Office 2016 - Microsoft

[WebSnyper]

Glad it works out well for you.

I just can't stand this new 'rental' model for software. It's like they artificially inflated the prices of their products to make this seem more attractive.

Very little is going to actually change in an office suite for the next 20 years. What more can they do in a word processor that it doesn't already do? Aesthetic changes, that's about it. The reality is that we're reaching a point where nobody wants to pay $350 for Word with a different color scheme. I've been using Office 2007 at work since, well, 2007 and it works just fine for me. I've used 2013 as well, does the exact same stuff. Looks a little cooler I guess. Not $350 (PER COMPUTER) cooler.

Now that nobody wants to pay for upgrades any more, they've come up with a new scheme that lets them collect money from you every year until the end of time - and at the end of it, you own nothing.

At least Netflix gives you new content every once in a while.

For your use (which sounds pretty basic), you could probably get by using the online Microsoft Office apps that are free, even without an O365 subscription. Word Online, Excel Online, etc all free... No O365 subscription required. But keep on barking about paying too much if you like. https://www.office.com/?WT.mc_id=Office_Products_site

If you are only seeking to do what you did with the product back in 2007, then yes, the product isn't going to feel much different to you. However, for folks doing business intelligence for example, Excel has added quite a bit since then. For enterprises there are a lot of new features in newer versions... https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office-365-enterprise-value-service-description.aspx

As others have said, if your company has a Home Use Program on their licensing agreement, you can get Office really cheap (as others have stated typically $9.95). If you have a kid in school that uses O365, then most likely you are entitled to a free O365 subscription, if your company uses O365, you may be entitled to a free or very low price O365 subscription... and there are a couple of options on O365 for home use as well https://products.office.com/en-us/buy/compare-microsoft-office-products if you don't need the extra 5 PCs/5 Tablets, etc... but again, keep barking if you think you are paying too much.

Most software companies are going to a subscription based model. It allows them to keep folks on the newest versions, with the newest features, and have a fairly steady revenue doing so. It also keeps companies from having to support several flavors/versions on various hardware platforms (Microsoft currently supports most enterprise/business products for 10 years after release). The old model of releasing a complete new version every 3 or 4 years is gone, and companies that continue to follow that model are going to have trouble staying competitive.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Oh, and one other tidbit. My boss (who handles our MS Enterprise Agreement) mentioned the other day that per our MS rep, 2016 is the last version to be released as a standalone perpetual license. The next version of Office will ONLY be released in the subscription model. (O365) Possibly also only through an EA, but Im not sure about that.

They arent the first. Adobe has done it with their suite, so has Autocad. The subscription model is the new fad.

Sorry to be a Debbie Downer.

 

[PistolBob]

Oh, and one other tidbit. My boss (who handles our MS Enterprise Agreement) mentioned the other day that per our MS rep, 2016 is the last version to be released as a standalone perpetual license. The next version of Office will ONLY be released in the subscription model. (O365) Possibly also only through an EA, but Im not sure about that.

They arent the first. Adobe has done it with their suite, so has Autocad. The subscription model is the new fad.

Sorry to be a Debbie Downer.

In a lot of ways the MS Enterprise Agreement is a subscription. You have to true up with them on a regular schedule, and pay the piper. The MS EA cost is based on number of seats...as that number goes up or down the annual price changes.

I'm happy with O365 purchasing options, and my previous employer was an O365 subscriber...so we got a copy at home under that contract....but when I left the company it stopped working...as expected. I'm trying to get my new employer to go O365 as well...for obvious reasons. :-)

 

[steveh_131]

But keep on barking about paying too much if you like.

I will, thank you.

If you are only seeking to do what you did with the product back in 2007, then yes, the product isn't going to feel much different to you. However, for folks doing business intelligence for example, Excel has added quite a bit since then. For enterprises there are a lot of new features in newer versions

I'm sure there's a few new things, but $350 worth of new things every couple years? I doubt it. I actually do business intelligence development and have used a couple of the new features from time to time. An optional $50 upgrade fee every few years would be more reasonable for what they offer.

My point is that I think they are inflating the price to ridiculous levels to pave the way for this subscription model - and now everybody thinks that permanent annual overhead for an office suite is a great deal.

but again, keep barking if you think you are paying too much.

Oh thank you, don't worry. I plan to.

Most software companies are going to a subscription based model. It allows them to keep folks on the newest versions, with the newest features, and have a fairly steady revenue doing so. It also keeps companies from having to support several flavors/versions on various hardware platforms (Microsoft currently supports most enterprise/business products for 10 years after release). The old model of releasing a complete new version every 3 or 4 years is gone, and companies that continue to follow that model are going to have trouble staying competitive.

The problem is that for 90% of users, the office suite is simply complete. Instead of innovating, Microsoft wants to keep selling the same digital product to the same people over and over again. The subscription model is the best way to do so. I get it, I just ain't gonna pay it.

 

[JTScribe]

On one hand it's nice that the Office apps are using the XML-encoded file formats (.DOCX, .XLSX) because those are open-source. So you should always be able to open a recent Office document in something like Open Office.

I have Word but I barely use it, I do the vast majority of my writing in Scrivener. It works much better for long format docs than Word IMO. And it was only $40. There are always alternatives.

 

[WebSnyper]

I will, thank you.



I'm sure there's a few new things, but $350 worth of new things every couple years? I doubt it. I actually do business intelligence development and have used a couple of the new features from time to time. An optional $50 upgrade fee every few years would be more reasonable for what they offer.

My point is that I think they are inflating the price to ridiculous levels to pave the way for this subscription model - and now everybody thinks that permanent annual overhead for an office suite is a great deal.



Oh thank you, don't worry. I plan to.



