Office 2010 v. Office 2013

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I have to admit, I like new toys, and as toys go, computers and all the attached software and the upgrades rank right up there with the best of them for ongoing entertainment. But I think I am about to max out.

I have been reading about office 2013, and if MS thinks I will pay $100+ per year for software that may or may not change adequately enough to justify the charge…well…they must know me better than me.

Yes, I like new toys, and love the thrill of new software. But I do not think that I do enough to keep on paying for the same item repeatedly.

Regards,
Chuck Billow

Chuck Billow

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The annual subscription version of Office 365 is definitely geared toward a certain market. Plus this license is for up to 5 PCs, which means the cost is $20 each PC per year compared to Office 2013 Pro which is $399.99 per license. If a small office needs Office, but does not wish to purchase 5 full licenses, this does make sense to amortize the cost of Office over time for their PCs. Using Office 365 for that 5 PC office would cost $100 per year whereas buying 5 licenses to the equivalent stand alone version would cost $2000 up front. It would take roughly 20 years for that office to recoup it’s initial cost. For that office, the subscription is very cost effective.

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One thing to remember is that Microsoft has changed the licensing terms for the non-subscription Office 2013 SKUs. Each Office 2013 SKU is for ONE PC only and is tied to the ONE PC for the life of the PC. No more using Office on two PCs legally. If you get a new PC or another PC you must purchase another Office license the one you have is not transferable. This is changing the retail Office license to be more like the OEM license.

Joe

--Joe

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I am with Joe. What happens when they raise the price… which they will… that’s the whole point of the cloud.

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One thing to remember is that Microsoft has changed the licensing terms for the non-subscription Office 2013 SKUs. Each Office 2013 SKU is for ONE PC only and is tied to the ONE PC for the life of the PC. No more using Office on two PCs legally. If you get a new PC or another PC you must purchase another Office license the one you have is not transferable. This is changing the retail Office license to be more like the OEM license.

Joe

You really cant seriously believe that Microsoft has the disk space to record and keep forever, non-subscription info?

There has to be a point in time where they just kick off old data meaning that the original can then be installed on another machine, surely?

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You really cant seriously believe that Microsoft has the disk space to record and keep forever, non-subscription info?

There has to be a point in time where they just kick off old data meaning that the original can then be installed on another machine, surely?

I don’t know about keeping it forever (as long as your forever means what my forever means) but long enough to discourage that sort of use.

Joe

--Joe

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If a small office needs Office, but does not wish to purchase 5 full licenses, this does make sense to amortize the cost of Office over time for their PCs. Using Office 365 for that 5 PC office would cost $100 per year whereas buying 5 licenses to the equivalent stand alone version would cost $2000 up front. It would take roughly 20 years for that office to recoup it’s initial cost. For that office, the subscription is very cost effective.

Office 365 home is not licensed for business use. Office 365 Business is $20/mo ($240/yr)

Jerry

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Joe et al;

I think that here what has happened is that the change in marketing strategies by MS has or will cause the many who often upgrade in order to “stay current” are going to take a look instead at “need” as opposed to “want” or “Like.”

I know I have.

Chuck

Chuck Billow

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Fair enough, I was looking at the home pricing. In a situation where a home user has several PCs they wish to have Office on, the annual subscription of $100 for 5 PCs is much less than the cost of individual licenses for each PC. It would take 4 years of this 5 license subscription to equal the cost of a single traditional installation.

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But I think the only reason that multiple copies of Office reside in a home environment is only if it came free as in the past. Its too expensive in most cases when you have to purchase a separate license for each PC. So I feel the best comparison is against the cost of a single PC license vs Office 365 rental.

Jerry

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In my opinion there should be more flexibility, license wise, for Office 365. For a single user that needs a single license, the rental cost is clearly excessive. There should probably be an entry offer, maybe with Office use on 2 computers and costing probably $49 or so.

I also do not understand this extreme with the regular retail license being used on a single PC. Yes, they want to sell rentals, but they will alienate not a few users and may give open source alternatives some traction.

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The subscription cost is only clearly excessive if you have bought a license in the past and never upgrade Office. OTOH, if you upgrade Office the subscription price is not excessive. You are getting a license for Office Pro Plus not just Home & Student. I fully realize that as with Windows most people only upgrade Office with a new PC.

