription costs don’t make sense. Office is purchased with each PC and used until the computer dies. We may end up going back to the old days of “which computer has Office on in so I can update this spreadsheet and send it back to the customer?”

 

3. Home Users – So what is the real motivation for having Office at home? Children. Most families don’t need Office except for the fact that schools practically require it. So families have been buying the Home and Student version and with 2.x children per family, each kid gets to use it on their own computer. In this day of decreasing purchasing power, do families really need another annual bill just to keep educate their kids? When I taught math in a town with many poor families, parents would not even pay $15 for a calculator. So just like #2 above, its back to “Kenny is hogging the computer Mom and I have my Powerpoint homework to do.” One copy of Office on 1 computer shared by all.

 

4. Work done at Home for your job – If you make a lot of money, you will probably just pay what it costs for the convenience of being able to catch up at home instead of going to work on a Saturday or staying late. If you don’t and you don’t work for Large Businesses, it just won’t happen. Another cost to small businesses.

 

5. School Systems – It used to be that we gave our schools everything they needed to teach. When I taught in that poor town, I had to buy my own board markers, pencils, printed my own tests and quizzes and handouts on a printer I had to buy to do this because the one the school had was so slow and unreliable. This schools system cannot afford to pay an annual fee and now will have to pay more for Office. They run like the small business users and will go back to the “Ok class, we want to see your presentations, so we are going to room X to use the computer with Powerpoint installed.

 

What I believe Microsoft is doing to itself is reducing its future marketshare by reducing the opportunity to train the next potential generation of Office users. Lower income families, businesses, and schools will have reduced opportunity for people of all ages to use Office, which is the only way to learn to use it. The door is open for another company to challenge Office. If you don’t think this is possible ask the companies that made Wordstar, WordPerfect, Lotus 123, etc. what happened when they began to treat their customers like a piece of property.

 

 

ericfredrickson

16 February, 2013 09:50

 

BOLD emphasis mine.

[ross549]

Well, then Microsoft is opening up the market for other players! More competition!

 

Adam

[therock247uk]

/me still prefers the old office versions with out a ribbon!! ie 2003

[ross549]

/me still prefers the old office versions with out a ribbon!! ie 2003

 

It took me a few months to get used to the ribbon. I won't say I like it any more or less than the old menu interface, but it does have some benefits. You get more options on the screen related to what you are doing at the moment.

 

Adam

[mac]

/me still prefers the old office versions with out a ribbon!! ie 2003

 

+1

[zlim]

I installed Ribbon Customizer to Office 2007.

http://word.mvps.org/faqs/customization/customizeribbon.htm

pschmid.net site doesn't seem to load. Patrick Schmid is a OneNote MVP (true in 2007).

[Guest LilBambi]

/me still prefers the old office versions with out a ribbon!! ie 2003

 

Same here! +1

 

As a matter of fact, 2003 is what I still use.

[raymac46]

My son-in-law uses Office 365 in his business. It came in handy when he temporarily needed some more software seats to populate an Access database.

As for me, the last Office I actually bought was Office XP in 2001. Nowadays I find that Libre Office or Open Office are just fine. In fact I could probably do what I need with Google Drive.

Edited February 19, 2013 by raymac46

[ross549]

I just read last night that while you could move a license of Office 2010 to another computer, you could do so even once.

 

Adam

[Guest LilBambi]

So, they saw they got no response to that travesty, so they went the next step to tying it to a single PC. Sigh...

 

I bet folks just didn't realize they changed it with Office 2010. But at least if your computer died you could still move to the new computer at least once. Personally that should never have changed. If you are no longer able to use the software on the computer it was installed on, ie., computer or hard drive fails, you should be able to put it back on the computer or move it to the new computer without limit.

 

Software should be tied to the user/purchaser, not the computer.

 

It's bad enough that OEM manufacturers tie the OS to the computer.

 

/rant off

Edited February 18, 2013 by LilBambi

[Guest LilBambi]

Of course, when they stop updating my Office 2003, I will just move to LibreOffice on that system too as default. I already have LibreOffice installed for database, flowcharts, etc.

