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Retail Copies of Office 2013 Are Tied To a Single Computer Forever
An anonymous reader writes "With the launch of Office 2013 Microsoft has seen fit to upgrade the terms of the license agreement, and it's not in favor of the end user. It seems installing a copy of the latest version of Microsoft's Office suite of apps ties it to a single machine. For life. On previous versions of Office it was a different story. The suite was associated with a 'Licensed Device' and could only be used on a single device. But there was nothing to stop you uninstalling Office and installing it on another machine perfectly legally. With that option removed, Office 2013 effectively becomes a much more expensive proposition for many."
install to virtual machine, then make copies of that virtual machine. problem solved.
For users of Open Office or those who short Microsoft Stock
I have to use Office at work, and I find it to be completely unusable. Due to the ribbon, I cannot find anything anymore.
Say I remove MS Office 2013 (or re-format my drive) on a given machine, can I use that same license on another machine? Since technically I still only have it on one machine...
You can haz open source solution with full MS Office compatibility...
Log into your Office account and deregister the current installation. That will free it up for installation to a new/different machine. You can do this as often as you want.
install it in a virtual machine, run it from there, this is lame.
I am guessing they will be providing a license that allows you to do that. For a premium of course.
Yea that was going to be my suggestion. I didn't see in the article what mechanism M$ used to detect/lock the software down.
Karma: Bad
Doesn't affect us too much, since we've switched most of our internals to Libre Office, and it won't affect most of our clients who're quite happy with Office 2010 and a few who still use Office 2003. If your org needs new installations, there are better places to spend money than the office suite.
If computers were people, I'd be a misanthrope.
Apparently not.
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
What happens if your CPU or Motherboard dies, and you cant get that socket type CPU/Motherboard now... Or your HDD dies even
In some countries, this stipulation would be against consumer laws I'm sure (maybe the EU, also NZ is quite possible)
Microsoft is doing their damndest to make me not want to use Windows anymore. Everything about Windows 8 sounds like an anti-consumer nuisance, they've spent 6 years turning the Xbox dashboard into the worst piece of clumsy advertising software as opposed to a valid gaming console OS, and now this crap.
Yep, you're days are numbered Microsoft. Have fun burning what little bit of good will still exists for you.
Rather than mess with a VM and slightly degraded performance I'd opt for a free alternative (e.g. Libre Office) although a VM would provide some added security...
Are Retail copies of Office even remotely relevant? Buying Office off the shelf is like paying sticker price for a new car.
"install it in a virtual machine, run it from there, this is lame."
I would be inclined to go with one of 2 "solutions":
(A) Use a software crack. What the hell. I paid for it, it's mine, I'll do what I want with it.
(B) The choice I would more likely make: go with Open Office or Libre Office.
It's really not much of a contest, is it? I've been using Open Office and Libre Office for more than 10 years now, precisely because of this kind of horseshit from Microsoft.
Non-commercial use: Any number of Macs that you own and control. Commercial use: Any number of computers used by the same single person, or one computer used by any number of persons.
One computer and can't move to a different computer? That's ridiculous. So if sell your computer and buy a better one, you have to re-buy the software? Or if your computer breaks? Or your computer is stolen? I wonder what your insurance company will say if your computer is stolen, they pay for a replacement, and then you say that instead of restoring your apps from your backup you want them to pay for new copies?
Don't worry. As usual, the computer nerd world has a smug, smarmy answer for you, one that most likely involves using a different OS and a different office suite, as well as make you hate the smartass computer nerd world and ignore them later when the next SOPA comes up.
I use Windows 7 and have Libreoffice.
Microsoft Office ? The last version I had came with my Windows 95 computer. Never missed it.
I use Excel & Access 2003 on a daily basis (Access provides a simple front end to SQL databases). The only time I load up Excel 2010 is when the sheet has more then 256 columns (rare) or ~65k rows (more common now). The ribbon is a pain as I lose all my custom menu bars (and the after thought of a hack put into the ribbon for this sucks). What is there about 2013 that would appeal to a non-corporate end user? Saving to a cloud? We have Google Drive/DropBox folders for that.
That can't be true, because it's too good to be true. If a copy of office were tied to a single machine forever, that copy of office would die with the machine and eventually office would become extinct. You'd see beat up computers with yellowed cases and burned in screens in endangered software sanctuaries. Or the world would realize that equivalent software is available elsewhere for less money (or free). But we all know Microsoft won't let that happen because software survives by being propagated from computer to computer, paid or not.
