Office 2013 retail is tied to 1 machine forever

[Ray8]

No one is really running vista these days as even Windows 8 is slowing encroaching on that marketshare.

I guess all these people are nobodies:

Happy 5th birthday Windows Vista

 

[pparks1]

My wife is running Vista on her laptop. It has run fine and wasn't worth spending money to upgrade. Won't upgrade this machine ever. Will simply use it until it dies and then replace it.

Still got quite a number of people on Vista at the office too..although we have an enterprise agreement allowing office..so that is a non issue.

 

[Wynona]

Everything you say is true, Robot. However, there are some of us who just do not want to go that route. Here's why I don't.

1. By now, I'm pretty familiar with Office 2010 and truly don't have a reason to upgrade. (I did beta test Office 2013, and just don't care for it all that much.)
2. I have enough Office 2010 legit copies to cover my five computers.
3. I was in on SkyDrive when it was 7 gigs for free. When it went commercial, I was offered and accepted 25 gigs for free.
4. With the ribbon, the learning curve for each new version of Office will be pretty steep for some.
5. My savings? Hmmmm, you're good at the math, so you do it.

And those are only my reasons. I don't speak for anyone else at all. As I said in the beginning, I agree with you and would certainly take the Office 365 option if I wanted to upgrade.

 

[jeffrys]

Well i like Office 2013, which is an improvement over previous versions.

I like it when i can open 3 of 4 Excel docu's all in a different window, simply because that way i make less mistakes, saving a doc with the wrong, thus overwriting another doc.

But it is true...it seems we will be paying and paying Microsoft more and more every year.

Jeff

 

[Tepid]

If you do the math,, no, you are not paying more and more, you are actually paying less.
Even if it is on one PC for the Office 365 subscription, it's works out to being cheaper if they upgrade it each year with new features ala Blue, this is still up in the air as no info has been released about it officially.

Again,,, Retail 400$+ right now, or,,, $400 over 4 years.
If a new release is out every 3 years, it's actually 300$. per release
But not everyone has only one PC, so, the more you install it on, the cheaper it is.

So,
$400 x 5 = $2000
or
$100 / 5 = $20

Basic math is fun

 

[Ray8]

If you do the math,, no, you are not paying more and more, you are actually paying less.
Even if it is on one PC for the Office 365 subscription, it's works out to being cheaper if they upgrade it each year with new features ala Blue, this is still up in the air as no info has been released about it officially.

Again,,, Retail 400$+ right now, or,,, $400 over 4 years.
If a new release is out every 3 years, it's actually 300$. per release
But not everyone has only one PC, so, the more you install it on, the cheaper it is.

So,
$400 x 5 = $2000
or
$100 / 5 = $20

Basic math is fun

What happens if you decide not to keep subscribing to Office after the first, second or third year (or any year), will Office 365 stop working?

 

[Wynona]

What happens if you decide not to keep subscribing to Office after the first, second or third year (or any year), will Office 365 stop working?

Yup. Just like a magazine subscription, when you stop paying, the magazine stops coming.

The difference is that you can still read the "old" magazines you've already gotten, but my bet says you won't be able to continue using the "old" version of Office.

Which brings up another question . . . will you be able to read your files in one of the free Office-type programs when Office 365 stops working?

Oh, my! You get a subscription to SkyDrive where your files will reside . . . which will most likely terminate with your subscription to Office. Oops!

Somebody help! I need to stop my overactive imagination. Or is it overactive at all?

 

[pparks1]

What happens if you decide not to keep subscribing to Office after the first, second or third year (or any year), will Office 365 stop working?

The software goes into read only mode.


For some people, Office 365 will make no sense at all. And Microsoft still sells standalone copies of this software for this very reason. For others, Office 365 can save them money. You have to evaluate and do what is best.

Anybody ever take up a "utility" company on a budget plan. Instead of paying for what you actually use, you pay a monthly fee that is the same from month to month. It's a subscription more or less based on your usage. In some months, you spend less than you might if you paid for exactly what you used. In other months, you spend more when your usage is lower.

 

[Coke Robot]

Everything you say is true, Robot. However, there are some of us who just do not want to go that route. Here's why I don't.

1. By now, I'm pretty familiar with Office 2010 and truly don't have a reason to upgrade. (I did beta test Office 2013, and just don't care for it all that much.)
2. I have enough Office 2010 legit copies to cover my five computers.
3. I was in on SkyDrive when it was 7 gigs for free. When it went commercial, I was offered and accepted 25 gigs for free.
4. With the ribbon, the learning curve for each new version of Office will be pretty steep for some.
5. My savings? Hmmmm, you're good at the math, so you do it.

