Microsoft Launches 'Office 365 Personal' Plan for One Mac and One iPad at $69/Year

[KPOM]

You can score O365 licenses at a decent discount on Amazon, or via an educational purchase.

I’m assuming we’ll see the personal product discounted as well through the same channels, so maybe in the $45-49 range.

Maybe eventually, but for now, Amazon has lower prices on Office 365 Home Premium than Personal.

 

[Belmont31R]

Here's a scenario that cautions me. The personal 365 account allows an install for one mac and one ipad. What happens if either of these devices has to be replaced? Say, my ipad breaks and I get a replacement from the Genius Bar. Will I be able to still use my personal 365 account for the ipad? I can't find anywhere on the microsoft site that addresses that potential problem.

Yes. Just go online an deauthorize the old hardware. Then you can authorize a new device.

 

[Michael Goff]

Well, it is silly to subscribe to Office 365 for a single license rental. Microsoft still sells licenses, so that would be the way to go. And in that context, read-only access to those files via Office for iPad is free.

If Microsoft were to *sell* Office for iPad for $90, people would complain that it is too much money... because it doesn't fit in with the price structure of iOS apps.

For my household: 2 notebooks, 1 desktop, 2 iPads, and a Surface 2(Office 2013 preloaded), the subscription model works out pretty good (especially after getting a deal for a 1 yr subscription for $65)

Having said that, I too am greatly against renting software.




I don't need to see it. I can believe it. But what betrays that statement is the chest-thumping over the subscription model. If the average person can get by with the free iOS iWorks, then why all of the bellyaching over the "unfairness" of the Office subscription pricing? The reasonable response should be, "oh well, for those that need Office that's good, but I'm good with the free iWorks!"

People want to use Office, it has more features, while coming up with an excuse for it to be dirt cheap. Even if there is some "average user" who doesn't need Office, I doubt a majority of the people raging here are doing it for them.

 

[shandyman]

Microsoft Launches 'Office 365 Personal' Plan for One Mac and One iPad at $69...

The words "average user" still tell me nothing about how they use their software. Me saying the average person uses pivot tables has about as much proof as what you're saying.

Yea, pivot tables are not something an average user uses daily. I'm a slight power user and I don't use pivot tables.

You obviously know fine well what an average user is and what they would use, but are deliberately being difficult.

Still does not change the fact that we should have the OPTION to pay for the apps on a 1 off fee, whilst you can still pay £80 a year or whatever so you can use your 60 Skype minutes and try and fill up your 30Gb of onedrive....

 

[Michael Goff]

Yea, pivot tables are not something an average user uses daily. I'm a slight power user and I don't use pivot tables.

You obviously know fine well what an average user is and what they would use, but are deliberately being difficult.

No, I actually have never grasped what an average Office user does. I'm serious, I have no clue.

 

[sracer]

Yes. Just go online an deauthorize the old hardware. Then you can authorize a new device.

That's one thing that pleasantly surprised me about the O365 subscription. It is as easy to authorize and deauthorize devices for O365 as it is for doing that in NetFlix. (though there are some limitations on how often that can be done)

 

[Espeonia]

The home and student version in the uk isn't just for students. It's called home and student, so anyone can buy it, not just students. Is that clear for you?! Your post fails as you missed that fact.

****, I had no clue what I was thinking when I wrote that.

Part of it, I guess, was that Home/Business offers more or less what Office 365 offers. I guess if just student is what you need, then yeah, a standalone iPad sub would be what you need. Weird.


Also, Microsoft does offer office online, for free. It's very similar to how Gdrive functions and operates, but instead of a google account, you need a Microsoft account.

Yea, pivot tables are not something an average user uses daily. I'm a slight power user and I don't use pivot tables.

You obviously know fine well what an average user is and what they would use, but are deliberately being difficult.

Still does not change the fact that we should have the OPTION to pay for the apps on a 1 off fee, whilst you can still pay £80 a year or whatever so you can use your 60 Skype minutes and try and fill up your 30Gb of onedrive....

Would you be fine with then paying again for it if a newer version were released vs. staying on the version you bought 3 years ago, which will probably never see updates again? Office 2010 hasn't seen an update in the past 2 years.

 

[teknikal90]

I'm serious, I have no clue.

my condolences

 

[IJ Reilly]

I had noticed.

I didn't read you talking about an alternative, just that you will never use Office. Also, iWork is not Office. It isn't even close.

Really. And that's exactly why others need to comment. You know, those of us who think Office sucks.

 

[shandyman]

****, I had no clue what I was thinking when I wrote that.



Part of it, I guess, was that Home/Business offers more or less what Office 365 offers. I guess if just student is what you need, then yeah, a standalone iPad sub would be what you need. Weird.





Also, Microsoft does offer office online, for free. It's very similar to how Gdrive functions and operates, but instead of a google account, you need a Microsoft account.

Well I don't even use home & student anyway, I get office via HUP, which is £8.95 as a one off payment, for office professional, every 3 years, so office 365 is even more of a large price jump for me.

 

[Michael Goff]

Really. And that's exactly why others need to comment. You know, those of us who think Office sucks.