Which part exactly? Hard drive? OS version install or Lic. Key? Motherboard identification? MAC Address?
I recall around a decade or so ago when Cisco released some router learning software which was 'single install tied'. Everyone in the shop who wanted it, got the Hard drive image, OS install. The cavaet though, was that the install 'check' was a floppy disk, and not online.
Anyways.. it's still amusing to see MS continue in their pursuit of control. I'm wondering who exactly they're trying to extinguish here. There userbase? Makes me glad I switched to FOSS years ago.
The ribbon has been around since Office 2007. It is now 2013. Time to adjust
Is there anywhere to buy a new copy of Office 2003? It's the version I want, there hasn't been any new features worth having since that one, and many features I don't want added since then.
Can I buy a legitimate used copy of it anywhere, if a new copy isn't available?
I can still buy the first Diablo at Wal-Mart. Why not a much newer version of Office?
You used to be able to install on desktop and laptop with one copy of office now they want you to have 1 copy for each system no locked to the systems death.
...they'd rather see Home users use a different licensing model... something with more long term revenue for the company. One way to help such a new model would be to make the current purchase model less attractive.
nahh. That couldn't be.
Remember: Office is more than Office 2013. It's Office 2010, 2007, 2003, XP, 2001, 97, 95, ....
If I add a disk, is it the same device?
If I swap the disk, is the same device.
If I keep everything but swap the CPU, is it a new computer?
If I keep the CPU but swap the motherboard?
If I swap components incrementally, when do I need to buy a new license?
Does the software actually check?
in many countries whose law permits the sale of second hand software licenses (eg pre-owned games). What Microsoft's legal team has forgotten (ignored?) is that state and federal law override any and all conditions they put in their EULA and they have no legal recourse when they blatantly ignore local law.
I use Office 2012 at work, albeit not as my main tool. After a bit over a year I was at the point where I was reasonably familiar with the ribbon and started to prefer it over Office 2000 (which I used before). So I think there is a bit of an advantage to the new UI, but it is a small one and requires a lot of time to learn the new ways of interacting with the program. Probably not worth it from a usability point of view.
Office 2012 crashes a lot less than Office 2000 though, so it was good to get the new version anyway.
At home, however, I prefer Libre Office: :-)
Legally available for free as in beer, and it is more than sufficient for the few letters I write
C - the footgun of programming languages
Upgrade anything on the computer and your good to go, hell even upgrading the BIOS ( or UEFI ) would count. Once anything changes, offically the computer has changed and the terms are reset.
Time to adjust by uninstalling MS Office and using a free alternative instead.
But nobody (at least nobody I know) bought Office 2007. My work Windows machine didn't acquire the ribbon until I got Office 2010 some time in 2011. I use Office for more than opening a spreadsheet and looking at it about once every couple of months. It still takes me minutes to hunt down common functionality that was easily located in the old hierarchical menu system.
It's Bye-Bye MS. And Apple haters complain about "vendor lock in" -- Why do I get the feeling that if I were to buy a copy of office, it would be from the Chinese Pirates?
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
neither link in TFS included this.... wtf?
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/products/microsoft-software-license-agreement-FX103576343.aspx
What's even worse is that Home and Student is the same price but is only valid for a signle computer, instead of three.
They're really pushing Office 365, and I'm not sure I enjoy the idea.
The ribbon is good in that you can set things by example visually that actually tick multiple settings at once. After learning it, I actually prefer it and don't like using a word processor without it anymore.
Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
They won't find out until 2016 when they try to reinstall the OS or move to a new machine. Of course by then they will just buy Office 2016.
just shows the stupidity of the average arthropod
I am surprised microsoft has not driven themselves out of business with their draconian & heavy handed methods of conducting business
Linux & LibreOffice does it all for me = the cost of freedom is eternal vigilance
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
This can be safely ignored as it's illegal. First sales doctrine applies in the US. In the Eu, the European court of justice (highest court) has ruled that software can always be sold and permanent license bindings are null and void. (decision C-128/11, http://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2012-07/cp120094en.pdf
MS can suck it.
You're looking at it all wrong. The value here is, your PC's resale value is going to go through the roof! Just imagine, instead of just a PC with Windows 8, now you can sell a PC with Windows 8 and a LIFETIME version of Office 2013. Doesn't that just sound great?
