Microsoft wants you to pay $100 a year for Office

[bosamar]

Microsoft wants you to pay $100 a year for Office - Jan. 29, 2013

 

[J515OP]

This is nothing new. MS has been pushing for subscription based services for a long, long time. The market hasn't been ready for it though. That is slowly changing but we are still a long way from main stream subscription models on a lot of things. For example, it works for Netflix but not for apps (many people are outraged by the thought of anything other than buy once and free updates for life).

The same for music, the subscription model hasn't caught on. The majority would still rather stream on a non-subscription and would rather buy the song and have their licensed copy stored for them in the cloud than buy a streaming subscription. In the end it is the same thing. Times are changing and we can expect to see more of this in the future and there are already early adopters who prefer it.

 

[Codevine]

Yup, and there's still the normal version you buy once. I'm looking forward to pick up the university version for 79€ (4 Years).

 

[J515OP]

Ha ha my co-worker just cited this article as a point of concern about upgrading to Windows 8. "Is upgrading to Windows 8 going to be obsolete once Office 2013 is released next week or is it not affected by it?" Just goes to show how the average person is totally confused about Windows right now. MS might have some blame in that but I chalk it up more to the poor and unrepresentative articles published by the major media sources than MS making mistakes itself. This particular article is neutral not speaking to the relationship between Windows and Office but not clarifying how the new versions work together either.

 

[bosamar]

They ought to include a free subscription to Office 365 for all Surface Pro buyers. IMO that's a good solution to the 'no office provided' argument.

 

[jnjroach]

The Surface Team would need to buy the OEM licenses from the Office Team. Surface has no insider Status and they play by the same rules as other OEMs. That $100/yr. price isn't a bad price when you consider it covers 5 devices including non Microsoft devices.

 

[J515OP]

The Surface Team would need to buy the OEM licenses from the Office Team. Surface has no insider Status and they play by the same rules as other OEMs. That $100/yr. price isn't a bad price when you consider it covers 5 devices including non Microsoft devices.

Not bad assuming you can put it on 5 devices

bosamar, why give away what you can sell? I don't understand why anybody should expect that Surface Pro or any machine should "come with Office." That isn't to say I'm not grateful for Office being on the Surface RT but that was a huge factor for the RT considering you can't install it (or any desktop app) on your own. Sure it could help Surface sales but at what cost to Office? An included trial period would probably be a very good compromise. As I said before the idea of subscription Office hasn't caught on yet and a limited time trial might be a good way to promote both things.

I tend to think of it like most other devices, cameras do not come with SD cards, toys do not come with batteries and computers don't come with Office. There are always exceptions but they are just that, exceptions that are usually promotional or introductory. Personally I am one of those people MS is trying to convert. I have Office 2007 and it will go from computer to computer until I receive a free or discounted copy of a newer version of Office at some point. If that doesn't happen, well, Open Office or other free alternatives aren't objectionable to me. Not good for MS sales but for personal use I don't need the latest and greatest Office just a somewhat recent version.

 

[leeshor]

Office 365 has been around for a while now and using the same cloud storage model. The only significant changes, (and they ARE significant) is the multi license model and upping what was a smaller but free amount of storage on SkyDrive. As JP pointed out, they have been aiming for this for several years.

 

[bosamar]

bosamar, why give away what you can sell? I don't understand why anybody should expect that Surface Pro or any machine should "come with Office.

My unconventional thinking is that including Office 365 would create a greater demand for the device and therefore give it an edge against the iPad and other competition. Incentives are huge in the business world.

 

[bosamar]

I'm going to try the Office 365 trial to see how I like it on my desktop. I think $99 per year is very reasonable.

 

[Tom T]

I suppose you could argue that a free year means you are probably so tied into, and impressed by, it you will be a customer for years to come. Still I can't blame Microsoft, this is amazing software. I was lucky enough to get a free year from Office Depot when I bought my ThinkPad, and I guarantee I will continue with the subscription when my year is up. I really don't think the price is out of line....especially the free part

 

[bulls96]

the sweetness in this deal is that it is good for up to 5 PC's AND Macs.
Sent from my Windows 8 device using Board Express Pro