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Microsoft Office 2019 for Mac Will Soon Stop Letting You Edit Documents

Steve Adams said:
Imagine if I bought a photo editing program digitally from another company that rhymes with whapple, for 499.00 at the time. then went to download it into a new mac after they discontinued the product and said NO. It's like I almost burned 500 dollars into nothing. Be speechless by this behavior, but don't think MS is the only one that has ever done this. Aperture falls into the same category only way more expensive. Oh, they discontinued it only one year later, not 7 years like Microsoft.
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I am not arguing that MS is any different, but any product that you purchased outright and is disabled after a period of time is incorrect. If it will run then you should be able to use it. I am pretty sure this is not the case here. MS Office 2016 ran for many years after it was replaced and only stopped working when it was no longer compatible with the OS. This issue here is with Office 2019 is a licensing problem that they introduced.

In the case of Aperture, it is an OS compatibility issue I believe, since I could download and install it for a number of years after it was discontinued but it studdenly would not download since it was no longer compatible with my OS. Aperture still shows up in my App Library, which in of itself is odd.
 
jdclifford said:
U can always use free apps like “ONLYOFFICE”, “LibreOffice”, “WPSOffice” etc.
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I would suggest Softmaker's "FreeOffice" as another good, free substitute for Microsoft Office. Like "LibreOffice" and "OnlyOffice", its component apps have user interfaces that closely resemble Word, PowerPoint and Excel so it's an easy transition for people familiar with the Microsoft Office menus.

Of course, these free MS Office alternatives may not be adequate for those people working in corporate environments or educational institutions who are required to use Word and Excel in order to seamlessly collaborate with colleagues. However, the employers will often be covering the cost of their MS Office subscription anyway.

For the rest of us, "FreeOffice", "LibreOffice" and/or "OnlyOffice" will often more than meet our needs. (I didn't mention "WPSOffice" only because I haven't used it myself). Of course, Apple's "Pages" and "Keynote " apps are also good alternatives to Word and PowerPoint.
 
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DotCom2 said:
So the one-time purchase is really now just a longer subscription?
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It's been like this for decades. I used to 'cling' to my perpetual licenses, until I realized OS updates would invariably break. Could be 3 years, or 6... but eventually they'll stop working.

Life is too short to keep pushing against the tidal wave. I'll pony up for Microsoft365, or find an alternative solution (i.e. native Mac productivity suite). You're not going to win against the will of a corporate empire.
 
I've purchased multiple editions of office......the last one being 2019. I've moved on and started using Google Docs if I need to do anything with a document. Open office is another solution. I will no longer be purchasing any edition of MS Office.
 
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BeatCrazy said:
It's been like this for decades. I used to 'cling' to my perpetual licenses, until I realized OS updates would invariably break. Could be 3 years, or 6... but eventually they'll stop working.
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But you see, that's not what's happening here. I'm used to OS updates breaking my software, but Office 2019 is about to be bricked without an underlying change to its environment. That is what's pissing everyone off.
 
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Just for information.
The install file will also get MS Teams along with Co-Pilot onto the computer. 😅
 
whitby said:
I am not arguing that MS is any different, but any product that you purchased outright and is disabled after a period of time is incorrect. If it will run then you should be able to use it. I am pretty sure this is not the case here. MS Office 2016 ran for many years after it was replaced and only stopped working when it was no longer compatible with the OS. This issue here is with Office 2019 is a licensing problem that they introduced.

In the case of Aperture, it is an OS compatibility issue I believe, since I could download and install it for a number of years after it was discontinued but it studdenly would not download since it was no longer compatible with my OS. Aperture still shows up in my App Library, which in of itself is odd.
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I was using the same OS version on the mac I purchased after, they just did not let me down load it. SO actually that's even worse. 1 year later. it was discontiuned and Apple would not let me download the software I paid 499. for. At least these people got 7 years of service out of their payment.
 
Steve Adams said:
I was using the same OS version on the mac I purchased after, they just did not let me down load it. SO actually that's even worse. 1 year later. it was discontiuned and Apple would not let me download the software I paid 499. for. At least these people got 7 years of service out of their payment.
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Yeah, that's complete BS. Didn't realize Apple did that with Aperture.
 
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So you bought some software forever and ran it on your old Mac with no upgrades. And it stops working on purpose so you can no longer use it. Even though you paid to use it forever... Hmmm.... when the end of the world happens even your PC WILL stop working. will it work if you reset the date on your mac?
 
dmr727 said:
Yeah, that's complete BS. Didn't realize Apple did that with Aperture.
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It's one of the main reasons I sold my entire Mac setup last time. They came out with Aperture 2 for 159.00 and discontinued original aperture that I paid 499.00 for and I could not download it anymore.
 
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So much for my forever license. F you Microsoft. Can’t use Apples numbers, a pen and a paper ledger is more advanced the apples numbers app
 
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M$ should be happy to hear I don’t even bother pirating their stuff anymore, I just set my people up with Linux. It’s less hassle and it works better.
 
Steve Adams said:
Don't act like Apple does not do this as well. I paid for aperture 2 and when I went to download it when I got another mac, they said no. But I said I paid full price for the download and apple said, TOO BAD. It's the same everywhere.
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Huh? If you have Aperture on disc, Apple doesn’t block you from installing it.

If you have Aperture associated with your Apple ID, you can still download and install Aperture (assuming you have a support device).
 
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philstubbington said:
I’m looking forward to the day I can ditch M$ and stick with the Apple suite or something open source.
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There is no replacing Excel if you're a bean counter.
Excel_Financial-Modeling_Meme.png

Excel 2019 stops being able to edit spreadsheets? OId versions of Excel (2010) on Windows still work, but Mac version of Excel 2019 will be limited even more? That's 🐂💩.
 
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Steve Adams said:
I was using the same OS version on the mac I purchased after, they just did not let me down load it. SO actually that's even worse. 1 year later. it was discontiuned and Apple would not let me download the software I paid 499. for. At least these people got 7 years of service out of their payment.
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I agree that is much worse! However it does not match my experience and I have no idea why. Bottom line is whatever happened it is not right and that applies to any software company that does this.
 
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