The problem is that for 90% of users, the office suite is simply complete. Instead of innovating, Microsoft wants to keep selling the same digital product to the same people over and over again. The subscription model is the best way to do so. I get it, I just ain't gonna pay it.

So why buy it then? You have 10 years of patches/support for each boxed version of the software (under current Microsoft lifecycle policy).If you truly only need the basics the web versions are actually free, no need to buy Office 365 or a boxed version in that case.

There are other options. Microsoft is not forcing anyone to buy anything.

The same folks who often complain about this often line up to buy other tech companies' same old rehashed stuff every year.

I get it if you don't want to buy the product, but Microsoft makes a lot of options available to use the product without paying much/if anything. It just seems a lot of folks expect Microsoft or other companies to give away their products.

 

[steveh_131]

So why buy it then? You have 10 years of patches/support for each boxed version of the software (under current Microsoft lifecycle policy).If you truly only need the basics the web versions are actually free, no need to buy Office 365 or a boxed version in that case.

There are other options. Microsoft is not forcing anyone to buy anything.

The same folks who often complain about this often line up to buy other tech companies' same old rehashed stuff every year.

I get it if you don't want to buy the product, but Microsoft makes a lot of options available to use the product without paying much/if anything. It just seems a lot of folks expect Microsoft or other companies to give away their products.

I never said anybody was forcing me to buy their products.

I'm explaining why I don't like their pricing model or their products and will not be paying money for them - especially with open source software available that is just as capable for most purposes.

That was the question in the OP, after all.

 

[Double T]

I bought office. I need it for school, and my kids need it for school. I had used openoffice up until this point, and I submitted an assignment via school's site, and the professor could not open/read the openoffice.doc file. Was pretty frustrating. Office is pretty slick IMO, and I'm REALLY digging the changes to excel. The UI seems to be much better, and the response time (even on my 7y.o. PC) is much faster than openoffice.

 

[OneBadV8]

Looking to move to the latest Office...2016...its like $350 a copy or I can get on Office 365 for $70 a year...they come out with a new Office every 3 years...for $99 a year I can get Office 365 and a 5 PC license to put the software on up 5 PC's I own...both accounts offer a 1 TB OneDrive in the cloud of Microsoft and a hour of Skype every month....

Why wouldn't I want to go with Office 365.

With all their apps going to the cloud, there really isn't a reason you shouldn't go with Office 365.

 

[danimal]

To Steve's point the basics of the MSO suite aren't going to drastically change version to version. Sure, Excel is going to continuously get new functions and capabilities, Word will get some new formatting goodies here and there. But the real problems happen when users with the older versions open docs saved with the new capabilities introduced in the new versions can't be read or properly displayed in the older versions. My opinion, if you need to share documents with others frequently, doing a 365 subscription is probably cost effective for you. If you only use it do make personal documents that you almost never have to share with others, then buying a boxed version and sitting on it until it doesn't work anymore would be the better bet.

 

[steveh_131]

I bought office. I need it for school, and my kids need it for school. I had used openoffice up until this point, and I submitted an assignment via school's site, and the professor could not open/read the openoffice.doc file. Was pretty frustrating.

And this right here ^^^ is why they offer 'free' copies to students and professors and such and make file compatibility extra complicated - now everybody is hooked in.

That, plus their monopoly in most public school classrooms is an extra nail in the coffin for me. I won't pay them a dime.

But that's just me.

 

[OneBadV8]

there are also free online versions...


https://office.live.com/start/Word.aspx?omkt=en-US

 

[WebSnyper]

And this right here ^^^ is why they offer 'free' copies to students and professors and such and make file compatibility extra complicated - now everybody is hooked in.

That, plus their monopoly in most public school classrooms is an extra nail in the coffin for me. I won't pay them a dime.

But that's just me.

Many public schools use Google Docs, iPads, etc. Believe me, there is not a Microsoft monopoly by any means in public schools.

Again, as many have stated, there are free versions directly from MS that you can use, again without paying them a dime.

 

[WebSnyper]

To Steve's point the basics of the MSO suite aren't going to drastically change version to version. Sure, Excel is going to continuously get new functions and capabilities, Word will get some new formatting goodies here and there. But the real problems happen when users with the older versions open docs saved with the new capabilities introduced in the new versions can't be read or properly displayed in the older versions. My opinion, if you need to share documents with others frequently, doing a 365 subscription is probably cost effective for you. If you only use it do make personal documents that you almost never have to share with others, then buying a boxed version and sitting on it until it doesn't work anymore would be the better bet.

I believe there is capability in most versions to save documents at a lower compatible version, just FYI. So, if you have a newer version that for some reason would not be compatible with someone you are sharing with, you can typically save it a compatible version. I'm not sure that is as much of an issue with the new open formats on the docs, but if it is, you might want to check out that feature.

 

[JTScribe]

Many public schools use Google Docs, iPads, etc. Believe me, there is not a Microsoft monopoly by any means in public schools.

Again, as many have stated, there are free versions directly from MS that you can use, again without paying them a dime.

Yeah, our school uses Google Docs. My kid rolled his eyes when he said he did a presentation and I said, oh, did you do it in PowerPoint?

"Duh, no, Google Docs, Dad."

 

[WebSnyper]

Yeah, our school uses Google Docs. My kid rolled his eyes when he said he did a presentation and I said, oh, did you do it in PowerPoint?

"Duh, no, Google Docs, Dad."

Then reply, ah, you should have used Sway ... and see what he says ;-)

 

[steveh_131]

Many public schools use Google Docs, iPads, etc. Believe me, there is not a Microsoft monopoly by any means in public schools.

Yes, that has been a fairly recent trend and I'm glad to see it. However, it was darn near a monopoly for many years - and that is why several generations are now completely dependent on it.