MS backs down on Office 2013 license transfer restrictions

[Arachno 1D]

Based on customer feedback we have changed the Office 2013 retail license agreement to allow customers to move the software from one computer to another. This means customers can transfer Office 2013 to a different computer if their device fails or they get a new one. Previously, customers could only transfer their Office 2013 software to a new device if their PC failed under warranty.

While the licensing agreement text accompanying Office 2013 software will be updated in future releases, this change is effective immediately and applies to Office Home and Student 2013, Office Home and Business 2013, Office Professional 2013 and the standalone Office 2013 applications. With this change, customers can move the software to another computer once every 90 days. These terms are identical to those found in the Office 2010 software.[/indent]

http://www.zdnet.com...200/?s_cid=e539

[Growled Member]

They really didn't have a whole lot of choice considering the uproar. Good move by them, though.

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

Good. I held off from upgrading for this reason alone. It shouldn't have been done in the first place though.

[Arachno 1D]

It does however put their yearly subscription into question after, all why would you pay for that when you can buy it outright?

[francescob]

It does however put their yearly subscription into question after, all why would you pay for that when you can buy it outright?

Because an office 2013 license is still for a single PC unlike 2010 that could be installed on 3 machines or previous versions that could be installed on 1 desktop and 1 laptop.

[Arachno 1D]

Yes you have the advantage of up to 5 PC installs for say a family but over the lifetime of your system will not the outright purchase work out cheaper per unit?

That and if you miss the yearly fee Office stops working has at least me looking for old license conventions.

[HawkMan]

Because an office 2013 license is still for a single PC unlike 2010 that could be installed on 3 machines or previous versions that could be installed on 1 desktop and 1 laptop.

The license is also the FULL office package, including outlook and publisher, and you get extra online storage. and full access to online office.

and of course the license is for office 365, not for office 365 2013

[Torolol]

if you're wish to repeatedly install the newest version of office whenever they available, office 365 is the way to go,

otherwise if you're content with exisiting office,

and do not wish to submit yourself to Microsoft planned obsolescene scheme,

choose Office 20xx.

[francescob]

The license is also the FULL office package, including outlook and publisher, and you get extra online storage. and full access to online office.

and of course the license is for office 365, not for office 365 2013

They could even subsidize a car in the subscription but I still don't see how forcing everybody to pay for all that because they crippled all other licenses can be good, very few people need more than word or excel. Also I don't really think that logging in to all your emails/documents on some random public computer that only God knows how much malware could run is a good idea either.

[Arachno 1D]

So given the license changes whats the advantages and disadvantages from each license version that people see?

[HawkMan]

They could even subsidize a car in the subscription but I still don't see how forcing everybody to pay for all that because they crippled all other licenses can be good, very few people need more than word or excel. Also I don't really think that logging in to all your emails/documents on some random public computer that only God knows how much malware could run is a good idea either.

web based editing isn't going to be affected by malware on the computer though. viruses aren't going to infect the web based editor :)

as they no longer crippled anything, they removed the 3 user license, that's all. but the single user license is now the same as it was.

So given the license changes whats the advantages and disadvantages from each license version that people see?

Depending on the country of residence, the best option is to buy an old 3 user office 2010 copy and upgrade it. if you live in a civilized country with consumer protection, MS is not allowed to "ugprade" you to an inferior product. So in most of europe they will have to offer you a 3 user version of 2013. while I believe in the US you get upgraded to 365.

[francescob]

web based editing isn't going to be affected by malware on the computer though. viruses aren't going to infect the web based editor :)

I wasn't talking about the editor: when you log on office live with your outlook account you have access to all your emails and skydrive documents so I don't think that opening your personal documents on some random public computer most of which still are full of java and other crappy software that could have let in an infinite amount of malware can be a good idea. I also don't understand all this craze of people not bringing their computers with them, the people I see using public computers are almost exclusively technologically illiterates, everybody who actually works on computer brings their smartphone or laptop with them.

as they no longer crippled anything, they removed the 3 user license, that's all. but the single user license is now the same as it was.

The previous retail license was for 3 devices while the new one is only for 1 device so if you have more than one computer (almost everybody does) you need to pay a license for each even if they're all yours. Many other companies have moved to per-user licenses especially now with app stores and people owning several devices while Microsoft instead has actually moved backwards, back to a per-device license straight from the 1980s. Even Apple once you buy OS X, iLife or iWork or buy a macbook/imac that comes with them grants you a license for all your other devices and everybody knows how much they're attached to money.

[JustGeorge]

Glad they reversed their decision, but they'll attempt it again at some point.

[francescob]

Glad they reversed their decision, but they'll attempt it again at some point.

This is the second time they try locking licenses to a single device, this same story repeated with Vista.

[HawkMan]

The previous retail license was for 3 devices while the new one is only for 1 device so if you have more than one computer (almost everybody does) you need to pay a license for each even if they're all yours. Many other companies have moved to per-user licenses especially now with app stores and people owning several devices while Microsoft instead has actually moved backwards, back to a per-device license straight from the 1980s. Even Apple once you buy OS X, iLife or iWork or buy a macbook/imac that comes with them grants you a license for all your other devices and everybody knows how much they're attached to money.

No, previously they sold both 1 liense and 3 license versions, they have not crippled anything, just removed the 3 license version.

your example sort of fails on a few important details though. the MS 5 users license can be used by multiple people on 5 computers at once, by 5 different people. the Apple license you compare it with is per person.

there's nothing backwards about this, just different ways, and for most people the MS version makes more sense, for those that the 365 license don't then the device license makes more sense.

