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MS Tweaks Ill-Received Licensing Plan
ahooton writes "C|Net is
reporting that
Microsoft has updated it's
Software Assurance licensing program. The company has admitted that it's initial approach angered a large number of customers. No huge difference in pricing or terms -- changes are comprised of bundling some training and support. The one interesting concession is that corporate licensees of Microsoft Office can now use that suite on a home computer as well." What a concession. (Paddo points to this similar article on Australian IT via News.com.au.)
Microsoft seems to be getting the picture. While it looks like they are making just a couple of strategic concessions to try to maintain their stranglehold on the market. However, I don't think that they can stem the tide so easily. Eventually, they will have to make concessions to just about everyone -- i.e., they have to reduce their price pretty much across the board, because the market, having real competition, won't sustain their artificially high prices anymore (how do you think they got their $40 billion, not to mention Gates' 40?).
Borland used to have a 'like a book' license for their compilers. The rule was that you could have the compiler on as many machines as you liked, but 'like a book' it could only be 'read' on one machine at a time. It made a lot of sense, particularly with developers who might do tweaking and debugging on multiple target machines.
My boss asked me to take home some work that was all compiled in various Word, Excel, and whatever that PDF-like Microsoft format is (Visio I think). I lied and said that I only have Linux installed at home and use Star Office (which is 2/3 true). He asked me how I could afford to pay for a Unix workstation and not Windows, which he thought was "free" with each PC. When I showed him Redhat.com and explained what Linux was to him, he was truly puzzled. He had no idea that there were any other operating systems other then Windows, Unix, and Apple/Mac. This is coming from a guy that has been in a management position within a rather large tech company for 6 years.
The funny thing is when you sit someone down in front of OpenOffice, and make them actually use it, they realize that it's just like what they're already comfortable with - and it's free.
I got an IM from my mother today, asking about my 17-year-old little brother's laptop and if she could use it on a business trip for some spreadsheet stuff. My little bro uses OpenOffice on his Windows install. Just explaining that all she has to do is Save As in an MS format to make her work portable to and from MS Office software seemed to be sufficient for her.
Given her constant frustrations with random crashes of MS products, I won't be surprised if she switches over after using OO.
Microsoft and the other huge software companies have a real problem on their hands - they sell nothing. They sell air. Apple has an interesting twist - they sell user experience. We can't pick these things up with our hands and feel like we have something. And really, though a spreadsheet or word processor enables us to potentially work faster and easier, there's nothing special under the hood. Mmmaybe compatability from program to program is a plus with one package, but let's face it. The program is being marketed like it does the work all by itself, when it's just a tool, a very expensive tool that has no material value.
Everything common should be open source and free. The OS first, then programming languages, then communication tools, then office tools, etc. A strict licensing program for any of these is laughable and backward, unless it's truly innovative and unique. MS Word? Excel? Please.
People love to blame piracy for lost sales. I call it comeuppance. It's like living in a world in which we have to buy air, being charged too much, and stealing air so as to not die. Company X didn't invent the stuff; they just exploit it. Common computer programs should be treating as air, owned by all. But, of course, one day someone will own the air too, and we'll be here arguing whether the air thieves are pirates.
IIRC (which may not be the case since I was young when I read an old,and short EULA), not only were you permitted to transfer software to another machine after uninstalling it, but also included a provision for installing software on one desktop and one laptop if both were owned by the same person. I suppose back in the 386 days a laptop wasn't considered as much a computer as it is today and needed an accompaning desktop.
$cat
...of Johnny Cochran in the South Park episode where he's talking to the jury and then pulls out a monkey?
"Look at the monkey. See the monkey? Look at the monkey."
None of this addresses any of the things that people really had a problem with regarding their licensing scheme. None of this is going to make a bit of difference to our shop. We're getting open source alternatives lined up and mapping out our "Escape from Redmond" plan with the idea of getting it done by the end of 2003. This simply couldn't be less relevant to us.
Appended to the end of comments you post. 120 chars.
Hmm, the single-user license for Office (excluding OEM) already allows the use of two simultaneous copies of Office on separate computers, one for his workstation and another for his personal-use computer (e.g. laptop).
Apparently, licensing in bulk used to remove that right, and now they're putting it back in. In effect, they're simply shifting the favor back to its original, equitable state.
At least MS is getting a clue.
Pet peeve: Profane people propagating perfunctory pedantry.