Microsoft Makes Retail Versions Of Office Single Install

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130213/10093021963/microsoft-makes-retail-versions-office-single-install.shtml

by chmars • 13 years ago

48 65 13 years ago

valuegram• 13 years ago

"place their own customers directly in their crosshairs. Your immediate reaction may be to blast the previous sentence as hyperbole, but you would be wrong to do so."

Of course this is hyperbole. Don't be ridiculous.

jahabrewer• 13 years ago

Steve Ballmer literally aiming guns at customers in Microsoft store.

Story at 11.

CurtHagenlocher• 13 years ago

As a Microsoft employee, I can confirm that this is true -- but only when he needs a break from "roaming the halls of Microsoft swinging a baseball bat".

venomsnake2• 13 years ago

My company is migrating away from office. We use google docs and Libre Office for internal documents and only few copies of office for the external.

With html and css, and the paperless office gaining traction Word and Powerpoint will have a hard time defending their existence, as is the majority of other apps. For me it seems that the only really good application that is worth the money right now in the suite is Excel.

rednukleus6• 13 years ago

> the paperless office gaining traction

Really? Is there any evidence of this? Most attempts I've seen at the paperless office have been failures.

Also, even in the attempts I have seen, nobody is writing reports in HTML + CSS. Everything is in Word/ppt/Excel, usually on SharePoint.

venomsnake2• 13 years ago

Not paperless but paper reduced, point taken. I know we are changing toner cartridges less often than a decade ago. So we are using less paper than before.

What I meant for the html + css is that anchoring your documents to the a4 sheet, while people are consuming more and more content on screens of various sizes and less on paper is somewhat strange. Also google docs are html + css and a lot of javascript :)

Office has great advantage and is not going anywhere soon. But while in 1999 it was impossible to not have office, now depending on your company and employees can go from mildly inconvenient to annoying.

5 years from now - will you worry that some content looks great on paper, or that it looks great on the person's tablet or google glass. If your answer is the second - word is in for a rough ride.

AutoCorrect2• 13 years ago

what is the deal with that? I hate it: I get an email with a link, to word doc that I have to open,just to see a party announcement. urrrgh!

roel_v• 13 years ago

"paperless office "

Well there's a buzzword I haven't heard in a long time. What is this, 2004?

prawks• 13 years ago

Original article referenced: http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/does-you...

My question follows his:

Exactly how is this enforced? Is it just "forbidden" or are you actually blocked from using the retail activation code on a new computer? Is it tracked via your Microsoft cloud account? What if you change some of the hardware in your PC, will Office 2013 complain that it's a new computer?

I'm very interested to see how Microsoft attempts to prevent spoofing. Does anyone with experience in this type of DRM have a comment on how a device with no real unique identifying property is tracked? As mentioned above, using the hardware configuration would have serious issues, and is certaintly not unique. A "cloud account" I can't imagine can tie itself to a device any easier (IP, obviously not, MAC address, not a good idea, etc.). How can MSoft allow re-installing it on a reformatted device, but not taking it to a new device?

meaty5• 13 years ago

They already do this with WGA/Activation. It's a combination of disk IDs, MAC address, graphics card etc.

ratherbefuddled• 13 years ago

Microsoft have done a fantastic piece of marketing for OpenOffice and LibreOffice here.

meaty5• 13 years ago

Straw + Camel's back.

I tend to switch machines at least once a year for various reasons. My office license goes with me and is removed from the original machine. If they won't allow that, then I won't be upgrading and will be preemptively migrating to something else.

I don't think Microsoft realise how easy it is to just move to another platform/tool these days!

mxfh2• 13 years ago

I don't see what the fuzz is about for now.

a. One Copy per Device. You may install one copy of the software on one device. That device is the "licensed device."

b. Licensed Device. You may only use one copy of the software on the licensed device at a time.

c. Portable Device. You may install another copy of the software on a portable device for use by the single primary user of the licensed device.

from http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/does-you...

The original australian article states two non-definitive answers:

A: "A perpetual license of Office 2013 can only be installed on one personal computer. This means that the customer can only install it on one device, either a desktop or laptop, but not both. If the customer has a system crash, they are allowed to reinstall Office on that same computer. If there are problems with this process, customers can contact Microsoft technical support"

B: "No, the customer cannot transfer the license from one PC to another PC."

I would bet on A and and a confused PR department. Of cause if you wan't to report some kind of "news" you would root for B rather than investigate further.

chmars2• 13 years ago

'Can I transfer the software to another computer or user? You may not transfer the software to another computer or user. You may transfer the software directly to a third party only as installed on the licensed computer, with the Certificate of Authenticity label and this agreement. Before the transfer, that party must agree that this agreement applies to the transfer and use of the software. You may not retain any copies.'

From the Microsoft Software License Agreement for Microsoft Office 2013:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/products/microsoft-softwar...

meaty5• 13 years ago

Can I just add:

1. Microsoft office technical support is a whopping great big dinosaur sized turdzilla. If you have any activation problems, you usually get "tough shitted". I've been on the end of this. Fortunately I'm a member of a" Gold Partner" (paid goon) and could kick the crap out of them from that side of things. Partner reps have a little more spine than office support people.

