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."

Comments

Something of a catch...

[26199]

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...

Re:Something of a catch...

[palapa]

Albany is for the benefit of the computer sellers: They can advertise Office and One-Care when in reality you only get the first month free.

Hello? ISO? You listening?

[Marc Desrochers]

Perfectly timed, just after OOXML is approved, wouldn't you say?

The Onecare tie-in is cute.

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

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.

Hello? Data for Ransome Anyone?

[mpapet]

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.

Re:Also illegal, at least in Canada

[penguin_dance]

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?