And while they previously had a 3 device license, (it was actually 3 devices 1 person if you read the license correctly) it was very impractical insofar as reinstalling and such goes.

Also the Vista thing was an OEM license and that's how OEM licenses are supposed and always was supposed to work.

Glad they reversed their decision, but they'll attempt it again at some point.

no, they'll simply phase out the regular non 356 versions come the next two versions. well technically they already started a gradual phasing out.

[francescob]

No, previously they sold both 1 liense and 3 license versions, they have not crippled anything, just removed the 3 license version.

Previously they were selling a 1-PC OEM license and a 3-PC Retail license. The current license allows only 1 PC but it's a retail license, not OEM: it's not tied to new hardware. They may have phased out the other licenses but the remaining one has been changed to Retail so I don't see why they shouldn't be considered at the same level.

your example sort of fails on a few important details though. the MS 5 users license can be used by multiple people on 5 computers at once, by 5 different people. the Apple license you compare it with is per person.

It could even allow an infinite number of users but why should I care? It's not like you can do group buying with that. Does that justify everybody else have to pay much more just because Microsoft thinks it's cool to let a 5 years old Timmy that would have very likely just as content with Wordpad have their own Word, Excel or Powerpoint license? It may be better for families but it sucks for many other people.

there's nothing backwards about this, just different ways, and for most people the MS version makes more sense, for those that the 365 license don't then the device license makes more sense.

And while they previously had a 3 device license, (it was actually 3 devices 1 person if you read the license correctly) it was very impractical insofar as reinstalling and such goes.

I think it's pretty backwards when it forces everybody to pay more, before I only needed a license for 3 computers, now I need to either buy 2-3 licenses or pay the equivalent years of Office 365. There may be of course cases where the new licensing could be more convenient but there are tons of people who are going to get screwed with this new pricing scheme, people who just wanted a single office license to use on their personal devices like most people do with commercial software. Also even if the license was impractical (I actually never had problems reactivating it after every computer upgrade) they could have used the same system they use for office 365 on normal office licenses so that wouldn't be a problem.

Also the Vista thing was an OEM license and that's how OEM licenses are supposed and always was supposed to work.

The title of the page was clear: "News: Revision to Windows Vista retail licensing terms". It wasn't the OEM, it was the retail one (additional source: here), if it was just the OEM version I doubt anybody would have really cared.

[HawkMan]

Previously they were selling a 1-PC OEM license and a 3-PC Retail license. The current license allows only 1 PC but it's a retail license, not OEM: it's not tied to new hardware. They may have phased out the other licenses but the remaining one has been changed to Retail so I don't see why they shouldn't be considered at the same level.

No, the PKC edition was a regular 1 user retail version.

[francescob]

No, the PKC edition was a regular 1 user retail version.

"Each Product Key Card allows one user to activate one Office 2010 suite on one preloaded PC."

"The Office Product Key Card can only be installed on one PC. If you ever need to reinstall Office you can do so on the same PC on which Office was originally installed."

Sounds like OEM (technically upgrade from OEM) to me :wacko:. It's tied to the machine where the OEM version of office was preinstalled so it only works as an OEM license.

[HawkMan]

It's not OEM since firstly it's not provided with the OEM computer, it's sold retail, and MS and not the OEM partner provides product support.

and technically MS allows you to install it on non pre-loaded computers as well. May somewhat vary by region. but even where they say no, they will let you if you as and they provide the download for anyone so it doesn't need to be pre-loaded.

[+Warwagon MVC]

Definite step backwards. Most people buy office for word, excel and maybe PowerPoint. Which is why in my experience most of my customers bought the "Home and Student" version of Office. In the 2010 version for $130 you could install that on 3 different machines (at the same time). Now with the 2013 version you can only install it on 1.

I don't care if they now let you "transfer the license every 90 days", still a large step backwards.

[HawkMan]

problem is most people abused the 3 install license as a family license and as a 3 user license, it was never a 3 user license, it was a 1 user 3 computers license.

Most people actually use the office on only one of their computers, if they need it on others the web apps are sufficient. and for a family multi user situation which is what most people illegaly used the 3 license version as, the 5 user license now is a better deal.

[Shadrack]

Office 365 subscription would be a no brainer if MS actually released a new version of Office every year.

Just out of curiosity. If I were to subscribe to Office 365, and cancel my subscription would my Office installs stop working? I'd like to know both:

1) Do I technically lose licensing when my Office 365 subscription expires?

2) Even if my subscription expires, will my Office installations still work?

I might be more tempted to upgrade when the new Office for Mac comes out. Sucks that now the Home and Student versions are only 1 PC installs. Previous Home and Student versions for Mac and Windows were 3 and 5 installs.

[Torolol]

Office 365 subscription would be a no brainer if MS actually released a new version of Office every year.

yeah, MS most likely produce new version of Office every 3 or 4 years instead,

exception: Office 2000 - XP - 2003

1) Do I technically lose licensing when my Office 365 subscription expires?

if you're not renewing it, yes you'll lose the license.

2) Even if my subscription expires, will my Office installations still work?

it goes to read-only mode, no saving or editing possible.

there still unconfirmed rumor on how MS would deal with Office's SkyDrive when Office subscription are expired.

[Shadrack]

Thanks for the reply. Would there be any issues with Office installations from a single 365 sub to family member computers? I would want to install on my Wife's mac, and the family PC downstairs. Would they be prompted for my password continuously?