Microsoft Launches Office 365 Subscriptions Alongside Office 2013, But Macs Still Stuck on Office 2011

[ghostface147]

Originally Posted by newyorksole

The boxes for Office 2011 for Mac say that you can get a free upgrade to the next version.

Therefore, the 2013 edition is coming soon.

Microsoft also sells boxes at Apple now that don't come with CDs.

Or it would be called Office 2014. Recently they've been named one year after their Windows counterparts.

[1Alec1]

This 365 bundle costs as much per year as a MacBook Pro, buying it new and using it for 2 years then selling it. Ripoff.

[7enderbender]

Big deal. I'm on Office 2007 and 2003 - and I prefer working with 2003. And I certainly don't like any subscription models anyway.

The bigger issue is that the Mac versions are not 100% compatible with the Windows world. And that there is no MS Project for Mac.

[garylapointe]

I've always thought of it as the Windows versions run behind the Mac versions but a few years...

Gary

[ArtOfWarfare]

Originally Posted by BornAgainMac

Where is Apple's iWork upgrade? At least Microsoft updates their software eventually.

I'm pretty content with iWork... Only things I want from it are:
- BRING BACK IWORK.COM. what the heck was that!? Here's a decent web service, oh wait, nevermind, we're taking it away. iCloud has no means of inter-user sharing of files and so isn't a viable replacement at all!
- Have a built in equation editor.

Other than that... I think Word has some better auto page handling and table of contents/figures/tables etc. features. PP is still inferior to Keynote last I checked. I'm not really a spreadsheet power user... I was able to put together a Numbers document that automatically calculates my grades in each class and has inputs for things like dropping the lowest x grades in each category and stuff like that... I've never thought of anything compilcated enough that Numbers couldn't do and Excel could, and I suspect I'd sooner write my own program instead if I ever had a complicated enough need

[7enderbender]

Originally Posted by RedCroissant

I would disagree with you since combining Numbers and LibreOffice I have been able to do everything that I have ever done with Microsoft and have saved money in the process.

And the question I have here is why is it necessary to purchase Office anymore when there are not only other alternatives, but also just signing up for a free outlook.com account gets you access to SkyDrive and the ability to create a spreadsheet, word document, powerpoint presentation, or use one note? Sure, they're web apps, but you can save them to the cloud or even download them to your computer and open them with other apps. I even create documents in LibreOffice and can upload those to SkyDrive and the formatting is not changed.

All that's fine for the occasional user. Not ok if you use this stuff for a living. But you certainly don't need the "latest and greatest" MS Office version. I actually prefer the workflow of some of the older versions.

[zzLZHzz]

Originally Posted by mr.steevo

My workplace of over 110,000 employees still uses Office 2003 and XP.
If it ain't broke...

it ain't broke but it isn't efficient.

although there will be an initial transition curve but once you get off the transition period, you will find that office 2010/2013 is far more productive especially excel.

you could do filter much easier.

[JHankwitz]

Originally Posted by princigalli

Why use office? I use Apple Pages, it's cheaper and does everything I need it to do. Probably better too.

You're absolutely right. I would guess that 95% of Office users use less than 5% of the features. Pages, Numbers, and Keynote provide what most users actually use, and much easier to use, at a better price.

I work with a company of 250 employees, and only 2 of us ever use Word styles and/or Excel Pivot Tables. All the rest may as well be using .txt files.

[jms969]

Originally Posted by JHankwitz

Using Excel as a database is so much easier than using Access as a database. But FileMaker is far easier to use than Excel.

LibreOffice's Base is an excellent and easy to use database as well...

But yeah I agree DO NOT USE EXCEL AS A DATABASE

[curmudgeon32]

Originally Posted by ArtOfWarfare

I'm pretty content with iWork... Only things I want from it are:
- BRING BACK IWORK.COM. what the heck was that!? Here's a decent web service, oh wait, nevermind, we're taking it away. iCloud has no means of inter-user sharing of files and so isn't a viable replacement at all!

iWork updates have been really sporadic — it's still "iWork '09"! I create Keynote presentations all the time and have NO way to let non-Mac users see them. You used to be able to upload them to iWork for an in-browser presentation that preserved pretty much everything from the original. iCloud has no replacement for that feature.

[peterdevries]

I need office 2011 but I hate it with a passion:

• The ribbon stays uncomfortable on both Mac and Windows. Things are not in their logical place!
• The status bar of Excel disappears frequently in full screen mode of Lion
• The scaling of axes in graphs is buggy when the graph has dates on the x-axis
• Even with the ribbon, things take far too many clicks to get done
• Predetermined formatting styles are in all cases ugly for Excel, Powerpoint and Word
• Adding numbering to header styles is almost impossible to achieve
• Random formatting changes without reason (especially with tabs in lists)
• Inserted photos and figures change resolution without reason
• Office contains only one interface and help language as opposed to iWork which contains many
• I can go on and on..

The only thing that is keeping me from using iWork is the compatibility. There are still issues with conversion, especially in word. Not sure who's fault that is though.

Also color selecting and applying could be less of a hassle in iWork.

[ifij775]

I think $50/yr for word/excel/PowerPoint makes a lot more sense for home use.

[derbladerunner]

Originally Posted by peterdevries

The only thing that is keeping me from using iWork is the compatibility. There are still issues with conversion, especially in word. Not sure who's fault that is though.

Also color selecting and applying could be less of a hassle in iWork.

Which reminds me, when will Apple finally update iWork?

This has to be the biggest missing upgrade joke besides the MacPro.