And those are only my reasons. I don't speak for anyone else at all. As I said in the beginning, I agree with you and would certainly take the Office 365 option if I wanted to upgrade.

I know. I'm speaking to the general audience the cost and other benefits of Office 365 over the plain 2013.

The ribbon in 2013 is just the same as in 2010, the only thing so far that's really different is the Backstage view, or in 2013 referred to as the Start Screen.

 

[Coke Robot]

What happens if you decide not to keep subscribing to Office after the first, second or third year (or any year), will Office 365 stop working?

The software goes into read only mode.


For some people, Office 365 will make no sense at all. And Microsoft still sells standalone copies of this software for this very reason. For others, Office 365 can save them money. You have to evaluate and do what is best.

Anybody ever take up a "utility" company on a budget plan. Instead of paying for what you actually use, you pay a monthly fee that is the same from month to month. It's a subscription more or less based on your usage. In some months, you spend less than you might if you paid for exactly what you used. In other months, you spend more when your usage is lower.

You have a 30 day grace period to get your copy going again. THEN, it goes into read only mode, basically like how some preinstalled trials of Office worked.

But if you have the choice to pay 10 dollars one month to use it, then again three years later. But still, 365 still seems to be better cost effective wise as by then, you can upgrade to Office 2016 for free over 2013. Pick and choose basically.

The comparison I make here is a contract cell phone plan over prepaid. With contracted plans, you pay a certain amount and the same amount every month. It's generally pretty steep if you're on an individual account, and you will get overages on data if you go overboard. On prepaid, you pay literally whatever per month, and when you feel like it. By the end, it ends up being far less than using a contract plan.

 

[Coke Robot]

Well i like Office 2013, which is an improvement over previous versions.

I like it when i can open 3 of 4 Excel docu's all in a different window, simply because that way i make less mistakes, saving a doc with the wrong, thus overwriting another doc.

But it is true...it seems we will be paying and paying Microsoft more and more every year.

Jeff

Flash fill in Excel 2013 has like, revolutionized my life. I input the same data over and over and Excel will do it for me after a keystroke or two. Pretty neat!

I think there is also better table resizing, which again, is freaking awesome for me.

 

[Tepid]

Oh, my! You get a subscription to SkyDrive where your files will reside . . . which will most likely terminate with your subscription to Office. Oops!

This is some serious FUD here. You do not have to and are not REQUIRED to save anything to Skydrive.
You can save everything to your Hard Drive

If you let your account lapse, yes, you may lose everything on Skydrive.

You know what they say about Data, Back it up or lose it.

 

[JamesF]

Back to the Thread Topic

Microsoft has changed the license agreement for Office 2013 due to user complaints (and common sense, if not legal issues).

see: Office News - Office 2013 now transferable

James

 

[Wynona]

Oh, my! You get a subscription to SkyDrive where your files will reside . . . which will most likely terminate with your subscription to Office. Oops!

This is some serious FUD here. You do not have to and are not REQUIRED to save anything to Skydrive.
You can save everything to your Hard Drive

If you let your account lapse, yes, you may lose everything on Skydrive.

You know what they say about Data, Back it up or lose it.

Good to know, although I will never use Office 365 in the cloud. I have a permanent SkyDrive account (it came with a beta test), so, rethinking things, I'm not sure I would lose anything I did on Office 365. Still, I am perfectly happy with Office 2010; there were too many Excel bugs in 2013 when I beta tested, and I'm not sure they're not still there, as they were there just before RTM. And, like I said, I'm not going to use the subscription version of Office.

 

[Wynona]

Microsoft has changed the license agreement for Office 2013 due to user complaints (and common sense, if not legal issues).

see: Office News - Office 2013 now transferable

James

Yeah, I read that awhile back. So, that means I'll be able to use one copy of Office 2013 on one desktop and one laptop?

 

[bobkn]

Microsoft has changed the license agreement for Office 2013 due to user complaints (and common sense, if not legal issues).

see: Office News - Office 2013 now transferable

James

Yeah, I read that awhile back. So, that means I'll be able to use one copy of Office 2013 on one desktop and one laptop?

Nope.

One license per PC, unlike the old license which could be used on 3 PCs at a time. (Office Home & Student, at least.)

You will be able to transfer that license to a new PC, though. Originally, it was intended to be like an OEM copy, not transferrable.