BTW, the “new” license terms are the same as the Office 2010 license terms if you purchase an Office 2010 key card.

Joe

--Joe

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I guess the whole point is that the OP was discussing his use of Office 2013 versus Office 365 for his personal home use, and for this specific use it appears the OP would take 3 to 4 years to recoup his initial investment compared to the Office 365 edition, which would work on up to 5 PCs. I know of many households with 3 or 4 PCs. In my house we have 2 laptops with Office Pro installed (my wife works for a local university and was able to get these at great discounts).

In looking at the Office 365 Home Editions, the $100 offer appears to be what used to be the Pro Edition, or very similar.

Also I would think a home based small business with up to 5 PCs could use this version without problems. In this case, it would seem to be considerably less expensive.

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Last time I looked, the deals for faculty and staff were only supposed to be used for work related computing at home, so …
Can Microsoft possibly believe this rule is followed?

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I have had about three office computers get a virus (AntiVirus Pro), and technical support cannot completely clean it, and they recommended formatting the hard drive and do a re-install, which I did. The problem with this license type (keycard license) is it can only be installed once, and that is a problem.

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I know of many households with 3 or 4 PCs. In my house we have 2 laptops with Office Pro installed (my wife works for a local university and was able to get these at great discounts).

But would you have paid for both copies if you had to buy each copy at full price? Some people would but I suspect most families wouldn’t. that’s why I claim the benchmark should be the cost of one copy vs subscription. Home and student (no Outlook) goes for $139. Break even is less than a year and a half. Home and Business is $220. Break even is about 2 years.

lso I would think a home based small business with up to 5 PCs could use this version without problems

Will it work – yes. Is it legal – no, it’s a business use. That said, I have lawyer clients that that use Home versions of Office illegally in their Office.

Jerry

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For what it’s worth, I think the new licensing will (after it’s caught a lot of people out) drive up use of open alternatives. My wife uses Open Office for her needs and it works perfectly well. OK, it probably doesn’t do some things MS Office can do (VBA being on of them I suppose) but she doesn’t need the bells and whistles and probably isn’t even aware they exist.

And I’m not sure how forgiving home users will turn out to be if they discover the cost of their new PC needs more dollars added in for Office (although I accept that the subscription pricing model might overcome that).

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Easy to tell I am reading mostly mail from younger folks. Picture having a PC and a laptop for years with Office Pro from your employer. You retire and Outlook is your email client ongoing. You keep up to date and just bought the latest Office Pro 2010. Now if I want to carry on I pay $99 per year or $249 times 2 for $498. On a set retirement income and nearly 75 years old what choice would you make. The only one that makes sense is migrate to something similar and give up Outlook. After I have no idea how many years (20 at least) Maybe give up Office in any format. I am going through the process now with Thunderbird.
Looked at Win 7 Live A Mail and the new online Outlook but Live mail has no provision for putting contacts in separate folders (Family ones – old business ones, etc.) and Outlook online is just that and no thanks.
I like MS generally but one starts to see that this kind of rip off sends folks away.

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Easy to tell I am reading mostly mail from younger folks. Picture having a PC and a laptop for years with Office Pro from your employer. You retire and Outlook is your email client ongoing. You keep up to date and just bought the latest Office Pro 2010. Now if I want to carry on I pay $99 per year or $249 times 2 for $498. On a set retirement income and nearly 75 years old what choice would you make. The only one that makes sense is migrate to something similar and give up Outlook. After I have no idea how many years (20 at least) Maybe give up Office in any format. I am going through the process now with Thunderbird.
Looked at Win 7 Live A Mail and the new online Outlook but Live mail has no provision for putting contacts in separate folders (Family ones – old business ones, etc.) and Outlook online is just that and no thanks.
I like MS generally but one starts to see that this kind of rip off sends folks away.

You can keep using Outlook 2010 for quite a few years. There are members happily running Office 2003, still, and even previous versions.

From my own experience using Office 2013, unless you use the cloud intensively, there are no game changing features in Office 2013. You will be fine with 2010.

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That pretty much answers it for me as well. I’d been toying with the idea of changing over…not any more though.

Thanks,
Chuck

Chuck Billow

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Comment to head of charitable organization. There is a company that provides free software to charitable organizations. I don’t know if this includes Canadian charities, but may be worth a try. It can be reached at techsoup.org.

