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Microsoft Paying Apple 30-Percent Cut on In-App Office 365 Subscription Purchases

I think the more interesting question is how compatible the iOS version of Office is with the Windows and Mac versions. And if there are incompatibility issues, which app actually does a better job at compatibility? Pages v Word? Numbers v Excel?

At the moment, I've not seen an article (because it's just too new) doing this kind of comparison.

In the end, will Microsoft be forced to "dumb down" their desktop versions to be file compatible across all platforms or, probably more likely, offer different file types to support compatibility across platforms?
 
lunarworks said:
If you work for a business that relies on Office, you probably don't have a choice and welcome this regardless of the subscription requirement.

I'm tempted to get a subscription anyway, so I can have a current version of Office on my Mac and the three PCs in this house. We all use it for work, school, etc.
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Really? What business related case? What school related case? If you are taking an excel, word, or powerpoint class, I guess. :/ Word is bloated and not needed at all if you have Pages and same with Powerpoint. The only thing that maybe MSFT has is excel but the more I think about it I still don't see the value in it. Can the iPad version handle the macros... etc?

Yeah this isn't a good deal for users honestly. I think I can do without it. People have been doing without it for awhile now. I prefer the free options of Pages and Keynote to Word and Powerpoint. :/ Excel is the only thing IMO that is the best in its class....and there is the 80/20 rule...I haven't used any extensive excel functionality in literally 7 years.
 
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RightMACatU said:
I sadly agree with you.
Thin client, thick usage bill :D and easier for agencies to track everything you use, how often, what you look at, etc.
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Exactly man. Believe me I'm not a fan of subscription model, I prefer to own things (even if they end up being expensive), but it's coming. At work and all over the internet cloud computing is all over the place.

My worry is, though, that cloud computing -in general- looks like it's reasonably priced because they are trying to compete with packaged software. I worry that once the scales tip to cloud favor, all cloud provders would increase prices for the lack of competition. Think something like Verizon and AT&T, and Microsoft of the 90s (Remember when Office was over $500 then)?
 
I really hope that the office version for Mac is a one time fee. I can't stand the subscription model. When adobe did it for CS I bought CS6 and I'll try to use it for as long as I humanly can!
 
AdonisSMU said:
What is stopping people from doing that now? Ever heard of Google Docs.
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Yeah, it sucks. What's your point? The real point is that if you have a little more complex documents, so-called alternatives to MS Office choke, crash or severely screw up. I would need all but 10s to grab a work document that will make Pages crash and OpenOffice and Google Docs completely screw up the layout to the point it is unusable.

You could point to lots of different causes for this that all point towards Microsoft, but in the end 90% of people still use PC's with Office especially in the corporate world, so you will get these documents and you will need to work with them. And the easy solution without wasting hours to fix documents is to just use MS Office.
 
Michael Scrip said:
So what you're saying is.... people can have very different needs.

Seems to be a common theme in this thread.

Some people need full compatibility with Microsoft Office. For them... only true Microsoft Office will do.

Other people don't have the same demands... and they can get along fine with a free office suite.
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Yes, and what I am also saying is that "full compatibility" with Office is far less important that a lot of people think it is. It's also an illusion for the most part. More people might be forced to figure that out, now that Microsoft is charging annual subscriptions.
 
AdonisSMU said:
What is stopping people from doing that now? Ever heard of Google Docs.
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A lot of times it is helpful if the documents look the same on all of the computers being used to edit them. I guess you have never opened a word document that was more than plain text in google docs....
 
InfoTime said:
Did you just upgrade from WordStar and VisiCalc?
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Funny:D. Our office still uses 2003 and it works just as it did when it came out long, long ago. For spreadsheets, document creating, you really don't need much else. It's stable, amazingly fast on dual core and up PC's and dirt cheap.
 
MisakixMikasa said:
It is franking 10 dollar per device for year (5 PC or Mac + 5 Mobile devices), if this is too much for you, then MacDonald is also too much for you. Seriously, just give up one pizza per month, then you have the money for the subscription
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Its not a matter of money, its not worth that much to me frankly. Microsoft wants you paying 120 dollars a year for the rest of your life for Office it is just not that valuable to me.
 
JoEw said:
Its not a matter of money, its not worth that much to me frankly. Microsoft wants you paying 120 dollars a year for the rest of your life for Office it is just not that valuable to me.
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$120? Are you deliberately finding the most expensive cost for Office 365 to enhance your argument? $99 for a yearly subscription, $60-$70 if you shop around.
 
How about instead of making it free and requiring you to pay a subscription, charge $49 for it so you can use it all the time?