This *will* be the year of Linux on the Desktop!
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
I'm waiting to see how the resident MS shills are going to positively spin this one. No unbiased person could be in favor of this.
Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave.
The story linked from the Slashdot article mostly just summarizes Turner's already-concise (but still more-detailed) article, and wraps it in a different set of ads.
~Idarubicin
Yet another reason I've refused to use MS Office for the past many years, instead Open Office or Libre Office.
Why they continue to make their paid product more and more undesirable boggles the mind when there are other choices that are not so anti-consumer, and free to boot.
Libre Office
Open Office
I'm fairly certain there are others?
In Adam Turner's article (on which the blog post linked in the Slashdot summary is based) Microsoft declares that " If the customer has a system crash, they are allowed to reinstall Office on that same computer..." but with the caveat, "No, the customer cannot transfer the license from one PC to another PC." Sounds like I'm allowed to upgrade my computer, and I'm allowed to replace broken parts...I just can't "transfer" the license between PCs.
Who knows the way to fix an old Fiat?
Step 1: Raise hood.
Step 2: Turn the radiator cap counterclockwise until fully loosed.
Step 3: Lift radiator cap straight up, at least six inches.
Step 4: Remove old Fiat from under radiator cap. Replace with new Fiat.
Step 5: Screw radiator cap back in place.
Step 6: Close hood.
Clearly, the solution in this situation is similar. Disconnect your mouse. Replace the computer underneath. Plug in a new computer. The license, obviously, transferred with the Theseus-mouse.
~Idarubicin
From TFA:
If retail and OEM copies now have exactly the same licensing agreement, have retail rights have been downgraded to OEM rights or OEM rights been upgraded to full retail rights? The new wording doesn't actually use the phrase "the software license is permanently assigned to the device with which the software is distributed", like the old OEM license did.
So this whole post is horseshit. They even admit they aren't sure what the license means, and its vagueness is also horseshit, but there simply is no clause saying the software is licensed to a single machine.
The ribbon is already almost unusable, and now MS wants to make Office even more of a pain to use. I'm out of installs for 2003. I tried Open Office and just couldn't bond with it. Now what?
Last time Microsoft made a move like this, they made all volume licenses of desktop Windows "upgrades" so that businesses who depend on a unified and consistent deployment of Windows can only do so legally by buying an OEM license with their computers or a retail version or OS X. Pay twice, use once.
I was wondering what Microsoft would do to MS Office to make it more expensive. Now we have their answer. It's no longer "buy once, use anywhere." And I suspect their retail Windows will soon do the same thing.
Software "licenses" aren't ownership. That means the company who sold it to you can tell you how it can be used. Are you happy with that? I know you're not. But when will the lay people begin to understand this? When will consumer organizations defend the lay people? And when will the government step in and say "hey, you've got an effective monopoly with your critical mass there. You're abusing consumers. Stop it."
Or just use the pirated version of office 2013 that will come out 3 months before the official release, have no such limitations, will be much more configurable, and, of course, is free...
I don't know whose the single computer will be, but it won't be mine.
Quidnam Latine loqui modo coepi?
it doesn't really matter what the EULA says, the courts (in the EU at least) have already ruled on this kind of restriction in the video game market... they ruled it invalid. I think the US courts might do the same under the guise of the First Sale doctrinaire.
And less money for Microsoft.
Now one more reason to stick with what you got & not buy a new PC with a new Microsoft OS in it. It will cost you even more.
Hell, most regular people are still struggling with fact that Windows != Office. They don't get it why office costs as much as it does.
Could it be that Microsoft is OEM-ing Office just like they did Windows on retail computers? It is cheaper than the full retail license, but it is less flexible in the end.
It'd be nice to think this would boost use of OpenOffice and/or Libre Office, but probably not.
retail is dead.
Do people still use Microsoft Office? Huh, I didn't know that.
Time to learn LaTex. Open Office is not suitable for complicated/large documents.
Isn't the official release already out?
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/buy/
There was an Office 2012?
Microsoft still has the multi PC license for home that includes cloud services: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/home-premium/
They also offer a 1PC version: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/home-and-student/
I also doubt they are going to give you much trouble about moving the 1PC version a sane number of times.
I doubt that Microsoft wants to sell Office 2013 programs. They want to sell Office 365 subscriptions.