 

I use Office 2003 and LibreOffice on my VirtualBox Windows XP Pro.

 

I use LibreOffice on the Mac, on the Windows side of my two older dual boot Windows/Debian laptops. So far I haven't changed from OpenOffice to LibreOffice on Debian since OpenOffice is what is installed and it works fine for my purposes there.

Edited February 18, 2013 by LilBambi

[ross549]

It is an interesting move by Microsoft. There may have not been enough of demand for moving licenses to another computer to justify the infrastructure to support the move. After all, it would be simpler to support a non-moving license tan to have re-activation issues, etc. Once the license is registered to a particular computer, there it stays. A simple way to reduce piracy too......

 

Adam

[Guest LilBambi]

I agree. But the cost of replacing a PC when a new OS comes out will not always be the best way to go as the economy is a moving target. Right now there are some very cheap PCs and laptops and have been for the last couple years, but that was not always the case and will likely change again sometime in the future.

 

When that does happen, their new scheme will be just that, a scheme.

Edited February 18, 2013 by LilBambi

[Guest LilBambi]

Sure. I know they are trying to change things up to meet the new demand. But why do they always seem to push too hard, back off when they get called on it, and then try again and people get tired of complaining. Where have I seen that behavior before?!

 

But they don't need to treat the PC users like red headed step children.

 

A good compromise would have been to make the new rules for Mobile.

Edited February 19, 2013 by LilBambi

[Corrine]

From the Office Blog, Office News - Office 2013 and Office 365 installations and transferability

 

 

 

[ross549]

Interesting. Thanks, Corrine!

 

Adam

[Guest LilBambi]

Yep. Very nice chart.

 

Sad that they slipped that change in to 2010 version too. I know for a fact that some who purchased that version will be mighty surprised if their hard drive fails on their current computer.

 

I would suggest that everyone that happens to call Microsoft and complain.

[goretsky]

Hello,

 

I suspect that anyone who has a system failure and needs to reinstall Microsoft Office 2013 will probably be able to reactivate Office over the phone, just like people currently do with other Microsoft products. It might not be as quick as an online activation, but when I have had to reactivate Windows over the phone in the past, it has taken less than ten minutes.

 

What I think we are seeing here, though, is a part of a larger transition Microsoft has been going through for the last several years, which encompasses cloud-based computing, tablet-style interfaces and the consumerization of IT (e.g., BYOD).

 

Regards,

 

Aryeh Goretsky

[Guest LilBambi]

Likely Aryeh. It is just sad to continually see the tightening of the economic screws in just about every facet from smaller package/can for same money at the grocery store to gas and other fuel costs, etc. and particularly those wanting to exact a monthly toll for software. This could be classed as worse in many respects to the 'rent to own' situation.

 

I think they all think we won't notice or care? Or will be so numb from it all we will just blindly accept it?

 

Sigh...

[ross549]

The Grocery Shrink Ray, as the Consumerist calls it, is a bad thing, because the consumer will not notice it. Cami and I are training ourselves to watch the unit price on the items we buy to make sure we aren't getting fleeced.

 

I am not sure Microsoft is doing this for a nefarious purpose, though. Office 365 spreads the cost out over several years, and there is added value from it. Microsoft may be doing this in part to stabilize their revenue a bit too, keeping the money coming each month instead of once every two or three years. Gives them a bit more to work with on a continuous basis.

 

Also, consider what you get for the price. You have the equivalent of Office Professional with a couple extra features thrown in, You get to install it on up to five computers. In order for the "boxed" version to be cheaper, you'd have to own office 2013 for almost four years (a full four years if you pay by the year), to have the standalone to be worth it. So for Office nerds, it makes perfect sense.

 

For the ultra casual user, Libre Office is the smarter choice. For those who need a full version of office for only a couple months for a project or something, 365 will do the trick nicely.

 

Adam

[Guest LilBambi]

Yep, I go by per unit pricing as well at the grocery for that reason.