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agree with @jwbillow+ No point in paying so much for home users. its outlook alone that keeps it alive.

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I have Office 2010 (professional version) on 4 of my computers. I am in the process of installing Office XP and Publisher 97 on these computers to replace 2010. I find that these “old” programs actually work better for my limited “depth” of use than the newer versions. I also am making this change to get away from the miserable Microsoft Ribbon. You can “preach” Open Office, but every time I send 20 people a document written from Open Office I get 2 or 3 responses, “I could not open the file.” I never get this from a document written in any version of Office. I do ALWAYS send in .doc form. I never use any office program with an “x” on the file extension – NEVER.

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My concern is the inability to migrate the Office Suite to a new computer in as much as you paid for it. The terms should be adjusted.

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Totally agree with you about the licensing. Unfortunately, Microsoft wants us all to subscribe for Office and pay an annual fee. Office 2013 is our last chance to pay once and own the license, only this time Microsoft is limiting us to only one computer.

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Ignoring the cost factors for a moment, I’ve got to say that Office 2013 or Office 365 offers some really nice productivity improvements in Excel, Word, and PowerPoint, especially Excel. I’ve been using Office 2013 trials and previews for 2-3 months and it does make a difference. The only downside is that Microsoft did something with Office 2013 that causes incompatibility problems if you’re also running the productivity-enhancing add-on Office Tab and the Windows utility GiMeSpace Desktop Extender. Outside of that — which is particularly irritating in Excel 2013 — the new Office is easier to use than Office 2010, faster, a bit more forgiving, and just plain better. Whether or not it’s worth the cost is up to each user. I do think that Microsoft is getting a little greedy with these price points.

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Had to add to the above – it is really even worse as I head a small charity here and use Publisher for so much of the posters and signs. If I went with the Pro version to get Publisher I would be looking at over $1000. Fortunately my “old” copy of Publisher works fine in Win 7 and 8.

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Hi – Some years ago, I discovered that the Serif PagePlus (from England) DTP program offers more professional features than Publisher does, and for less cost. Just an idea for you, in case it could be helpful.

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So, if I have purchased Office 2013 through work (and I have) for my PC at home…..then I have to purchase another copy for the wife’s PC? IOW, I can’t install the same version on 2 PCs?

Fortunately, through work the cost is $9.95 for Office 2013 .

Kevin

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@Chuck,

The main change for those who want the desktop programs in the traditional manner is the modification of the licensing terms to match the key card terms of Office 2010 (i.e. tying the Office suite to one PC). I don’t think the pricing has not changed much but I could be wrong. As I said before, Microsoft is trying to get people to change to a subscription. If that causes people to change their usage of Office I think they are willing to chance it. IMO, it won’t be too many releases before subscription is the only viable option for the vast majority of retail users.

Joe

--Joe

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Hello all.
A friend of mine, recently, was at a MS conference and pointed out to a dealer, MS, that he knew a person still using O2K on his W-8 machine. That MS person admitted that their worst competition in any Office type of SW, was the previous versions. I have used O2K on all my machines as they were upgraded in OS, Millennium, XP, Vista, W-7 and now W-8. No problem at all. If one has an install CD of any Office cum the license, it can be used on any one machine. Legally ? Let me know. I have had a dealer tell me that it would not run on any other OS. Poppycock ! JP.

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Office 2013 requires Windows 7 or Windows 8. Any install of Office 2013 that is NOT from Office 365 via click-to-run is tied to the original PC on which it was installed. If you install it on another PC it will not activate. The only published exception to this is if you have a machine that is replaced under warranty. Even then, you must contact Microsoft for an product/activation key.

Joe

--Joe

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Hello, JoeP. “Office 2013 requires Windows 7 or Windows 8. Any install of Office 2013 that is NOT from Office 365 via click-to-run is tied to the original PC”.

It had to come and be. Just like W-8 that is now tied to the PC that defined the provided keys. WPA has been refined to the good. This did not exist when O2K was produced and it allowed me to install it on my succession of computors. That MS dealer that I mentioned was honest enough to admit to this “competition” when others adamantly insisted that I had to buy a new version. A word to the wise. Jean.

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RETAIL versions of Office prior to Office 2013 were able to be moved from one PC to another legally (but not the key card version of Office 2012 or any OEM version).

