If you’re surprised by the revelation that the retail editions of Office 2013 will cost more than their predecessors and come with more severe license restrictions, you haven’t been paying attention.
The retail editions of Office 2013 contain fundamental changes that go well beyond simple changes in the license agreement. They fundamentally alter the way we think of desktop software.
Microsoft is in the process of a dramatic transition in its core business, one that I first noted last summer. “Services are the cornerstone of Microsoft’s strategy,†I noted at the time.
The biggest change of all?
You can no longer buy Office, Microsoft’s flagship product, on removable media. You can’t even download offline installer files for the three retail editions of Office: Home and Student, Home and Business, and Professional.
If you purchase a single-user copy of Office 2013 from an online reseller (including the Microsoft Store) you get a product key code. If you buy a boxed copy of Office 2013 from a retailer, you get a product key on a card.
That’s more true than ever with Office 2013. Here’s a list of the stark difference between perpetual-license editions of the Office 2013 and the equivalent products sold through subscription:
You get much less software compared with the subscription editions. Office Home and Student, at a cost of $140 for a single license, gives you Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. With an Office 365 Home Premium subscription, you get those programs and Outlook, Publisher, and Access.
You have to pay for future versions. The subscription version always entitles you to the most recent version. With a perpetual license, you pay once but have to pay all over again for new versions.
Multi-PC editions are no longer available. In some editions of previous Office releases, Microsoft included the right to install the software on two or three PCs. With Office 2013, the retail editions are for one PC, no exceptions.
Your perpetual license is locked to one PC. The new license agreement contains identical language for all three retail editions: “Can I transfer the software to another computer or user? You may not transfer the software to another computer or user. You may transfer the software directly to a third party only as installed on the licensed computer, with the Certificate of Authenticity label and this agreement.†That’s a change from previous Office versions, which entitled you to reassign licenses between devices you own, as long as you do so no more than every 90 days.
Big changes in Office 2013 and Office 365 test Microsoft customers' loyalty | ZDNet
The retail editions of Office 2013 contain fundamental changes that go well beyond simple changes in the license agreement. They fundamentally alter the way we think of desktop software.
Microsoft is in the process of a dramatic transition in its core business, one that I first noted last summer. “Services are the cornerstone of Microsoft’s strategy,†I noted at the time.
The biggest change of all?
You can no longer buy Office, Microsoft’s flagship product, on removable media. You can’t even download offline installer files for the three retail editions of Office: Home and Student, Home and Business, and Professional.
If you purchase a single-user copy of Office 2013 from an online reseller (including the Microsoft Store) you get a product key code. If you buy a boxed copy of Office 2013 from a retailer, you get a product key on a card.
That’s more true than ever with Office 2013. Here’s a list of the stark difference between perpetual-license editions of the Office 2013 and the equivalent products sold through subscription:
You get much less software compared with the subscription editions. Office Home and Student, at a cost of $140 for a single license, gives you Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. With an Office 365 Home Premium subscription, you get those programs and Outlook, Publisher, and Access.
You have to pay for future versions. The subscription version always entitles you to the most recent version. With a perpetual license, you pay once but have to pay all over again for new versions.
Multi-PC editions are no longer available. In some editions of previous Office releases, Microsoft included the right to install the software on two or three PCs. With Office 2013, the retail editions are for one PC, no exceptions.
Your perpetual license is locked to one PC. The new license agreement contains identical language for all three retail editions: “Can I transfer the software to another computer or user? You may not transfer the software to another computer or user. You may transfer the software directly to a third party only as installed on the licensed computer, with the Certificate of Authenticity label and this agreement.†That’s a change from previous Office versions, which entitled you to reassign licenses between devices you own, as long as you do so no more than every 90 days.
Big changes in Office 2013 and Office 365 test Microsoft customers' loyalty | ZDNet