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Microsoft "Albany" Offers Office and Security as Subscription
News.com is reporting that Microsoft has confirmed a subscription service is in the works for the next consumer version of their Office Suite. "Code-named Albany, the product has a single installer that puts Office Home and Student, OneCare, as well as a host of Windows Live services, onto a user's PC. As long as users keep paying for the subscription, they are entitled to the latest versions of the products. Once they stop paying, they lose the right to use any version."
Once they stop paying, they lose the right to use any version.
So, an office suite linked to a security product and you lose both if you stop paying ... does this sound at all unpalatable to anyone else?
(Apparently; currently the survey on the page says 41% prefer the traditional way of buying Office, 38.5% would rather not buy it at all, and 20.5% think it sounds better).
I suppose the deciding factor is the price -- value for money. And as we know Microsoft has never failed to deliver on that one...
Perfectly timed, just after OOXML is approved, wouldn't you say?
I have a legitimate fully paid for version of MS Office 2003 that absolutely will NOT install a single MS Update, ever. And it hasn't for more than a year. I suspect this is a stealth version of something like that where MS determines who gets what and when.
I'm not thrilled with the snappiness of the performance of Open Office but clearly this is the way I will go the next time around.
Other than XP, MS Office and some tools related to scanner and digitizer tablet hardware (which is essentially free once you buy the hardware), I have cost free software on all my machines.
Freespire (Ubuntu) here I come!
I've already pretty much decided to never use Windows again once I can no longer run XP on the two systems I have it installed on at home. I use a Mac at work to manage a number of linux & solaris systems. Nobody in my department uses Windows. I also know more family members & friends who are perfectly happy with Windows XP and have no desire whatsoever to upgrade to Vista. They're also perfectly happy with the versions of Office, etc. that they currently have. If MS really tries to force people to switch to a rental model for their software I can only see it alienating more of their customers and convincing them to look to Macs & linux systems a a cost-effective replacement.
I think the connection to Onecare is an interesting touch. Microsoft, among other "enterprise" software types, has had fair success getting corporate customers paying for subscription or quasi-subscription products for a while now(Software Assurance, anything with a mandatory support contract, some site-licence flavors, etc.); but the idea rubs individual users badly. Even if the economics are actually favorable, software with a self-destruct system just doesn't feel right. People like owning stuff.
Antivirus, though, is the closest thing to an exception(well, that and MMORPGs). People are neither happy nor efficient about it; but they often do end up paying for their subscription.
Connecting a product whose subscription feels "natural"(virus signatures are a service, and are pay per unit time) with a product whose subscription feels "artificial"(Office suites can be priced as services; but nothing about them makes them so) is an interesting tactic. I wonder if it will work.
Microsoft has wanted subscription software for years, so this isn't too surprising; but it may well have gained urgency from the push toward really, really cheap computers. Full upfront software cost is a hard sell on cheap hardware; but you might be able to make it palatable by stretching it into a subscription(plus, there will finally be a way to exterminate those pesky Office 97 users!).
The idea makes me a bit nervous, though, because it points to a model of computer use very, very similar to today's cellphone model. Cheap hardware, low upfront cost; but continual, tightly controlled, nickel and diming throughout the life of the product. Unfortunately, for all the progress they have achieved, cellphones are a really miserable lesson in why the openness of the PC world is so vital.
It's actually better for them since it keeps a steady revenue stream instead of sales bumps. It might actually be a good thing for the user if you can use your subscription on any computer. That way, you wouldn't have to buy a subscription for the 6 computers in the house.
However, it sounds too much like a gym membership that doesn't get used. I'm going to guess that google documents and the like will see a lot more usage as these things get more and more costly. Microsoft is a monopoly trying to cash in on its market share, but those things usually aren't taken well. At some point, they will lose market share. It's inevitable since they're taking a lot of money for delivering a good that's only marginally better than what's out there for free.
Don't do it. It spreads the "arbitrarily changing format blackhole disease."
I've been happy with OpenOffice for several years while MS Office has produced interesting, and embarrassing, format failures between editions. One example, on a Vista laptop, tried with both Office 2003 and 2007, failed to accurately render many company Powerpoint slides that had worked with Powerpoint 2003 on XP, for important meetings. As much as one would like to dismiss MS Office users as drinking Purple Kool-Aid, a self curing problem, recognizing them as plague spreaders would be closer to the mark.
Sad thing is, they used to have this kind of jokes all through the 90's. You know, how MS will release a floppy that doubles as a CC reader and so on. They used to be funny back then. It gets a bit chilly when you see it happening.
i ate crayons when i was a kid and now i have two braincells and the blue ones taste nicer
Let me see, let's crunch the numbers [in open office mind you]
1. Purchase for roughly 300.00
2. Resale Value roughly 150.00 [based on Microsoft Office 2003]
3. Price Of Service Packs [Free, but add in internet connection costs]
4. IRR [Internal Rate of Return] > 0%
Rent:
1. Renting Price X
2. Resale/Salvage Value 0
3. Adding Price of Internet Connection to Receive Updates: 30-35/Mo
4. IRR [internal Rate of Return] 0%
Analysis:
Depends on what your MARR [Minimum Acceptable Rate of Return is]. If it's negative, go ahead and rent software. If it's positive, then go ahead and buy it.
I'm a little fuzzy on your '3-4 year' lifecycle. Looks like Office 2003 came out late Oct, 2003. We're well on our way to Oct, 2008. I will confess some places have gone to 2007 - we have not. Thus we are looking at a 5 year lifespan.
More important, however, is the question of how the updates happen - the reason we haven't gone to 2007 isn't a licensing issue - it's training. Is MS going to force you to accept those updates? Are they going to overhaul the UI while you weren't looking?
Did anybody think about this updates for free aspect? It took MS 5 years to update XP to Vista. You could have 5 years of non-existent Office updates given Microsoft's recent track record -- but they'll all be for free!
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
free to bring those files ... or use the long existing free "Viewer" versions
But, not edit them or otherwise legitimately salvage your data.
It's easy to brush the idea that Microsoft holds your data hostage. Just don't think beyond your current PC. It doesn't bother you, but some of us WANT to open our children's mishmash of pictures and letters when we are old and gray.
This is the classic strategy where dumb money thinks it's wise to pay month-to-month.
I forsee upgrade problems that require extra support that one must pay for among a whole slew of gotchas.
http://www.maxineudall.com/2010/02/should-economists-be-sued-for-malpractice.html
But hold on...who says they're going to MAKE any viewers for the new version of Office. There's no guarantee that older viewers will work. What you'd be better off doing is saving your documents to where they will work on older versions of Office.
Then of course, there's just telling M$ to stick it and continue to use the current version of Office or switch to Open Office. I don't think most users will want or need anything beyond what is available now. I used to teach classes in Office--very few ever use the advanced features. I feel like MS took too long to get something like this out. It's almost like taking a step back to the mainframe days when programs were routinely put out as a subscription coupled with a help/service plan.
What will be interesting is when Open Office can read/write "Albany" documents. Will MS file a lawsuit?
If you've never been modded as "flamebait" or "troll," you've never tried to argue a minority viewpoint here!