 

I hear ya. And believe me where I can, on most all of my computers I am already using free alternatives such as LibreOffice or OpenOffice.org.

[Guest LilBambi]

Microsoft's attempts to clarify Office licensing policies fall short - ZDNet - Ed Bott

 

Summary: Microsoft's new "no transfer" policy for Office 2013 has left some customers asking what happens if the original PC fails and needs replacement. A corporate blog post tries to "add clarity" to the issue, but what the company really needs to do is change the license terms themselves.

 

I totally agree with Ed Bott. ONLY if under Warranty?! How ludicrous is that!?!

 

But there’s an asterisk next to that heading, and a footnote beneath the chart reads: "*An exception is granted when the software is on a PC that is replaced under warranty.”

 

 

Well, that’s reassuring, right?

 

Not exactly.

 

So right Ed!

 

Much more in the article.

[goretsky]

Hello,

 

Microsoft's Software Assurance is actually a pretty good value. One thing most people don't realize is that it can be purchased for as little as five PC's: Software Assurance for Small Business.

 

Regards,

 

Aryeh Goretsky

[Guest LilBambi]

Why Microsoft's pushing Office subscriptions (Computerworld)

 

"Microsoft wants to shift people to subscriptions because you cannot stop paying for a subscription," said Paul DeGroot, principal at Pica Communications, a consulting firm that specializes in deciphering Microsoft's licensing practices. "What they're facing is a lot of Office revenue potentially dropping off the books as customers stick with their perpetual licenses but stop further payments to Software Assurance."

 

 

And this:

 

"A lot of companies are saying, 'I'm not going to renew SA, but I can keep using the software that I've already paid for. And I can save a lot of money,'" said DeGroot. He usually recommends that clients ditch SA for that very reason. "It's just not efficient to pay SA because you're paying twice as much for Office as you need to."

 

 

It's the same reason it's hard to get off the grid. It is really hard to stop paying for monthly fees for electricity, Internet, Phone, natural gas, NYTimes, etc. Paying that rentware fee every month is so much easier than any of the alternatives.

 

It is very similar with software. Especially ubiquitous software like Microsoft Office.

 

Corporations know that once they get you on the hook for subscriptions, it's generally hard for people to change. Most people, but not all. And they don't care. It's kinda like those that don't do facebook. Does facebook care? Not likely, it's no skin off their nose. Not with the billions of users that they already have....

 

It's not till someone and then another and another step up and say, Wait a minute! This is nuts. If they all go to subscription payments, we will have no money to live on eventually ... we will owe our soul to the 'company store' just like those poor folks in the old days in the coal and other types of mines.

 

What did that old song say? A Dollar Down and a Dollar a Week? You can get almost anything you seek for a dollar down and a dollar a week...Ah, here it is. Woody Guthrie tune.

 

Here's Woody's version:

 

 

A Dollar Down and a Dollar a Week Lyrics by Woody Guthrie (1., 2)

 

 

Most of us would likely remember it best from The Limeliters though... I know I remember it best by the Limeliters this version.

 

A Dollar Down and a Dollar a Week done by The Limeliters - Youtube

Edited February 28, 2013 by LilBambi

[therock247uk]

/me stays with office 2010

[Corrine]

Here is another consideration for someone who does not have heavy word processing requirements -- free Office Web Apps from Microsoft. Ed Bott has a writeup here: Are Microsoft's free Office Web Apps good enough for you? | ZDNet. He also compares the free Microsoft Office Web Apps with Google Docs in SkyDrive and Office Web Apps versus Google | ZDNet.

 

I tried it going to Office.com, selected "My Office" located next to the Home link, logged on with my Microsoft Account and clicked Word Document under the Create New heading. Simple.

[Guest LilBambi]

There ya go Corrine! Great idea especially if you need Microsoft Office documents in particular and many of us do; at least part of the time.

[lewmur]

/me stays with office 2010

I haven't upgraded since Office XP!! :clap: