Why Office 365 is a better deal than Office 2013

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	BEST SOFTWARE Why Office 365 is a better deal than Office 2013
	By Tony Bradley The subscription-based Microsoft service Office 365 still has detractors, suspicious of its value and confused about its cost. But here are the reasons the holdouts against Office 365 should rethink their positions.

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Perhaps that is why I use Office 2007 and 2010, which allow the installation on a desktop and “a portable device”. Check out the EULA on both of them. I just don’t see the value proposition to spend money to make it more difficult to find same functions in a different location.

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Perhaps that is why I use Office 2007 and 2010, which allow the installation on a desktop and “a portable device”. Check out the EULA on both of them. I just don’t see the value proposition to spend money to make it more difficult to find same functions in a different location.

+1

I do the same as you, and think the same way.

I have Office 2010 and recently trialled Office 2013 due to it reportedly having better IMAP caching / handling. The trial did not last very long, I found the GUI a complete mess, it was like working with the online versions of apps which I had assumed were in their particular style to avoid bandwidth issues when interfacing with them online. My eyes actually ached, it was a confusing, flat, white (or grey option) expanse of icons that were very hard to differentiate and navigate quickly. It’s really not an issue of familiarity, it’s an issue of very poor GUI design and ignoring desktop / laptop (non-touch) users once again.

I cannot imagine subscribing to Office 365 and having to suffer arbitrary yet completely fundamental design and function changes at the whim of some “bright” young thing at MS who unfortunately don’t possess REAL WORLD business experience, I’ve already got that issue with Outlook.com, especially removing essential functions such as read receipts and restricting alias names for commercial reasons to make Office 365 a more compelling upgrade….NO WAY JOSE !!!

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I don’t buy (or lease) a new car every year. it is not financially sound. some might be use to all the subscription fees in today’s world but I call it robbery.

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Or use a free alternative like LibreOffice.

cheers, Paul

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Or use a free alternative like LibreOffice.

cheers, Paul

I have used LibreOffice, OpenOffice and even the fore-runner of all these called StarOffice 15+ years ago and whilst reasonable for many users I simply cannot get adequate compatibility with MS Office formats, essential for me due to my business / professional needs.

Just two days ago I tried again on a Powerpoint file, tried to then edit it in OpenOffice and once again experience significant show-stopping formatting issues, so I had to drop the idea again.

Interestingly the same day I also downloaded a “Made in Germany” software called Softmaker FreeOffice, tried opening the same pptx file and it handled the formatting correctly, I was extremely surprised and pleased and will continue to evaluate this interesting Office alternative, it seems to have been around a few years although I don’t recall seeing it before.

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Interestingly the same day I also downloaded a “Made in Germany” software called Softmaker FreeOffice, tried opening the same pptx file and it handled the formatting correctly, I was extremely surprised and pleased and will continue to evaluate this interesting Office alternative, it seems to have been around a few years although I don’t recall seeing it before.

Yes, it is excellent.

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Another option that may be useful to some readers is Microsoft’s Office 365 for Non Profit scheme. I recently helped a local community centre to update their PCs and install a wi-fi router etc. Only by luck discovered that for not for profit organisations MS give some very good ‘donations’ as they term them. This scheme is available in the UK too now and although you quite correctly have to jump through a few hoops to prove you are not for profit – easy if you are a registered charity – it is definitely worth it. Especially if you have several users on site.
Basic Office 365 is free I believe but didn’t suit this organsiation as they needed some advanced features not available that way but even so the annual cost is very reasonable.
Definitely worth checking out this if you our your clients qualify.

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You forgot about the best and cheapest way to get stand alone versions of Office… work for a company that has a mass license and use the discount to get your copy. I’ve never paid over $20 for a Professional level copy of Office.

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For students with a .edu email they get the best deal, $79 for a 4 year subscription

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A three-install copy of the perfectly adequate for the vast majority of people Student & Home 2010 cost between $110 and $140, depending on when and where one got to it. I’m missing the math of paying $75 or $100/yr for Office 365. By a great deal!

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I am sorry that this model, Office 365, concept is gaining ground. I use Office 2010 and because of their change in policy (# of machines on which you can load it), I don’t plan to upgrade ever; unless they change this policy. I liked 2007 better except for PowerPoint and upgraded to 2010 for that reason. I leased a car one time and hated it and could not wait to get out of it.
I like to have programs that are paid for and if I should become financially challenged or Microsoft should raise its least rates too high or change its program making it less friendly (e.g., Win8), that it would not affect me. I could still make presentation, write articles, use my spreadsheets, publish my booklets, maintain a mailing list, take notes and send emails, at no additional program cost.

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This article bother me, and I address my comments to the author, as follows:

“no lower-cost alternative suite has made a significant dent in Office’s massive market share.”