2. This does not cover warranty replacement PCs so if you have a hardware failure, it doesn't count.

gnu83• 13 years ago

Just tell them it is the same computer, just with an upgraded CPU, RAM, mobo, case, screws, cables, ...

Or install office in a VM you can shuffle around at will forever. Perhaps even a Thinapp.

You could even keep your virtualized office on Dropbox and use it on all ten of your personal computers (but not concurrently of course).

eli4• 13 years ago

I never really understood this line of thinking. Rather than trying to "hack" the license terms, you should just buy a new license when you buy a new computer, since that's what you agreed to.

If you're willing to violate the license, why not just pirate the thing in the first place?

jiggy2011• 13 years ago

The VM example is interesting. At what point does a VM qualify as a different computer? For example if I shutdown my VM and then "upgrade" it by allocating more RAM or changing some of the emulated hardware does that mean I lose my office license?

What happens if you keep the same hardware but install a different version of Windows?

JulianMorrison• 13 years ago

Or install LibreOffice.

jseliger2• 13 years ago

> I don't see what the fuzz is about for now.

People are pissed because many of us have two devices. In addition, it's almost impossible for many of us (like me) to avoid Office. Finally, this is the sort of thing many people were concerned about in the '90s, when Microsoft achieved hegemony in office suites, and in the 2000s, when Product Activation became ubiquitous.

mxfh2• 13 years ago

I get your point, just how is this news? Office 2010 OEM license states exactly the same limitations in regards to parallel use on multiple machines.

patja2• 13 years ago

Yes, the loss of the ability to install on a second portable device used by the same person who has the desktop license is a huge step backwards. They should cut the price in half to make up for this. As if that will happen.

scholia2• 13 years ago

Why didn't Techdirt just deactivate Office 2013 and install it on another PC? Uninstallation is a one-click Fixit at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2739501 Uninstall Microsoft Office 2013 or Office 365

meaty5• 13 years ago

That's only OK if your computer is still working.

scholia2• 13 years ago

Which it usually is. If not, I'd expect a phone call to solve the problem, at worst.

Either way, it's something Techdirt should have covered....

chmars2• 13 years ago

'[…] You may not transfer the software to another computer or user. You may transfer the software directly to a third party only as installed on the licensed computer […].'

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/products/microsoft-softwar...

lostnet• 13 years ago

Hmm, this article answers nothing for me since I would never run windows directly on hardware.

What determines if my virtual machine is one "system" across host systems, visible "hardware" changes and/or windows license keys?

noonespecial• 13 years ago

Microsoft is the Office company right now. A great many people run windows just to run Office. This is not a boat I would rock quite so hard just now if I were them.

rednukleus6• 13 years ago

Office is more important to them now than Windows. I believe that they are pushing the subscription model hard so that people will pay monthly for Office as a cross platform solution.

I hope they succeed in making Office cross platform, but I hate the subscription model and hope they fail in making that the norm.

Shorel3• 13 years ago

I, on the other hand, want them to succeed with the Office subscription model.

Nothing will doom them so fast than constant predictable revenue.

In fact, I think this will also help Office alternatives, as they could try a cheaper subscription. Nowadays any Office alternative has to be free, and this means almost no funds for development.

mahmud4• 13 years ago

LibreOffice: good as gold.

http://www.libreoffice.org/

UnoriginalGuy• 13 years ago

Perhaps as good as gold but not nearly as good as Office 2000 was...

Seriously what is wrong with Libre/Open Office's slow ugly UI? I mean even GIMP finally managed to modernise its look and feel.

mahmud4• 13 years ago

For every micro-second Libre/Open Office stays ugly or slow, I pass the time by thinking about how cripled/proprietary MS Office is, and time flies fast. YMMV.

Shorel3• 13 years ago

>Seriously what is wrong with Libre/Open Office's slow ugly UI?

Java.

HarrietJones• 13 years ago

Meanwhile, if you get it online, it's $99.00 a year for up to 5 devices, and moving the license from one machine to another is as simple as logging on and deregistering the invalid device.

Microsoft have been skeevy in the past when it comes to licences, but I've no complaints with the current system.

patja2• 13 years ago

I have a hard enough time justifying upgrading Office. Versions n-1 are almost always "good enough" and I see no killer features that justify these new licensing restrictions that at a minimum double the cost for the same install base. I usually skip at least every other release. This has given me the justification to stay on Office 2010 indefinitely, particularly given the fact that I will probably rebuild at least 20% of our PCs in the next year, and we take full advantage of the second install on a portable device. Viva la Office 2010!

alexrson• 13 years ago

The problem with Office is that it is too good.

Until free/open alternatives like libreOffice or googleDocs catch up MSFT has no incentive to hold down the bloat or demonstrate good customer service.

Microsoft Makes Retail Versions Of Office Single Install

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