Microsoft Makes Retail Versions Of Office Single Install
from the pushing-customers-away dept
Microsoft, long-standing hater of piracy, appears to have decided to step up their targeting system to place their own customers directly in their crosshairs. Your immediate reaction may be to blast the previous sentence as hyperbole, but you would be wrong to do so. Nothing else can explain what they are doing with their Microsoft Office 2013 retail software, which is to make it a single install license that is forever tied to one machine.With the launch of Office 2013 Microsoft has seen fit to upgrade the terms of the license agreement, and it's not in favor of the end user. It seems installing a copy of the latest version of Microsoft's Office suite of apps ties it to a single machine. For life.For those of you who might not know, this is a completely new way of handling retail versions of Microsoft Office. Previous iterations still limited installs to a single user, but you had the ability to put the software on multiple machines. The reason that's necessary should be obvious, in how common it is for users within homes and offices to switch to new computers over a 3 or 4 year timespan. Most companies have a rotation process that could be murdered by this, assuming all of their users don't need the same version of Office (there are 3 different flavors), not to mention what happens when the PC you've had for two years does the system board dance of death, forcing you to replace it. In either scenario, retail buyers get to buy a whole new boxed product of Office, which costs anywhere between $100 and $400, again depending on the version. All of this, by the way, has been confirmed by Adam Turner of The Age.
What does that mean in real terms? It means if your machine dies or you upgrade to a new computer you cannot take a copy of Office 2013 with you to new hardware. You will need to purchase another copy, which again will be tied to the machine it is installed upon forever.
Now, I realize not everyone works for a reseller like I do, so let me explain why this will universally piss everyone off and drive customers away from Microsoft Office entirely. We already mentioned the problems for the user above. In addition, while most sizeable companies traditionally have gone the Open Licensing route (which doesn't have install restrictions), small businesses often don't. Those small businesses number in the too-many-to-accurately-assess-ions, which means that instead of moving towards licensing or Office 365 (the likely goal of Microsoft) many customers may begin to explore alternatives, such as Google Docs, Open Office, and Libre Office. Not only would that cut into Microsoft's market share, but it could open a lot of eyes to those alternatives universally, which may then represent a threat to Microsoft's enterprise customers. I wouldn't suggest that most or even many larger companies would switch to one of the other suites, but market share certainly matters.
So, way to go Microsoft. You've made one of your most popular products more expensive and less useful at the same time, all because you want to push customers to Office 365. Which, were it compelling on its own merits, customers would be doing anyway.
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Filed Under: microsoft office, single install
Companies: microsoft
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Silver lining?...
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Re: Silver lining?...
Good thing I haven't been running Windoze in a couple years (except, unfortunately as a virtual machine at work, but they paid for it.) I still have a couple virtual XP machines for the games that won't run under Wine, but that is becoming much less of an issue since most of the GoG games have Wine profiles. I'd fix this to say Microsoft sucks so very very much in so many many many ways. When I was running Windows, it seemed like I was always running into trouble with activation...I'd replace a couple parts and the OS would have me call Microsoft for a code to activate the system, even though it was running on the same processor. The tech support guys from India would usually chastise me about running it on another machine, but they'd usually give me the code. After switching to virtualization, never had a problem with activation again even when it was running on different hardware.
I actually had a coworker looking into buying a Mint Box because he wants to move away from Windows. This is a die-hard MCSE.
It is nice to see that Microsoft is continuing their drug dealer model...the first hit is free, but then you'll pay more and more for it each time.
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Re: Re: Silver lining?...
I've been moving away from Windows for 3 years now, and I've been a diehard Microsoft fan since DOS 3.2.
Let's face it: their products are atrocious. First they shove the ribbon down everyone's throat, alienating their expert user-base. Then they change their desktop, alienating their general user base. Now they've created the most fugly IDE since Windows 2.0 (monochrome) and alenated their developers.
I read a blog from one of their testers, and he was conviced that Microsoft was doing the right thing: after all, Henry Ford only offered his cars in black, right?
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Re: Re: Re: Silver lining?...
I believe for him, it was Windows Server 2012 with touchscreen support on a Server. "Touchscreens do not belong on a server." I, of course, agree...though I'd go one step further and say that any GUI doesn't belong on a server. My servers use a serial interface at home...
I read a blog from one of their testers, and he was conviced that Microsoft was doing the right thing: after all, Henry Ford only offered his cars in black, right?
I don't have a problem with Microsoft consolidating their builds to a single build. My problem is that they don't give you the option of turning off the parts of their UI which aren't necessary and get in the way. The original UI is still there, and pressing a key gets you to them (and a registry change disables the new UI entirely.) It should be an option in control panel. Same with the darn ribbon, which added far more workload to my job since I was used to using the Alt-keys to bring up the menus I wanted. Of course, have none of those problems under Linux/LibreOffice.
I like the car analogy as well, though I'd go one step further and say it wasn't Ford only offering cars in black, but modifying the car design so that the driver faced backwards when driving on an ejection seat that would trigger whenever anyone other than the driver tried to start the car.
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Who Cares?
www.libreoffice.org/
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Re: Who Cares?
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Re: Who Cares?
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Re: Who Cares?
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Re: Who Cares?
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Re: Who Cares?
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Re: Re: Who Cares?
"Email our webmaster if you need a printed CD/DVD version of the current LibreOffice install files for your use or for a business. We are working on a print-on-demand service so anyone may order a professionally made version of our North American Community DVD."
http://libreoffice-na.us/
Open Office: http://www.openoffice.org/distribution/cdrom/sellers.html
You can also get OO over bittorrent which may work better on a slow connection (if you're really patient). The same may be true of libre office.
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Re: Who Cares?
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Won't Impact Companies
But this change? Won't affect much for companies. Just home users.
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Re: Won't Impact Companies
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Re: Re: Won't Impact Companies
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Re: Re: Re: Won't Impact Companies
It'll be a couple of years before those companies start having major problems with this version of Office, and then it will be interesting to see which route this forces people down - will it be volume licencing, a competitor or simply piracy? The first court case for the latter would be interesting - after all, what better defence for piracy can there be than "I paid for the software"? Yes, troll brigade, I know that's still a violation of the licence, but your endless battle against "piracy" is now reduced to an attempt to fleece the people still paying. The real pirates are already using this version of Office with no danger of facing any of the problems that await paying users. This, believe it or not, is a major problem.
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Re: Re: Re: Won't Impact Companies
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Won't Impact Companies
Sorry sir, but I believe you have him mistaken for someone else.
I do believe, however, that he has a problem with people jamming up his radar and sending him the raspberries.
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Re: Re: Won't Impact Companies
Installed it...didn't like it...back to Office 2010 ...which also cost $1o back a few years ago....
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Re: Won't Impact Companies
Enterprise agreements cost a lot of money to get into I initially so most small businesses do NOT have per user license agreements with microsoft. Even at 50 users a small business is looking at over $25k just to get office licensed.
This will hurt the small business most since they home users have a much easier transition. To an alternative such as Google docs than a small business of 10 users that don't have a full IT employee to help novices deal with changing software.
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Microsoft on a roll
Not only are they pissing off their business clients by forcing them into bad deals, but their gaming sector is pulling the same shenanigans in not allowing used games onto their console.
Fine if you think that every new download is a sale, but the truth us, you've lost the piracy wars if you think only of protecting your former markets. Microsoft isn't expanding their markets and is inviting me competition to come in and destroy their business models.
It's a great way to show how vulnerable their positions are truly becoming in the digital age.
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Microsoft is pushing the '365 version of Office. It has an annual license fee that will include free upgrades to future versions of office (as long as you keep buying annual licenses). 365 also allows installations on up to 5 computers. Microsoft has made it pretty clear that traditional Office 2013 users will be stuck with what they get out of the box forever except for maintenance patches; no new features for 2013 users. Ever.
Annual licensing appeals to large businesses, but as a general rule small businesses and individuals hate it. Can you buy stock in BSA? (and I don't mean Boy Scouts of America) I have a feeling that piracy of Office 2013 will be rampant, so the BSA might have a great future.
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1. Paying customers.
How long do we expect until it's cracked this time?
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Re:
http://thepiratebay.se/search/office%202013/0/99/0
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Re: Re:
Being a pirate is alright to be!
Do what you want 'cause a pirate is free,
You are a pirate!
Arr yarr, ahoy and avast,
dinky-dink-dink-a-dinkadefast!
Hang the black flag
At the end of the mast!
You are a pirate!
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Re: Re:
How fast they break the DRM makes M$ look like they have 1st year code kiddies writing the security system... sad ... really sad.
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Re:
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Office 365?
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What's the practical definition of "new computer"?
What, if any, upgrades to my machine will Microsoft permit?
("Of course it's the same computer -- it's only had 3 new hard drives, 4 new power supplies, 2 new motherboards, and 3 new graphics cards. And the case is identical!")
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Re: What's the practical definition of "new computer"?
You might get away with it if you replace like-for-like in the event of a failure. But this isn't what the author is getting at.
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Feedback
On to the article:
It will be cracked. I will then use the cracked version, or move on to open office. Dumbest move ever.
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Re: Feedback
Don't hate on the disruptive new style mannnn
Yeah, I'm not liking it terribly much either. Is it really so hard to scroll?
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If they're doing this for MS Office...
As the Zen Master says, "We'll see."
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- Windows 8 and its not-a-tablet-and-not-a-desktop interface.
- Trying to force an app store model onto a general purpose computing platform.
- No used games on Xbox 720.
- One-time-only Office installation.
Ballmer sure seems intent upon driving Microsoft into the ground, doesn't he?
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Re: Ballmer
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Re: Re: Ballmer
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Corel needs to get WordPerfect competitive
Corel needs to somehow make their office package more visible. And the price must be competitive with the various MS Office packages. The Home and Student edition is $100 on Corel's site.
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Re: Corel needs to get WordPerfect competitive
I am not saying the suite is bad or anything, but quality is seldom the most important feature of a suite. Flexibility and use are.
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Re: Corel needs to get WordPerfect competitive
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This is completely wrong. What this means IN REAL TERMS, is that users will download a cracked version of office from the pirate bay when their legit version fails to function on a new machine.
Or jump ship and use a FOSS alternative.
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As far as I am concerned, M$ Office isn't a product to use, it's a product to avoid at all costs. With this move by M$ I see a lot of people will be joining me on Open Office.
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Re:
I have not seen a compelling reason to buy or rent Office 2013 for me and I doubt I am unique.
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Most individuals
In addition to the above mentioned options.
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The trend in software for years now has been to migrate to a 'lease' where they are guaranteed yearly income for the software. Microsoft started this with Software Assurance and this is just the next logical step.
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A single machine install IS NOT going to apply for a pirated copy. Do they seriously think the people cracking software are just a bunch of morons tucked away in grandmas basement? Plenty of the people doing this are more knowledgeable on the subject of code than most software manufacturers.
What they're doing is wrong of course but they still deserve recognition for the genius behind their work. Even if it is wrong you cannot deny the fact that some of the methods they come up with are pretty goddamn impressive.
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Just use Libre Office
That way everybody is a winner. Microsoft's software doesn't get pirated and users get to use their software as they see fit and save £100 or so into the bargain.
Even more shocking than this policy of Microsoft's is how EMC licences Captiva. They do it "per image captured". When you reach your pre-paid level of images you can't scan any more until you buy a new licence package.
Imagine if Microsoft charged per Word document? Perhaps by page produced in Word? Or even per word typed in Word?
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Re: Just use Libre Office
No, wait go ahead.
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There is no comparison
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Re: There is no comparison
I haven't used MS Office since the 2007 version I think, I use OpenOffice instead, and I haven't even been remotely tempted to buy a copy of MS Office. I don't know how spectacularly awesome 2013 is but I'm not interested in spending a bunch of money on it.
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Re: There is no comparison
least not yet).
Are they "good enough" for many many many users? Yes.
Are they a better value for the price?
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Re: There is no comparison
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Re: There is no comparison
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Mindless marketing regurgitation
The vast majority of people simply don't need Microsoft's brand of Word Perfect style overkill. Never did.
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Is MS Office even worth stealing anymore?
Haven't used MS Office in my business for over 10 years. It's a waste of money to buy, and a waste of time to pirate.
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Oh wait, I use ***LIBREOFFICE!***
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LibreOffice is awesome and free
http://www.libreoffice.org/
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Re: LibreOffice is awesome and free
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Just another screw up...
What a pain, especially the online activation doesn't always work!
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This is the Age again making a complete stuffit and totally misunderstanding the actual terminology used in the licenses. Though a fair amount of blame should be on the ambiguous wording of the EULA by Microsoft too.
Also this is the Australian License only they are blathering about and not USA (or elsewhere).
Ok. As per the license:
This means in Plain English.
You can ONLY have the retail copy on ONE device at a time instead of the old way of being able to have separate copies on separate AND different device types ie: laptop, PC, tablet and NOT two Desktop PC's
So what they mean is if you have a laptop, and a Desktop PC, and/or tablet or any combination that you need to purchase a separate licence for EACH device. This is not unusual and at the cost of the OEM and Retail products now in Home usage (remembering that most homes use the students version which is cheap anyway) quite reasonable.
As for the "cannot transfer to another machine" that the Age is pushing, that is totally wrong in so many way and is absolutely NOT what the license says.
What it says is that if you want to use the license on a device REMOVE it from another device. Though if it is an OEM license it resides (as it always has) with the machine itself (though HDD's and CPU's could be changed etc if repaired.. like in Windows license) and cannot ever be separated and sent to another unique machine. OEM has always stated that. The Retail licence DOESN'T!
I can't believe I'm defending Microsoft, though knowing the Age and how Adam Turner never contacted an actual solicitor who know as about Australian Law and just relied on the PR department of Microsoft and wanted to spread FUD I can understand why I am defending them.
Not your Fault Tim, you have just believed some 'reporter' from Australia who has taken it upon themselves to spread FUD without legal or otherwise basis for the 'story'
Oh and Adam if you are reading this, did you actually pass this story by someone like Asher Moses? hmmm?
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Re:
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Re:
what happens if/when the motherboard/cpu/hdd dies and you have to replace the whole computer?
or what if (..insert any number of sudden device unavailable scenarios here..)
result = you're screwed
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Re: Re:
If on the other hand it is a retail version then the license is transferable over to the new machine (even though there is no actual physical movement other than HDD maybe) and Microsoft WILL honour it under Australian law.
There is NOWHERE in the license for retail products that state it is non-transferable, and under both Aust "Consumer and Competition" Law and Contract law this is impermissible.
Again if this comes into the USA, dunno.. your consumer laws are basically non existent so I cannot give a qualified answer, though just looking at the license this does not in any way suggest this would be problematic as the referenced article (from the Age newspaper) states it would be.
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You can install it, in a virtual machine that will always be the same machine, and the TOS says explicitly that you are entitle for one copy per device, since it is virtual, you can have as many copies as you like since the device can be replicated without problems. doubt? take a look at the MESS, which people dump hardware components and catalog them, with the added bonus that they actually work (for those who need a frontend GUI try using QMC2. It is also worth mentioning that virtual machines are all the rage right now and if you want to experiment with one you can use Qemu.
- Now if you don't want the hassle, just install any of the hundreds of open source Office like projects that exist today not to mention the paid ones that also exist by the dozen.
https://www.linux.com/news/software/applications/699387-the-state-of-open-source-office-so ftware
https://www.pcworld.com/article/2010005/5-free-open-source-alternatives-to-microsoft-offic e.html
http://www.junauza.com/2010/06/10-best-free-alternatives-to-microsoft.html
I don't use those things, I only use Gnumeric for spreadsheets and Gedit for text editing, but others are others and have different priorities.
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That with that horrible metro interface may help taking M$ out of the lead and developers actually focus on open platforms.
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Re:
Libre/Open Office have no problem opening docx/xlsx files. I do it all the time at work (the only reason I run Windows on a virtual machine tends to be because of IE only web-apps, and LibreOffice cracked the docx/xlsx nut a while ago. I haven't had any problems with people complaining about me corrupting their documents lately (with doc, every once in a while someone would complain.)
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This is exactly why
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This is like the 5th place I've seen this story and I really wish people who do a little fact checking before they regurgitate incorrect information. Perhaps try contacting MS before running with a story that's already been debunked everywhere it's posted.
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Re:
...and if you can't uninstall it for whatever reason? (e.g. laptop stolen, hard drive or other hardware failure leading to replacing the machine, etc.)? There's a hundred things that could happen that would mean that a person is unable to uninstall before they need to install the software on a new machine.
"People abused that, so they've lowered the retail price and removed that option - perfectly fair."
