Main Area and Open Discussion > General Software Discussion

MS Office 2013 Home/Business - non-transferable (1 PC p.person) - Caveat emptor.

(1/6) > >>

IainB:
I subscribe to Office Watch (was "WOW" or Woody's Office Watch).
They just sent out an interesting bit of information that you can find on their website:
Are you sure about non-transferable?
(Some pertinent snippets quoted below, sans embedded hyperlinks/images.)
Office 2013 can't be moved from the computer you first install it on - we’re quite sure.

..." How can I use the software?

We do not sell our software or your copy of it – we only license it. Under our license we grant you the right to install and run that one copy on one computer　(the licensed computer) for use by one person at a time, but only if you comply with all the terms of this agreement. Our software license is permanently assigned to the licensed computer. "

or

"Can I transfer the software to another computer or user?　

You may not transfer the software to another computer or user.　"

It’s the same wording for both Retail and OEM copies of Office 2013. OEM copies are sold, usually pre-installed, on new computers...

...Amazon is more careful about disclosing the Office 2013 terms. One of the bullet point ‘Product Features’ is:
"One time purchase for the life of your PC; non-transferrable"...

--- End quote ---

tomos:
and as you say in the title, only one install allowed (formerly 2 allowed)
There’s no doubt that retail purchases of Office 2013 are for a SINGLE PC and NOT transferable from that computer after installation. Unlike retail versions of past Microsoft Office which allowed two installations that could be transferred to another computer.
--- End quote ---

good for the competition I hope:
the competition have some ideas :) (this mainly about price and number of licenses):
http://softmaker.com/english/blog/?p=435
-tomos (February 07, 2013, 04:12 PM)
--- End quote ---

The single machine license Office 2013 is another desperate attempt on MS's part to squeeze its lemon cash cow (sorry for mixed metaphors) and push people towards its subscription-based cloud model. I can't see how it can possibly be a good thing for them to do. Office apps are already becoming less relevant, competition such as the FREE LibreOffice is getting better all the time, and why would you want to upgrade if you already have Office 2010? To give students a single machine license will just push students (the future generation of office workers!) not to bother with MS Office at all. There are increasingly fewer reasons why they should need MS Office anyway.
-dr_andus (February 08, 2013, 03:25 AM)
--- End quote ---


another related thread: MS Office Subscriptions Now

Cloq:
hm.. good thing I have license to use thinapp.. hello thinapp office2013!  ;D

IainB:
Yes, it seems a very strange marketing strategy - increasingly restrictive and controlling for the Customer. I suspect that only someone with more money than sense would buy the MS Office 2013 Home/Business product knowing the licence constraints. The advice otherwise would seem to be to avoid it altogether - the product is effectively in a product lifecycle cul-de-sac (a dead end). Why would a user want to be trapped in such a business relationship with the behemoth Microsoft?

As for MS Office 365, well, I guess that from Microsoft's $$$ perspective maybe there is potentially "one born every minute".

Increasingly Libre/OpenOffice and others are looking better by comparison, and of course the Google Docs alternative too - though Google's unilateral and without a "by-your-leave" shutting down of many of its other offerings is likely to ensure that no prudent user could seriously commit to Google Docs without swallowing a load of potential risk - e.g., a decision to decommission the service could happen overnight, leaving you high and dry.

40hz:
Increasingly OpenOffice is looking better by comparison,
-IainB (February 13, 2013, 05:53 PM)
--- End quote ---

You'd be much better off with LibreOffice - and wise to avoid OpenOffice.

They've just released Version 4 btw. 8)

 :Thmbsup:

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page