To the extent that this pushes people to the subscription version, this is a win for M$.
* Hey Steve! How's it going.
- Terrible, Bill, terrible. Nothing's going the way we expected. I mean, we tried our best with Zune - we made it brown even! - but it's no good. Some people even liked the Zune software.
* I see. What else have you tried?
- Well, we replaced the toolbar in Office with - get this - a ribbon. We told everybody it would improve their workflow.
* Bet that shook things up!
- No, people kept buying Office. The ribbon even had fans! They wanted it extended to other apps! But then I thought... XBox!
* XBox?
- Yeah... we'll put ads all over the thing! There'll be a tiny button in the corner to start the game and everywhere else... ads!
* Yes!!!
- No! People complained, but XBox Lives subscriptions are up and game sales are through the roof! Hell, we even canned Bungie and sold more Halo games than ever!
* Oh dear.
- Then I'm sure you heard about Windows 8 and Metro.
* Oh yes, terrific job there. And you tied it to Surface and Windows Phone too!
- Yes, we're all very proud of that. And now this thing with Office 2013; we're tying it to a single computer. No reinstalls. If your motherboard craps out, well, you'll just have to buy a new license!
* Surely that will work. No one will be able to ignore the message we're sending now.
- I don't know, Bill. I don't know. People liked the whole Office365 subscription thing, after all. They'll probably like this too. You know and I know that Windows and the Microsoft ecosystem is an abortion and a disaster, and that we've been striving desperately to get people to leave it for greater and better things - I can't help but remember the excellent work you did with "The Road Ahead" and leaving out the Internet entirely; you'd have thought that might have clued them in that we're just hacks - but it's just not working. But look, what if I try this next: security updates only available to people who have a paid subscription. Yeah, that might do it, don't you think?
* Never give up hope, Steve, never give up hope. I can't think of anyone better for this job. And here, toss a chair. It'll make you feel better.
I wish it did, but it doesn't
See I'm a long time user of openoffice now libreoffice. We had to suffer these lies when firefox started to get popular. The reality is though. If my boss wants me to use the same office at home and at work, he pays for it. The truth is I doubt anyone would notice. I do like the part when you described the program as standard...not the file format...classic.
Do you tell kids at night that an Android is going to get them!!
I'll take option 'B'. Even if they gave it away free as a limited promotion, I will not use it. By virtue of giving them market share I'm an accomplice to their douche baggery. I will not encourage such behavior.
What's even worse is that Home and Student is the same price but is only valid for a signle computer, instead of three.
They're really pushing Office 365, and I'm not sure I enjoy the idea.
Interestingly Office 365 is restricted in where you can use it. For some countries they just won't let you buy it. Not 'axis of evil' countries either; some of them are on the State Departments list of 'countries we REALLY want US companies doing business with".
In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
By "dies" let us assume it is "unfixably" broken'. Not repariable in either case. Not by microsoft, apple, your mom, geeks on call, or anybody else.
So for Microsoft, you'd buy new hardware, install your OS from your legally purchased disc, and re-buy a new copy Office.
For apple, you'd buy new hardware, pay for another copy of the same OS you already had [baked into the increased price for Macs], and... Re-buy a new copy of Office [assuming that was what you used].
Let's face it... Apple is no better. The real winner here is OpenOffice.org.
-Clio
Karma: Bad (mostly from not giving a fuck)
Blog: http://clintjcl.wordpress.com
So how are "gamers" or anyone that builds a computer from parts going do deal with this? Many people need the ability to upgrade and interchange parts as they see fit. Windows activation already throws a monkey wrench in to this. An now they want to do this with Office too?
Microsoft is really trying to nosedive itself in to the ground. Very scary stuff.
... you have 'licensed it' from MS. There is a big difference.
You mean massively degraded performance. On my Mac with encrypted disk, VMware is slow slow slow. It takes up huge amounts of disk space too (ie, 40GB image, you won't be making too many of those). And most of the VM engines I've seen are not free. You also need another Windows license, no?
How many feet does this company (Microsoft) have?
They've already shot themselves in both feet, it's starting to look like a clown show.
Just like the RIAA, MPAA, etc. this move smacks of fear and desperation. But what's most troubling is the utter contempt, the pure spite, that these organizations show for their paying customers.
Between software alternatives (e.g., OpenOffice) and non-MS platforms (Android, iOS, OSX), Microsoft is really slitting its throat, from ear to ear.