Not interested in your pricing gimmicks, I don't need a monthly membership charge to use an app.....go pull that garbage on XBox live.
 
Phil A. said:
I think "everyone" is a bit hyperbolic! Office 365 is excellent value for small businesses - I use it for my company and it is very cost effective.
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Definitely, a great value for people that PAY for software. $99 a year to run office on all of my computers is a not bad at all.

Poor value for those who'd rather pirate it. :rolleyes:
 
I see this Office 365 product as something more for business users than casual home users. For a casual user, the free Apple software is perfect. And also perfect for business users not tied to Office products.

In this regard, it is fair to charge a little more for Office 365, which Office is pretty much a business standard.

Rocko1 said:
I will continue to use Office 2003 for my PC that I got used for $17 for the rest of my life. No need to upgrade, ever.
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Ah, but will you be able to load that 2003 software on a computer in 50 years? Or do you plan on still using that same computer in 2064? :)
 
NachoGrande said:
Definitely, a great value for people that PAY for software. $99 a year to run office on all of my computers is a not bad at all.

Poor value for those who'd rather pirate it. :rolleyes:
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Right, because only pirates would find it a poor value. :rolleyes: back atcha. It's not like there are people with only a single computer in their home, don't need MS Office, or a variety of other legitimate non-piracy issues.
 
gnasher729 said:
Bizarre. Do you think _any_ manufacturer in the world gets 100% of the retail price for anything? If you go to your local supermarket, anyone whose products are in there would be jumping from joy if they received 70% of the sale price. Same for any software product that you can buy in a box from a store.

----------



You are confusing margin with profit. They need the 30% margin to pay the rent, pay for staff, and so on.
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I just think it's really funny you are in effect saying "Yay, I have to pay 30% tax on all my app purchases"

Do you say "yay I love tax" on real physical products you buy also.

Again...... I may a product I WANT $100 for.
The place I wish to sell it, impose a 30% tax (in this case Apple tax) on the product I'm selling.

I don't lose out. I just change my price to $130....

You, yes YOU pay the $30 tax, and I end up with the $100 I always wante din the 1st place.

As you think, "wow cool" to this.

Well if you want to be the one paying the tax, then yes, yay cool.

Again. I'm not the one paying this 30% hit. You are as the buyer.
 
Antares said:
I see this Office 365 product as something more for business users than casual home users. For a casual user, the free Apple software is perfect. And also perfect for business users not tied to Office products.

In this regard, it is fair to charge a little more for Office 365, which Office is pretty much a business standard.



Ah, but will you be able to load that 2003 software on a computer in 50 years? Or do you plan on still using that same computer in 2064? :)
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Probably use the same or vintage computer. We still have a 8086 pc running software made for us back in 1987. I know, I know.
 
zaphon said:
This doesn't hold true for everyone. I just saved the two documents I was working on in Excel on my Mac and tried opening them in Numbers. The first one was truncated at 65,535 rows (There are approximately 750,000 rows in the spreadsheet), and the second one wouldn't open at all (password protected cells + unsupported features). These aren't files I created either, so I need them to work. Excel is the defacto standard, and unless you're doing basic things the iWorks apps aren't going to cut it.
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I didn't even think to ask (the obvious question), how does it open on the new Excel for iPad app???

Gary
 
Piggie said:
For the users yes.

Say I have something I've made that I want $100 for. I could sell it to you for that price and get what I want, but the seller wants a 30% cut, so I raise my price to $130 which is what you pay, I still get what I always wanted.

You this I lose or you the customer lose?

Work out who I'd paying apple ths 30% it's not me, it's you. I just raised my price to cover it.

I win.
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Agreed if that is what is happening, but it isn't. The subscription was already there and it isn't going up (last I checked, so please correct me if I'm wrong) for iPad users.
 
I don't have time to read a ten page thread..... My simple assessment: this could be a huge win for both Apple, Microsoft and the model of supply they represent. I've long said that Microsoft could name their price for a reasonably featured iPad Office. As it stands, it's part of an existing subscription model. The real winners? Sales people*, who can run their crappy power point presentations, from a device that looks cool, without paying a penny**.

As soon as I'm in range of half decent internet, I look forward to playing with Office for iPad.

* Yes, yes, yes, I'm sure they'd love to use Keynote, but most of them (and the rest of us) have the people upstairs to deal with.

** In my experience, salespeople already have an iPad, because they flock to cool like a fly to -----.

Edit: Oh - Internaut's personal take: Office for iPad might just convince me to get an iPad Air to complement (or replace) my Mini!
 
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