Joe

--Joe

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I won’t use subscription services for software, and I’m not exactly ecstatic about either Office 2013 or Windows 8. It seems to me that sticking with what I have for the foreseeable future makes a lot of sense.

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I have a Microsoft subscription, and when I rebuilt my PC with Win8 I installed Office 2013. Within hours, however, I had uninstalled it and installed Office 2010. Why?

1. Office 2013 is “optimised” for Win 8 touch screens – which means it is as “ugly as sin”.

2. Outlook 2013 has major “enhancements” to IMAP – which simply do not work (at least with my ISP’s IMAP servers).

I am perfectly happy with 2010 and as far as I can see 2013 has few actual enhancements.

P

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P.;

I pretty much concur. I have generally been driven by a “can’t live without it” feature, and, maybe I’m just getting old, but Office 2013 ain’t got any. This is the first time in severl iterations that I am deciding to “pass” on the upgrade, but I am.

Chuck

Chuck Billow

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Old versions continue to do just fine

I agree with john3347, Office 2000 works just fine on my XP and Win 7 computers. No darn ribbon, and the Word macros written way back when I had Word2 still work just fine. Haven’t had to spend a dime on upgrades that would provide no extra value for me.

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It’s very easy to save files in an older Office format when using OpenOffice.

Though some formatting goes funky in the translation, it’s not enough to pry the money out of me.

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I can purchase a license for Office 2013 (Professional Plus) under the Home Use Program for only $9.95, so cost is not a factor for me. It’s more a question of: Do I want to ‘upgrade’ to Office 2013 when I’m perfectly happy with Office 2010? I’m still thinking about that. I haven’t yet found enough compelling reasons to upgrade, and the new interface is u-g-ly. Still, O2013 is new, and there will be plenty of updates for it.

Microsoft’s new method for distributing Office is called Click-to-Run. Beware! In typical fashion, Microsoft talks it up like it’s so wonderful while disguising some inconvenient truths:

1- There is no install process per se. Instead, you get ready-to-use software directly from Microsoft’s servers via a download manager that MS calls the “bootstrapper”.
2- You cannot customize the installation. You get the entire Office suite plus whatever else Microsoft decides to add.
3- You cannot ‘repair’ your installation. All you can do is uninstall and reinstall.

I was able to avoid C2R by downloading the 60-day evaluation version of the Office 2013 (from TechNet) which still installs the ‘old fashioned’ way. I’m not sure if the same is possible with Office 365.

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I have Office 2010 upgrade from 2007 Home and Student which i am happy with even though there is the dreaded ribbon. For those, like me, who dislike the ribbon there is a third party product http://www.ubit.ch/software/ubitmenu-languages/ that provides the best of both worlds. You can choose the old menu system or the ribbon at will. Free for home use !!!!!!
Staying with the thread, I flatly refuse to use a product that requires regular payments (rent) and am sure there are many others with the same attitude. Much better to pay to update a product as and when necessary than be in a situation where a missed payment can remove your software.
MS seems to be on a self destruct plan with this move and the poor response to Windows 8. get the pricing right and you can sell anything.

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Old versions continue to do just fine

I agree with john3347, Office 2000 works just fine on my XP and Win 7 computers. No darn ribbon, and the Word macros written way back when I had Word2 still work just fine. Haven’t had to spend a dime on upgrades that would provide no extra value for me.

I can tell you that my Office97 Pro with Development tools works beautifully on both Windows 7 Pro 64 and Windows 8 Pro 64 and Windows 7 x86. I don’t use Outlook so that is not a hindrance. I have no reason to “upgrade” for more unnecessary expense.

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If you are buying Office 2013 Pro Plus then you get the traditional install package. The click-to-run under Office 365 is called Office 365 Pro Plus even thought the applications are the same.

With Office 365 Microsoft is attempting to move away from the reliance on a version (i.e. 2013) to indicate a significant update. Office 365 servicing is scheduled to be quarterly including the Office 365 desktop programs.

With Office 365 Home Premium you get rights to install the Office desktop programs on 5 devices. With Office 365 business plans that include the desktop programs each user gets rights to install the desktop programs on 5 devices – there is no need to pay extra.

Joe

--Joe

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I am using Office 2000 Premium on my home machine (running Windows 7). I know that Outlook won’t work right, so I don’t use that, but the other applications seem to work fine, and with the Compatibility download, I haven’t had any problem opening the 2007 version files. So what do I gain by upgrading to another version that requires activation?