I won't miss them.
and until I find a usable replacement for the features it has, I'm stuck with Office 2007. Sure it works but I'd like something that's open source instead and using a Wiki setup just doesn't cut it for me as it means installing to much additional software.
Now if I can find something that gives me 90 percent of the features (individual notebooks, insert media, text and such), I'd be able to move back to open source as my only online game now has a link to setting things up in Wine along with links to doing so in RH/Deb/Suse and others.
Mod me up/Mod me down: I wont frown as I've no crown
So, Office 2013 *is not* restricted to a single computer. However, unless you associate your 2013 key with a windows live account then you will have to go through the normal activation rigmarole you've had to do since Windows XP.
Reading through the /. comments one comes to a simple conclusion: The users who don't mind, won't mind, and the users who do mind, won't buy. Bottom line is - no one cares...
you all seem to fight over this and that solution, the issue at hand is you having less freedom to do with what you buy... i swear everyone its so argumentative and does not see the real story... it comes lately that you own nothing, only pay a fee... idiocracy is alive and evolves;-)
....I'll never buy a copy of Office 2013, Microsoft.
Great move guys.
Ferret
Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc
I love when they do this kind of stuff. If they keep screwing their customers hard enough even the most moronic of them will have to eventually get a clue.
If you're running an OEM version of windows that came installed on your machine, you can't transfer it to another box. Not legally, and in most cases, not at all, since most windows boxes don't come with install media. You can make recovery disks, which may or may not work on different hardware.
In a lisping, mincing voice:
"USE Open Office! It's just as good!!
FTA:
It effectively turns Office 2013 into the equivalent on the Windows OEM license where you get one chance to use it on a single piece of hardware.
Erm? I've transferred OEM Windows licenses from one machine to another with Microsoft's help a number of times. Their only beef was making absolutely sure that I had already removed it from the previous machine.
I mean, after I upgrade the processor, swap a blown motherboard, migrate to a new hard drive, and reinstall the OS to get rid of a nasty virus, what's "one machine"?
Is it when I upgrade the heatsink or move everything to a larger case to hold my RAID array?
I suppose I can stick with Office 2010. If this is Microsoft's way of making money, it's going to be funny to watch no one buy their products. If they're doing this with Office, I can only imagine the ridiculousness they're cooking up with the new Xbox console (whenever some real information from Microsoft is given on that thing).
What happens when the Powers that Be go full retard with Trusted Computing? I mean, why do people think the concepts in Secure Boot stop at the UEFI? Certainly you could easily expand the bootloader verification mechanism to verify the signature for ALL software... you could also tie the License Key to the computer's "Trusted Computer Unique cryptoID chip" or whatever, and then installing the thing in a VM ain't gonna work for shit. Like another commenter wrote, there's (almost, I would say) always a technical solution, but at some point it's just not practical, even less for the average (or even above average) user.
What happens when using a VM'd or cracked copy of a program involves basically reverse engineering a microchip with an electron microscope, and just to run the program in a SINGLE computer?
I guess at some point this will backfire for the likes of MS, Apple, etc., but today installing other OS's than WinRT in Surface (ARM) is the only limit (not to mention what Apple and "friends" do with tablets and cellphones), tomorrow only signed apps can be installed, the day after every PC works the same way 'cause only geeks give a shit and everybody else just wants convenience, and if the competent authorities stare into nothing with their thumb up their asses... I'm NOT entirely convinced they CAN'T get away with it...
IMO, MS is not a software company. It is an abuse company that uses selling software as a way of delivering abuse.
Lodragan Draoidh
The more you explain it, the more I don't understand it. - Mark Twain
You must be blind. Ribbon or not, Office is not that hard to navigate. If anything, it makes common functionality easier to find due to the fact that it is now all nicely organized without layers upon layers of menus. Microsoft has made a lot of absolutely shitty things, but the ribbon is not one of them.
Due to the ribbon, I cannot find anything anymore.
Well, then learn to find the things from the new places.
Office Ribbon and Ubuntu's Unity surely are two things that people here like to robotically whine about, while they are both perfectly fine.
This is called subscription business model. This is nothing else. Next you have to renew your licence every x/month for your office to work. Same goes for Windows. They are close to do this in Windows 8. I am sure it is going to be fully implemented in Windows 9 or 10. This is not a question of "if". This is a question of "when" Microsoft sees this plan trough.