I really don't see how they can have 137 billion in the bank and not upgrade the Mac version of iWork for four years. The iOS version is nice for viewing stuff but not actual productive work

[Cynicalone]

Originally Posted by Stella

Microsoft would make far more money if customers started buying Surface instead of iPad. More income through hardware and more income through software. Microsoft would be making more than mere 'millions'.

Business customer is the more stable cash cow than consumers. Get them locked in to your own mobile hardware and software ( again ).

They need to make it for all platforms. This is the stupid thinking that is hurting Microsoft. They need to make software not hardware.

Read the name. Microsoft.

Even if the Surface could catch up to the iPad in sales that would take years. In the meantime you are throwing away millions, and possibly billions of dollars in sales. All because Ballmer is an idiot who has forgotten what Microsoft was founded on.

[Powerbooky]

Office 2008 for Mac is fine. Entourage doesn't suck as much as Outlook always has.

Actually, on some Mac's with Rosetta I still use Office v.X, which still is the best MS Office version imho. Clear menu's (in every language), no stupid ribbon and no popup's with suggestions I don't need.

Microsoft should really stop moving around menu's, settings and functions. Especially Excel and Outlook 2011 are a real pain.

[robanga]

Originally Posted by Badandy

Anyone who thinks iWork or any other office replacement is a viable alternative to MS Office simply isn't a power user of excel. That doesn't absolve MS of responsibility though, since the Mac version of Excel is awful.

MS is smart in this case. They know Excel is essentially required in business and keep the Mac version bad enough that people won't switch.

Sure but Excel is only part of an office suite, a lot of users main uses for office are Word and PowerPoint, in those areas the alternatives range from as good to much better.

[RedCroissant]

Originally Posted by 7enderbender

All that's fine for the occasional user. Not ok if you use this stuff for a living. But you certainly don't need the "latest and greatest" MS Office version. I actually prefer the workflow of some of the older versions.

What do you define as the occasional user? I am a full-time college student in my senior year and it seems like all I am doing is creating documents for writing research papers and also creating presentations for defense of my various theses. I also got the info for my documents and education folders where all my created "office type" files are and I have ~4GB total. So I honestly think that given SkyDrive's allowance for download to one's own PC makes 7GB of storage more than enough for the majority of people.

[nex4k]

I'd never ever do a software subscription. What I buy is mine, and I can use it as long as I like, forever. If someone selling something won't "allow" me that, I simply don't buy it. Same thing with Adobe Creative Cloud subscription.
Also, no need for another cloud storage provider (happy user of Dropbox, but would anyway never give more data to MS than I have to), and no need for Skype minutes too. If I happen to call people, it's computer to computer which is free.

SaaS may be good for businesses who already know they're going to update to the "latest and greatest" as soon as it launches (and also have a steady cash flow), but for home users, students and freelancers I think it's completely stupid. At some point you happen to no longer have enough money to keep your sub up. Poof, your applications are gone. So, if you earn your money by working with those, you're pretty much eff-ed at that point, obviously.

You already need MS Office if clients send you such documents, because neither iWork nor free office suites can open/display/handle these files 1:1. iWork has also a right to exist because it absolutely excels in layouting. Sure, I could do it in InDesign too and potentially even better, but there's much more work involved. I've got both iWork '09 and Office 2011 on my Macs.
I haven't heard of any new "breakthrough" must-have feature in Office 2013 yet, so the 2011 suite is still pretty much sufficient for me.

[HatterZero]

Since I dont use publisher, access or outlook I would buy 2013 home version for my windows machine.

Now if I had a small business and were using publisher and access on 5 machines it would be cheaper to do the 365 5 x 400 = 2000 dollars.

Thats 20 years of office 365. It all depends on what your going to use it for.


I have office 2010/2011/iWork

I hate iWork. I will be getting 2013/2014 eventually.

[martygras9]

Am I the only one that doesn't want to pay extra for cloud storage for things like SkyDrive, iCloud, and Creative Cloud? I'd much rather have Dropbox easily integrated into my OS's than individual services. Don't get me wrong, I see the value and importance of companies offering cloud storage for businesses, but man, cut some costs.

[Eidorian]

I have been waiting for the new version to come out. My copies of Office 2003 and 2008 are ancient.

[robanga]

Originally Posted by nex4k

I'd never ever do a software subscription. ... At some point you happen to no longer have enough money to keep your sub up. Poof, your applications are gone. So, if you earn your money by working with those, you're pretty much eff-ed at that point, obviously.

.

Fair point, but if you are earning a living from these tools won't you always have enough money for a $99 renewal? I think this is one reason why SaaS is compelling from a business model standpoint it gets people into your latest offering faster.

[Westside guy]

I think Office 2011 cost me roughly 20 bucks for our home computer (I'm employed by a university that has an MS campus agreement). That'll serve our needs for the next several years just fine.

On a side note - I've gone back to MS Office from iWork. There are features iWork doesn't have; but, more importantly, I prefer having a "Save" option. Versioning hasn't been useful to me, and the automatic locking of files is annoying.

[robanga]

Originally Posted by martygras9

Am I the only one that doesn't want to pay extra for cloud storage for things like SkyDrive, iCloud, and Creative Cloud? I'd much rather have Dropbox easily integrated into my OS's than individual services. Don't get me wrong, I see the value and importance of companies offering cloud storage for businesses, but man, cut some costs.

iCloud is integrated into your applications and OS, just not in the same way Dropbox is right? I think Skydrive follows more of the Dropbox model.

[H2SO4]

Originally Posted by spazzcat

A bigger issue is people use Excel as a database. Its not a database!

Without meaning to sound flippant, why can it not function as one?