Not really. It's going to cause a lot of headaches for people who don't know about this story, for years to come, and the ultimate answer to anyone legitimately having problems with their single install they're trying to use correctly is "you have to pay more money".
If they're finding that customers (most of them likely small business of home users who don't understand the licencing conditions) are regularly violating the conditions, they have fair ways to deal with that. They could adjust their licencing model to fit this reality, or make a 2 client setup the norm - with perhaps the option to downgrade to the single machine option for a refund if the customer agrees to that new term. They could build the software in a way that informs people trying to install on a 2nd machine that they can't do that, rather than simply block them - maybe build in a trial period as per a downloadable demo before blocking a reinstall to mitigate abuse.
There are many ways to deal with this situation which doesn't risk penalising legitimate users yet again - and the hilarity of this is that it's just more likely to drive people to competitors or piracy than suddenly make people buy 2 licences of Office.
There's also the question of what constitutes a "machine". If the motherboard dies and I have to replace several major components, is that going to trigger the licencing mechanism to think it's a different PC?
"This is like the 5th place I've seen this story and I really wish people who do a little fact checking before they regurgitate incorrect information."
Perhaps you'd like to provide links or at least address the many things your explanation has omitted, because you're not actually addressing the concerns people have - many of them already noted above. You're only addressing one possible scenario - where people can uninstall before a new install is necessary. There are many other scenarios.
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Two words
Just get it, install it everywhere, and remove this Microsoft malware from your computers.
LibreOffice works well enough that most people will not miss Office.
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Steam Games Discount :D
die Micro$oft and your UEFI
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Those Free programs are good for the purpose they offer, compared to Office they are jus trash.
Google docs is the best alternative.
Office 2013 tied to 1 Machine is a shitty thing to do MS, you guys are screwing around, fuck yourself.
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Heil Balmer!
Microsoft products didn't particularly impress me then either.
The competitors were different but the FUD was the same.
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Re:
After a year, I was only on my 20th 'trial' as I just left the program running (only power failures, and forced re-boots triggered a new 'trial').
Yes I'm sure users would accept a 'Can only be run X number of times' but it would be cracked before anyone hit X....
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Microsoft is bent on losing individual users
Small companies would either explore going to free alternatives or sign up to Office 365 suite which is priced attractively enough to justify the annual subscription cost.
Individual users though are left in the dust with this latest revision to licensing terms. Paying $100 every year for Office 365 is just too cost prohibitive for them and most would prefer to either continue using their older version of MS Office or explore alternatives. This may actually have a compounding effect for Microsoft. Since having MS Office traditionally is one of the biggest reasons home users buy Windows-based computers, this new change would allow them to reevaluate their decision and simply skip the next purchase of the new PC or laptop and go either Apple or Google direction. A drop in sales numbers of PCs would hurt Microsoft stock hugely as it will be perceived (rightfully so) as a long-term weakness by the market.
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Re: Microsoft is bent on losing individual users
I disagree. Both Libre Office and Open Office have spreadsheet programs. Spreadsheet programs have changed very little since Lotus 1-2-3. Any data handling program I've run across since the 80's has, at the very least, the capability to produce CSV (comma separated values) files that any spreadsheet can read or write.
Now if you are talking about automated conversions through VBA or something like that, then yeah that's a bit tougher to do without MS. But remember, Microsoft doesn't guarantee that any of that stuff will remain compatible in future versions, so it's a crap shoot anyways.
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Re: Microsoft is bent on losing individual users
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Luckily, I had taken advantage of the Media Center for free add-on they were having (which ended last month). Had the Serial for that, which was valid. Or so I thought.
Installed Windows 8 Pro, added the Media Center add-on to it (which requires a valid Serial). Installed and restarted fine. Next day at boot, get hit with the "Windows not activated" message. I activate it, get hit with "Sorry, this license is already activated elsewhere. Please enter another license."
Basically screwed. It still works fine, just that message coming up randomly is annoying as heck. And I can't deactivate the license from the "other computer" because I had to wipe everything originally on the same computer I was attempting to activate it on after the reinstall.
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DIE Microsoft DIE!!!
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it all depends on the price
If you want a version that you can install on multiple computers, then you should pay more -- you should probably pay about what MS now charges, or maybe a little less.
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It's funny to see MS ad along the post :D
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Way to go Microsoft, you really know how to punish your genuine paying customers.
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