I am sure that current recession has delayed this plans for some months now. But they are going to be activated soon.
Why do people think Microsoft has included DRM infested boot in UEFI. Specially designed to lock the computer up-on online command (preventing active booting). I am sure all the sub-systems are in place for Windows 8. Just inactive as for now.
The fix for this is not to use Windows, Microsoft Office or any product that demands this licence compliance. It is also worth noting that just the saving in terms of money by not using Windows is high. It is also more secure not to use Windows or Microsoft software in companies.
I am not totally free from using Windows my self. I need it to play few computer games. But I do not plan to go above Windows 7 or at the best. I am never going to stop using Windows XP (even after Microsoft kills the support for it). The only issue I have with is new hardware and Windows XP drivers (+3GB ram limit in Windows XP). So I guess that I am going to use Windows 7 for gaming usage for a long time once I have a gaming computer.
Microsoft abuses customers in name of profit! ...news at 11.
Can anyone remember them doing this before?!?!?
I'm sticking to the 2003 version that I run at home until they pry it from my cold dead hands...
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
You prefer boxes with symbols instead of an alphabetical list?
Lets see, number of menu options in Word 2003 top menu:
File, Edit, View, Insert, Format, Table, Window, Help
Number of tabs to open new ribbons in Office 2013:
File, Home, Insert, Page Layout, References, Mailings, Review, View. Of course there is still the Help button cleverly hidden in the upper right corner.
How is this helping again? Oh, right! The tools we commonly use are on the 'Home' ribbon... where more than half of the UI is taken up by 'Styles'
The ribbon is not only one of the shitty things Microsoft has made, it's easily in the top 5 along with the Windows Registry, and Clippy.
Then they'll remove the option to run any native (non-script) code that does not have an approved digital signature. That will eliminate option A.
Option B, in their eyes, has been proven to be non-viable especially since some of the largest Office-to-OO conversion projects have recently failed. They are convinced OO/LO are only good enough for marginal users (determined techies, grannies, etc.).
Yes, I'll take "boxes with symbols" as you put it over several sets of alphabetical lists within lists when it it makes it easier to find things.
There is not one single, easily-navigable list as you're claiming. There are several, and they contain even more levels of crap.
The ribbon cleaned things up some just by getting rid of that god damn useless "help" menu alone. Very few of the items in those menus I ever bother with, and those that I do are more pleasant to find and actually use. It's kind of like pinned menus; if you're going to be using something a few times, it's a pain in the ass to keep having to click to bring down the menu and find the option you were looking for again. With the ribbon, things stay put and don't disappear unless you tell them to.
I don't know about you, but my natural field of vision is more wide than it is tall, so I'll pick the ribbon over sticky menus that very few programs and window managers seem to support.
If you buy your software package outright, it is a PRODUCT not a SERVICE and the first sale doctrine applies. This means no so-called TOS or shrink-wrap license agreement can take away your right to move the package to another computer, or sell it to someone else. The only restriction is that only ONE copy of the software must be in existence, for the purposes of use.
There are morons, trolls and shills who try to suggest that Microsoft and co are above the law, and can do the equivalent of posting a notice above the front door of a house that states "the wallets of anyone passing through this door belong to the householder". It is true that current day USA is so ultra-corrupt, that congress is regularly suggesting that such notices are legal. Not so in the EU (Europe) where every software publisher that tried has lost in court, when they attempt to deny first sale doctrine rights.
Software as a service IS legal, but requires conditions. Namely, you must pay regular amounts to use the service, and when you stop paying, the service is no longer (legally) available. Nothing prevents Microsoft from ONLY using this method to provide the Office Suite, but if MS went the 'service only' route, it would be destroyed in the marketplace.
So, you can sell your Steam games, you can sell your copy of Office or Windows, and you can certainly move the same to another computer. Articles like this are attempts to persuade people that they have lesser rights, in the hope that a new reality will emerge, that will then be ratified in the courts, under pressure from politicians in the pocket of Microsoft et al.
...LibreOffice has a much better user interface, and no useless ribbon with meaningless little icons.
Why didn't microsoft ask the question - 'can we make icons for the ribbon that give a clear indication of what the options actually do?'
Clearly they didn't, and ended up with probably one of the worst human interface mistakes in history.