Yes, we know you think Office sucks. You come into every thread that has to do with iWork, Office, Google Docs, or anything else to proclaim at the tuop of your lungs that Office sucks.

 

[JGRE]

Never going to pay a subscription fee software, now way.
If you calculate a perpetual based on a 5% interest rate:

(6.69*12)/0.05 = 1,605.60

It is just a new way of getting your money in their pockets in a sneaky way.

 

[teknikal90]

Really. And that's exactly why others need to comment. You know, those of us who think Office sucks.

how does it suck though? other than price.
i have to say that i cant think of many pieces of software, outside of safari that is more stable than MS office, on Mac os X

even itunes is not as reliable to me (iphone sync, itunes store connection etc etc)

 

[Michael Goff]

Never going to pay a subscription fee software, now way.
If you calculate a perpetual based on a 5% interest rate:

(6.69*12)/0.05 = 1,605.60

It is just a new way of getting your money in their pockets in a sneaky way.

Sneaky? What part of being upfront with everything is sneaky?

 

[SolarShane]

as others have said , $69 is still to high

If $69 per YEAR is too high, then how the hell can you afford $499 to $829?

 

[teknikal90]

Never going to pay a subscription fee software, now way.
If you calculate a perpetual based on a 5% interest rate:

(6.69*12)/0.05 = 1,605.60

It is just a new way of getting your money in their pockets in a sneaky way.

that is not a proper use of that valuation technique because unlike corporations, its not reasonable to apply the going concern assumption on humans..

further, the subscription model is more like telling customers they have to 're-buy' ms office every year for $69.99
its not like microsoft invests in one product, releases it and expects the customers to re-pay $69.99 every year for it. instead, with that subscription, comes the unearned revenue liability of updates and new softwares and at the very least new versions

 

[Michael Goff]

If $69 per YEAR is too high, then how the hell can you afford $499 to $829?

Remember, these are the guys who pay 1k$+ for a laptop. These are the guys who likely buy a new iPad every 2 years.

There's no way they could afford 70$ a year!

That's asking far too much.

 

[Espeonia]

Well I don't even use home & student anyway, I get office via HUP, which is £8.95 as a one off payment, for office professional, every 3 years, so office 365 is even more of a large price jump for me.

Actually, that's what I do too, but I'd probably be subscribing to 365 if I weren't.

 

[shandyman]

Actually, that's what I do too, but I'd probably be subscribing to 365 if I weren't.

Before HUP I did the home and student version, like most my friends and family. I just liked the idea of being able to use office on my iPad for daily stuff. I'm sticking to iWork for now.

 

[Espeonia]

Before HUP I did the home and student version, like most my friends and family. I just liked the idea of being able to use office on my iPad for daily stuff. I'm sticking to iWork for now.

Outlook has been something of an essential for me, so home & business for me. To each their own.

edit: well, unless what you want isn't offered.

 

[efktd]

not sure what all the fuss is about regarding office for iPad. i use and trust the hell out of iWork. going on like 6 or 7 years now. especially with iCloud.

 

[pubwvj]

Good job Microsoft. Adobe needs to do the same thing. Their software is way, way too expensive for the occasional user.

Both companies need to also offer full read and write capability to older file formats. The way it is with Adobe CS6/CC one can not write CS4 or further back files. This means if you're working with someone who has CS4 you can't upgrade unless they also upgrade and that makes it less likely to upgrade. Adobe's missing money.

I dislike the subscription model though. I want to continue to be able to access and edit my documents. I don't trust either company to not discontinue a product. They both have a bad history of that.

 

[Michael Goff]

Good job Microsoft. Adobe needs to do the same thing. Their software is way, way too expensive for the occasional user.

Both companies need to also offer full read and write capability to older file formats. The way it is with Adobe CS6/CC one can not write CS4 or further back files. This means if you're working with someone who has CS4 you can't upgrade unless they also upgrade and that makes it less likely to upgrade. Adobe's missing money.

I dislike the subscription model though. I want to continue to be able to access and edit my documents. I don't trust either company to not discontinue a product. They both have a bad history of that.

You can trust Microsoft to not discontinue Office. It just happens to be one of their biggest earning things.

 

[CalWizrd]

I have been following this thread from the beginning...

I must say, I'm no fan of Microsoft. In fact, I probably curse their software every day (VisualStudio).

However, Office is a pretty solid and pretty useful suite of products. Now that I can use it on my iPads, along with using OneDrive to save/move documents around, it's really pretty nice.

If you have a problem with the price, then just don't buy the damn software!

Jeez, stop whining about it. $69 or $99 is no big deal. Enough, already, with people who want to tell MS how to run/price their business. Enough!

 

[millerlite]

Office Apps are terrible

MS Office is only popular because everyone has had to use it in one way or another.

The problem with that is they're working with the lowest common denominator users. MS Word and PowerPoint are especially dumbed down. As a designer, I use InDesign and can't imagine having to rely on MS Word. The documents that I can create through InDesign are so much more elegant and customizable. Word is for people who don't care, which makes MS's subscription plan even more insane. If you don't care what you documents really look like, then why pay so much for the software? There are lots of alternatives out there that do the job for a buck or two or free.