Landing Gear

1. If you're going with the new version of Office, will you subscribe or buy the individual DVDs?

2. Is it true that Outlook 2013 is not displaying well on Windows 7 machines because it is somehow "optimized" for Windows 8?

3. If you have XP and Office 2010, can you upgrade?

[Add your question or issue to this thread.]

cordelli

Office 365 is the cloud services available for users of office. There is no way to purchase it other than as a subscription.

Office 2013 is either available as part of a 365 subscription, or stand alone one time cost.

They are two different things.

The system requirements for Office 2013 clearly state

Operating system (PC): (PC):Windows 7 or newer, either 32-bit or 64-bit; Windows 2008R2 or newer with .Net 3.5 or greater. It isn’t possible to install the new Office on a PC running Windows XP or Vista.

scubadu

Historically, I'm "recurring revenue" stream averse; I despise getting locked in to ongoing payments, in perpetuity. However, I must say I'm warming to the idea of the subscription based model. I think particularly in that it might be more cost effective for the multiple systems in our household. That really is the kicker for me (could careless about Skydrive/Skype, etc.)

Haven't decided yet, but more open to it than I would have expected myself to be.

Regards

Landing Gear

Here's where we get to the confusing part.

Are you saying that if I buy Office 365, I have no programs on my computer? In other words, like GMail, I need to a) have internet access; and b) log on to use it?

If this is the case, I don't want it even if it's $1.00 a year. On the other hand, if it's laptop-based programs plus the SkyDrive, it seems like a good price since I won't use the cloud storage.

gfunkdave

Pretty sure that you get local installs on up to 5 PCs, and if you're not at your computer you can use an online version with files you've stored in SkyDrive.

cordelli

I never said that. I said you are confusing two products, a cloud service and a software suite.

If you only buy office 365, which is available for as low as $4 a month, there are no programs, as you are not buying programs.

If you buy the subscription to office 365 Home Premium, you get the programs you can install on five PC's for $99 a year. It's your choice if you wan to run the programs locally off your PC or use the cloud service browser app to run them (called office on demand).

Office 365 is not the same as Office 2013, and it is not the same as Office 365 Home Premium.

You can buy Office 2013 without the online services for a one time fee

You can buy a subscription to Office 365 for $99 a year (or $9.99 per month) that includes the software you can run on five machines

You can buy the Office 365 services a la carte for as low as $4 a month that include no software at all.

Landing Gear

I hate to make this seem like a deposition, but it seems like you know the answers I need. I just have to find the right questions.

If I buy Office 365 Home Premium for $99, then a) can I avoid storing my documents and mail on the Sky Drive; and b) will the programs run with no internet access?

If the answers are no and no, then does this mean I need to spend $200+ per machine?

scubadu

I believe the answer to both of your questions is yes. Unfortunately, I've had to piece that together from numerous articles/reviews as the MS FAQ is a bit fuzzy on these areas. Obviously, since it's a "subscription" you do have to have network access and "phone home" occasionally, but using offline should not be a problem.

However, the quickest way for you to confirm functionality, authoritatively, might just be to download the free 30 day trial and familiarize yourself with it directly.

Regards

cordelli

You can not BUY office home premium for $99. You can SUBSCRIBE to it for $99 per year.

You can run it without the Internet for some unknown period of time but as it is a subscription it will need to go online and check to see you are paid up. I have not seen how often that is in any of the literature, but for normal operation you can run and store locally at least while the subscription is paid up.

That allows you to install on up to five machines (they refer to it as a household license so don't know if they restrict the five or not to family)

If you want to buy it and use it forever with no ongoing costs and own the software, you can do that also. For the same features like outlook and access the cost to buy is something like $400 per PC

Sort of a no brainier as to which model makes more sense All the options are compared in this story on why buying makes very limited sense to subscribing.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/20267...fice-2013.html

BigLar

Exactly what would I be getting with Office 365 that I don't have now?

Has MS changed the formats again so that the old Office software can't read them?