Power users don't use menus or ribbons. We use hotkeys. The ribbon made it easier for the low-IQ valley girl who wants to create lolcat docs and needs to make a presentation on why abstinence is the answer for her remedial sex-ed class.
Your accurate and informative (but biased) comment is unfortunately now 6 months out of date. Windows Server 2012 has a much easier VM licensing model, with reduced number of options to consider.
Its just not worth his time, or my time, or the purchasing department's time to get the company to pay for software I use at home.
The rest of us who live in the real world. The cost of Office is $600 [$340 for the crippled version] in my country which is a significant part of my disposable income. As I said I find Libreoffice good enough [I personally find it better than Microsoft Office], and unlike you I use the product, but if it wasn't I would not be footing the bill. I would be kicking down the doors of the purchasing department.
I wouldn't say "massively degraded" but it's significant for games, not so significant for office apps. To avoid requiring a copy of Windows you could get CrossOver and just install Windows. I believe CrossOver provides the .dlls and whatever else an app requires.
I currently run XP, but plan my next computer to be Linux based, with a Virtual Box installation of Windows 7.
That is legal if you upgrade to the proper level of Windows 7.
Installing Word 2013 into such a setup should work just fine.
The virtual machine can then be moved to any future processor that will run Virtual Box.
No, no, it's really great.
If you want to insert a comment, you scan your eyes across the tabs until you find Insert, you click it, scan across all the buttons looking for "comment", scan again, hover the pointer to read each tool tip, maximise the window to full 1920x1200 just in case some of those buttons are hidden, hit F1 (elite power user secret keyboard button), type "insert comment", read the search results...
OMFG, it's been hiding under the Review tab all this time.
Run all your Windows App in a VM, and when you upgrade the physical hardware, migrate the VM (keep the same VM UUID, etc).
As the victim of theft, why would I care whether or not the thief can successfully benefit from the theft? That doesn't solve my problem. My problem is that my car stereo is gone.
I'm down to a single installation of MS Office (2003) for these edge cases. I've yet to see something that's obliged me to fire it up due to a lack of compatibility
To be fair. I have old copies of Microsoft Office around. I use libreoffice, because. I can just download it, and I'm set to go, without worrying about discs or licenses. To be fair I think more is happening with libreoffice that interests me than Microsoft constant rehashing of the same product...thinks like android remote control for presentation, and persona from Firefox.
...a simple phone call will let you transfer the license over...just like when you replace hardware in a Windows machine and it tells you it needs to re-register itself...nothing to see here folks.
Adjust? F that.
I still use 2003 at home. There is nothing significant in any of the updates that I need, and the compatibility pack means I can open the latest document versions in 2003.
At work, we're stuck with whatever gets pushed by the server, which means 2012. But that's why God invented UBitMenu and similar addons.
The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
You mean they are perfectly fine to you, so everyone should like them.
Then you can move it to another machine.
Good thing I never upgraded from 2003. Why should I degrade to the ribbon just because of the year?
Out of modpoints but really liked a post? 1BDkF6TtmmeZ3yqXbz9yhdYVqRYnwFoXDj
2013 is going to be awful anyway. So were 2010 and 2007. I still have 2003 (which... I think I yoinked a copy of from my stepdad's work at the time, with his permission but not necessarily his work's). I see no reason to ever bother with any newer version. What have they actually added that I would want? What have they added at all, other than more bloat, and a crappy ribbon?
They can do what they like with that franchise; unlike with their OSes (where you're pretty much tied to the newest version when you buy a new computer), I'm under no compulsion to ever "upgrade".
...Yes, I am one too, but ever try to convert into Calc an Excel macro which relies on Microsoft or Windows References? Or a third party dll call? Or any formula where the syntax is different (let alone the maddening ";" delimiters instead of commas)?
Have you ever tried to work a mailmerge with conditionalized custom fields in Writer?
Sure, LibreOffice works for 90% (maybe 99.9%) of what people use an office suite for. No, really I am a fan and would love for it to reach the point where I never have to use MS Office again. I do use it at home and sometimes at work.
But I live in that 1% where I can't do my work without Microsoft Office and the pain of conversion far outweighs the current pricing models. Even though I hate them, think it is damn near criminal that we move from physical software on CD install-as-you-like to SAAS and morally indefensible, and wish somebody would topple MS down. Instead, we'll just take the pricing changes up the backside.