You incorrectly assume that market share is an accurate reflection of quality and/or value. That is just lazy thinking and naive, as well. It’s just as foolish as believing that high price is an indicator of value for software. I’m sure that you, like me, use many excellent programs that are absolutely free – because they do the job well.

“Sure, you can still buy WordPerfect or use free suites such as LibreOffice”…

I would add to your list the excellent SoftMaker Office for Windows, which comes in free and very inexpensive versions. It does everything you could want that Office does, does it the same way, and does some things Office can’t do. It is also perfectly compatible with Office file formats – in both directions.

“Office is still the de facto standard”

For someone shopping for software, that phrase is completely without value. All you have to do is look at what is available.

“But if you are going to buy the suite, going the subscription route is easily the best value — especially for personal use.”

Nonsense – especially for”personal use”.

Your article was written to help less tech savvy people make an informed buying decision. Instead, it is merely a Microsoft commercial.

By the way, I am not an anti-MS nut, or a linux or Mac fanboy. I’ve been working in every phase of IT for 27 years, use MS stuff all the time at work and home, and like it.

cavehomme said, “having to suffer arbitrary yet completely fundamental design and function changes at the whim of some “bright” young thing at MS”

Absolutely! Wait until they add a “feature” that needs more horsepower than you have. Then what? Buy a new PC? Back away from the subscription and start all over?

Adobe Creative Suite, is even a worse lock in.

The best solution for businesses or personal use is to BUY the software you need, and do not upgrade until you have a compelling reason to do so. Use it forever if you can.

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cavehomme said, “having to suffer arbitrary yet completely fundamental design and function changes at the whim of some “bright” young thing at MS”

Absolutely! Wait until they add a “feature” that needs more horsepower than you have. Then what? Buy a new PC? Back away from the subscription and start all over?

That statement is wrong. You can configure Office never to update, even when security updates are available.

Microsoft released quarterly results and it seems there are 9 million Office 365 users and that number keeps increasing. Many people do not upgrade because upgrades are usually expensive. It seems to me that Microsoft stroke a nice balance between value and cost. The value of the unlimited OneDrive storage alone is more than the current cost of the Office subscription. I know, because I used to pay $87 / year for 100 GB of storage. With Office 365, that makes no sense, any more.

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While looking for an answer for a OneDrive question for another member, I followed the breadcrumbs to Office 365. I haven’t used OneDrive because of the limited “free” storage space initially offered. I’ve got 95GB of music, over 21GB of pictures, over 20GB of docs/data files—what good is a handful of GB “in the cloud”?

But just this morning, I see that for $99.99 yearly I can get 1TB of OneDrive plus Office 365 Home, which includes installation on 5 PC’s and 5 tablets and 5 phones. I have Office Home and Business 2010 for which I paid $224.99, and gives me installation rights for 2 PC’s, and Windows 8.1 which gives me 15GB OneDrive storage free. Office 2010 is on my main desktop and my main laptop. I’ve got another desktop and another laptop with Office 2000. Can you see where I’m going with this?

For an individual, maybe not a great deal, but then that depends on the individual’s circumstances. For a family of 3 or 4 (one or two in high school/college) with a proliferation of devices, it looks like one heckuva deal. As for unforeseen/unwanted “feature” updates, those can be blocked with some configuration options. And 1TB of OneDrive storage per user? Doesn’t look all that bad.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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While looking for an answer for a OneDrive question for another member, I followed the breadcrumbs to Office 365. I haven’t used OneDrive because of the limited “free” storage space initially offered. I’ve got 95GB of music, over 21GB of pictures, over 20GB of docs/data files—what good is a handful of GB “in the cloud”?

But just this morning, I see that for $99.99 yearly I can get 1TB of OneDrive plus Office 365 Home, which includes installation on 5 PC’s and 5 tablets and 5 phones. I have Office Home and Business 2010 for which I paid $224.99, and gives me installation rights for 2 PC’s, and Windows 8.1 which gives me 15GB OneDrive storage free. Office 2010 is on my main desktop and my main laptop. I’ve got another desktop and another laptop with Office 2000. Can you see where I’m going with this?

For an individual, maybe not a great deal, but then that depends on the individual’s circumstances. For a family of 3 or 4 (one or two in high school/college) with a proliferation of devices, it looks like one heckuva deal. As for unforeseen/unwanted “feature” updates, those can be blocked with some configuration options. And 1TB of OneDrive storage per user? Doesn’t look all that bad.

Actually, Bruce, that 1TB is now unlimited storage. So, yeah, you can get all the stuff you need there. Check how much 1TB storage would cost in a competing provider and you will have better idea of how enticing Office 365 can be.

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Actually, Bruce, that 1TB is now unlimited storage. So, yeah, you can get all the stuff you need there. Check how much 1TB storage would cost in a competing provider and you will have better idea of how enticing Office 365 can be.

Indeed.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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