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I am using Office 2000 Premium on my home machine (running Windows 7). I know that Outlook won’t work right, so I don’t use that, but the other applications seem to work fine, and with the Compatibility download, I haven’t had any problem opening the 2007 version files. So what do I gain by upgrading to another version that requires activation?

All of the safety, stability, and features through five major versions of Office (XP, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013). :rolleyes: The list is way too long to even try enumerate here. You can start at Wikipedia – Microsoft Office for more information and links to inidividual version articles.

Joe

--Joe

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You may think it is semantics but you did not purchase the software. You purchased a license to use the software. That license has terms associated with it that the owner, Microsoft, can set as they wish and to which you must agree to use the software. If you don’t like the terms then don’t purchase the software.

BTW, if you have an OEM version of Office or a keycard version of Office 2010 currently there is no change in the license terms. OEM software has always been limited to the machine on which it was originally purchased the same as Windows. The keycard version of Office 2010 is limited to one PC too.

Microsoft is obviously trying to move to a subscription model. They are trying to make it more attractive to subscribe than purchase a traditional license.

Joe

--Joe

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It can be reinstalled on the same computer more than once. If validation fails, try phone activation.

Jerry

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My use is for home/home office.
Currently using Office 2000 on a Win 7 Home Premium system with no issues other than Outlook which I never have used.
Downloaded .docs and .xls ( not a common occurrence for me ) are being opened in a sandbox.
Email and attachments are opened in a sandbox.
So far, no malicious issues ( knock on wood ).

Since I’m already booting a virtual Win2k in order to run Delorme Topo 3 and Acrobat 8 Pro, it wouldn’t be much hassle to run Office 2000 the same way when I eventually upgrade my Host OS to a Windows version that won’t run Office 2000.

While this may be inconvenient for many to set up, since I’m already using a virtual os to run software……it would be convenient for me.

Might even come a day when my Host os is a distro of Linux and I’m doing all my ‘work’ in a Win2k Guest os with old MS apps I already have licenses for.

( M$—–> ouch! )

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Hi Chuck,

What do you mean about Office 2013?

Is Office 2013 have come in industry or coming soon?

Office 2013 is officially available. You can read more about it at Office.com[/url].

Joe

--Joe

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HERE is what leading industries are said to be using.

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HERE is what leading industries are said to be using.

Those are not unusual results for a new release of Office. For many years the primary competition for a new Office release is the existing Office base.

Joe

--Joe

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For all the sound and fury over pricing, and the many alternatives mentioned, one name never seems to be mentioned: Corel WordPerfect Office. I do not have a vested interest in it, but I think the many users agonizing over features and price should consider it.

WordPerfect Office is the one direct competitor for Microsoft Office and, except for old-timers, it does not seem to be on the mental map of anyone in this forum.

The suite has WordPerfect, the word-processor, Quattro Pro, the spreadsheet, Presentations, and in the Pro version it has Paradox, the database. All are compatible with their equivalents in Microsoft Office, and all can be easily converted.

Word 2013 now has a feature equivalent to Reveal Codes, a twentieth-century feature of WordPerfect that WP has been using in advertising for years because users like it and Word lacked it, and better PDF support than previously, something that WP has had for years.

The suite costs less than MS Office, and if you have a version of Office you probably qualify for the upgrade price. The font set alone is worth the price of admission. You can download a trial (sans fonts) free of charge. It is a mainstream product with no quirky changes to adapt it to a touchscreen.

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For many people that use Office at work, though, they just don’t want to use something different at home. I was a WP user for many years bur Office just eventually took over.

Now, the color scheme for Office 2013 SUCKS.

Hopefully, MS will offer some more color schemes SOON. That alone, could make some users switch to WP, I would think.

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One limitation that I forgot to apply is that WP does not have the equivalent of Outlook, which is a very big feature for many.

I admit I was dismayed at the appearance that no one even knows of it or at least mentions it, especially when it runs under their standard Windows operating system (and can run beside MS Office), and I just wanted to make people aware of it when they seem to be catching at straws with what struck me as far-fetched ideas. WP is absolutely middle-of-the-road Windows software, and Outlook aside, a competitive alternative to MS Office.

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