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Retail Copies of Office 2013 Are Tied To a Single Computer Forever

Posted by Soulskill on from the just-what-users-were-clamoring-for dept.

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."

7 of 464 comments (clear)

  1. LibreOffice by gubon13 · · Score: 5, Informative

    You can haz open source solution with full MS Office compatibility...

  2. No. by rbmorse · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

    1. Re:No. by Kawahee · · Score: 5, Informative

      I think the grandparent has confused retail copies of Office 2013 with an Office 365 subscription. The latter requires an account (and I'm not sure how you'd facilitate a subscription without one).

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      I'll subscribe to Slashdot when I see a month without a dupe, a typo, or an article the "editors" didn't read.
  3. Compared to AppStore by gnasher719 · · Score: 5, Informative

    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?

  4. Re:What happens when the machine dies? by bcdonadio · · Score: 5, Informative

    I asked explicitly this question to Microsoft consumer care. They said: you will have to buy another copy. That's it folks. Just don't do business with this company: they don't know how to play.

  5. Credit where it is due by Idarubicin · · Score: 5, Informative
    It looks like the real legwork for this story was done by Adam Turner, from The Age. See "Does your copy of Office 2013 die with your computer?", from 11 Feb 2013.

    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.

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    ~Idarubicin
  6. Re:What happens when the machine dies? by LunaticTippy · · Score: 5, Informative

    What a humorous example! I've run into numerous stereos that have an antitheft feature where it requires a code after losing power. Some dealerships will provide the code for free, most won't. The real bad ones demand that you bring the car in for service and pay an hour of labor. Sometimes the code was provided to the original owner of the car, sometimes not. Good luck finding it, you're not supposed to keep it in the car.

    BTW, I've seen manufacturer's procedures for changing spark plugs call for disconnecting the battery. You'd literally have to phone them and re-activate your stereo every time you replaced your plugs. This has been going on since the 90s, and it is obvious you've never heard of it.

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    Man, you really need that seminar!