"Then they'll remove the option to run any native (non-script) code that does not have an approved digital signature. That will eliminate option A."
Sure. That will eliminate it... for about a week. Until someone cracks that, too (if it hasn't already been).
"Option B, in their eyes, has been proven to be non-viable especially since some of the largest Office-to-OO conversion projects have recently failed."
Yeah, but that's a large part of the point here. "Their eyes" are not necessarily seeing very clearly. If they don't understand how much market share they have lost to FREE software, then they're stumbling in the dark.
Which boils down to: who cares much about "their eyes"? The simple fact is that there have been a large number of such conversions "behind the scenes" which don't make the press and aren't "announced" to Microsoft.
(I should add that the just-released new version of Libre Office addresses most of those former compatibility issues with Office products.)
In the long run, what this amounts to is Microsoft being out of touch with the real market, and their customers. They aren't the giant in the room anymore.
I would rather haz cheeseburger. I asked ceiling cat about it, and he said Office 2013 is like dog pooh anyway. Just the latest and greatest dog pooh that is.
Well I notice jerky mouse movement and delays even when vmware is doing nothing and is only in the background.
I don't and I run Windows 8 in Parallels 7 on a 2006 MacPro which is pretty slow by today's standards. Did I mention I got a POS nVidia 7300GT? Not herky jerky at all and I play FS2004 (flight simulator), Office 2010, and SolSuite 2013.
What I do not understand is why all you people are still purchasing this stupid Office suite when LibreOffice is the same thing and does the same things and saves in Microsoft format and IT IS FREE. Stop buying that Microsoft Office suit. Start using Libre Office. It is FREE Get it here: http://www.libreoffice.org/#0
Man, putting things in folders inside of filing cabinets is such a pain in the ass. Why can't we just spread them all over the room in piles?
The home ribbon displays more than 40 buttons, and if the average person uses *maybe* a dozen of those. Why do you want buttons on the screen all the time that you never use?
It is far easier to look through the tabs on the ribbon to find something than it is to go through the old menus. At first I didn't like the ribbon, but now that I am used to it, I have found going back to office 2003 to be unusable. I don't know why you think having a couple more tabs is something to complain about, I think most people can figure out whether "mailings" would have the feature they are looking for. While some features have detailed popup menus as before, it is rare that I need to use those. It is much easier to go from one tab to another to find something, than to try and look through the dropdowns and find all the menus you can access from there.
Sure, some rarely-used features may be hard to find if they are not located on the ribbon, but I've done enough hunting through the old menus to know it's no worse in that respect.
I agree that the ribbon falls well short of its potential in Word due to 'Styles' taking up all that space, but even with that handicap I find it more useful.
My webcomic
I do think some of my problem is the whole disk encryption.
For the same reason that I don't want a completely empty desk, completely devoid of any tools to get anything done at all. I'll take a notebook or two, some loose-leaf paper, some paper clips, a stapler, some glue and white-out; a few holders containing several pens, highlighters, markers, etc in the back and corners... over a completely clean desk that has nothing I need, when I need it. Last I checked, the traditional toolbars pre-ribbon also contained such common functionality as formatting buttons, so it's not unique to the ribbon. Therefore, your analogy doesn't really make much sense.
I have a place for all my documents. It's called the file system. I'm talking about functionality within the program to perform operations on the loaded document. Again, poor analogy. The office suite does not necessarily organize your files... your operating system does.
Current office installs work the same way. You get x machines and there is no way to remove a machine. You use your x licenses and you're done. However a quick call to Microsoft and just like windows they'll fix it for you.
Moderated troll! Can you guys not detect humour ?
That might do it. I avoid FDE and only encrypt a few folders using Espionage for OSX.
True, breaking Microsoft's stranglehold will require a shift in corporate culture.
Yes. And that shift might be Tablets in the enterprise. I'm in IT for a large company, and we're scrambling to provide support for Apple and Android tablets because that's what the execs want and who are we to argue with the guys who sign our checks?
The thing is, not even the most pointy of pointy haired bosses around here thinks that Windows 8 tablets are a good idea, so we have to provide Office compatibility without actual Office. There are several solutions, but the POINT is, none of them are from Microsoft.
That, I think, is the motive force to finally break the stranglehold. Put simply: Because corporate users will want Office on appliances that Microsoft does not support. (Or more accurately, in a field of appliances in which Microsoft has no significant penetration.)
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.