Microsoft to Stop Supporting Office 2016 for Mac in October

[oneMadRssn]

A Microsoft subscription isn’t for everyone. If people are unhappy, they can use something else. The real issue is many people here want to be able to use software indefinitely, without having to pay more than what they already paid 10 years ago.

That's a bit hyperbolic, but rooted in truth.

The issue in particular with Microsoft's subscription is there really is no material justification for buying the updated software so soon. Office 2016 runs just fine on the newest operating systems and does everything 99.99% of people need. It's only been 4 or 5 years since people plunked down $150 for Office 2016 - I can see why people would not react well to the suggestion that they should pay another $150 so soon or subscribe at $70/yr.

I think most people are generally willing to pay for bonafide upgrades to software on a reasonable timeline. What qualifies as bonafide and reasonable depends on a case-by-case basis.

 

[riclf]

Not sure your statement applies here.

This renders a non-subscription "perpetual" license potentially unusable, whereas the subscription version remains active.

Yes, only the subscription model is the only version that remains active. Some of us, possibly not you, cannot afford that fee every year we will live. Yet, it may surprise you, we do have a need for office functionality. The "boxed" software model is affordable for us as we can accept the static functionality as the years go by.

 

[TiggrToo]

This is the reason why Microsoft is worth $5T.

5 Trillion US Dollars?

How did you work that out?

 

[Apple_Robert]

That's a bit hyperbolic, but rooted in truth.

The issue in particular with Microsoft's subscription is there really is no material justification for buying the updated software. Office 2016 runs just fine on the newest operating systems and does everything 99.99% of people need. It's only been 4 or 5 years since people plunked down $150 for Office 2016 - I can see why people would not react well to the suggestion that they should pay another $150 so soon or subscribe at $70/yr.

I think most people are generally willing to pay for bonafide upgrades to software on a reasonable timeline. What qualifies as bonafide and reasonable depends on a case-by-case basis.

There is nothing stopping someone from using Office 2016 or even 2011. It just won’t be updated. If a person is fine with that, I see no problem. Microsoft isn‘t forcing anyone to use their product much less buy into the subscription model.

 

[jerryk]

I'm not a fan of the subscription model but with the price difference they've set for the standalone versus subscription, I'm feeling forced into the latter.

Does anyone know how a Microsoft 365 Family subscription (for up to six users at $100 per year instead of $70 for an individual) works? I have a couple of questions as I consider it:

• Is it similar to the standalone, one-time purchase where you basically just get a serial number and input it?
• Can all of the users see each other's names and email address, or only the administrator / main user?
• If the subscription is via an account / email address for each person, can any email domain be used, or does it have to be a Microsoft-owned one? Can person A use a Gmail while person B uses Yahoo and person C uses a work email?

We have a business Office 365 subscription, so the family may not be exactly the same, but here is what we see.

We pay per user, and it is based on user account/email. Each user can download and use Office 365 products on numerous devices. I am not sure if there is a limit to the number of methods. I have it on my Macs, iPads, phones, and Windows systems. Plus, there is online access via the Office 365 web site. Each user is given 1TB of storage which is reached via OneDrive

The administrator can control access to each of the accounts. While users can give others access to file on OneDrive, by default, they are private.

All security rights are based on your Office 365 login ID, which usually someone's email. You use this ID to validate your access when you install products. The email is any domain you choose, or if you don't specify, Microsoft will create an email account in one of their domains.

Our experience has been very positive. We used to buy physical updates with DVDs and/or online downloads and keys. We find the subscription model easier, less error-prone, and considerably cheaper.

 

[TiggrToo]

Yes, only the subscription model is the only version that remains active. Some of us, possibly not you, cannot afford that fee every year we will live. Yet, it may surprise you, we do have a need for office functionality. The "boxed" software model is affordable for us as we can accept the static functionality as the years go by.

You read way too much into my post. I didn't say that subscriptions were good, nor did I say they were bad. I simply made a post that stated that the posters statement didn't fit with the situation.

And that's it.

You'd do a lot better here if you didn't go around assuming a post said anything more than it did.

 

[CTHarrryH]

What does accessing 365 services mean? I understand no updates but what 365 services.

I use Office because I work with others who use it and not all function work properly with other software. Maybe I'll play with Numbers, Pages, etc. more to see what it really does.
The company for which I used to work had a program where Office cost $10 for full license

 

[Darth Tulhu]

You may have paid a price to secure the right to use certain software licenses. That is not the same thing as owning software. Very few people own the software they use.

Yes, I am aware. Given my age, the entry point into the "future" might be a little earlier for me than for some on this forum.

My statement was made to illustrate the fact that we really do lease almost everything, and have been for a while.

This is accelerating, however, i.e. we no longer buy music, we lease it via Spotify, Apple Music, etc. We don't buy movies, we rent them on our preferred on-demand service. We don't buy our devices, we lease them through the carrier. Our cars, our houses, even our health can be had for a low, low monthly fee.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for it, even if it is just an illusion that gives us middle/lower-classers a taste of the world belonging to those that can actually afford to buy everything outright.

 

[Brenster]

I'm not a fan of the subscription model but with the price difference they've set for the standalone versus subscription, I'm feeling forced into the latter.

Does anyone know how a Microsoft 365 Family subscription (for up to six users at $100 per year instead of $70 for an individual) works? I have a couple of questions as I consider it:

• Is it similar to the standalone, one-time purchase where you basically just get a serial number and input it?
• Can all of the users see each other's names and email address, or only the administrator / main user?
• If the subscription is via an account / email address for each person, can any email domain be used, or does it have to be a Microsoft-owned one? Can person A use a Gmail while person B uses Yahoo and person C uses a work email?

You get a serial number which is activated on office.com on a 'master' account. The serial number is good for x number of users for 1 year, depending on the subscription bought. Everyone gets the full suite of Office apps activated for 1 year and a 1TB chunk of OneDrive storage space each.

Once enrolled, users each log into office.com and download the installer for Mac/Windows Office. Once installed, or if installed already on a multi-user machine, users have to log into the Office apps to use them.

No, only the administrator gets to see/enroll other users and their email address etc. No one can see into each others OneDrive storage unless individuals share specific OneDrive hosted folders/files. Child accounts have no means of identifying or seeing the details of other child/master accounts on a given subscription.

From what I remember, any email address can be used to create an account/enroll other users. All of my own household Office 365 accounts are @Mac/@me.com accounts. Work accounts can be used as long as they are not already members of a corporate Office 365 / Microsoft 365 tenancy.

 

[rjp1]

A Microsoft subscription isn’t for everyone. If people are unhappy, they can use something else. The real issue is many people here want to be able to use software indefinitely (expecting updates) without having to pay more than what they already paid 10 years ago.

The people that bought Office 2016 back in 2010 are always up to something.

 

[oneMadRssn]

There is nothing stopping someone from using Office 2016 or even 2011. It just won’t be updated. If a person is fine with that, I see no problem. Microsoft isn‘t forcing anyone to use their product much less buy into the subscription model.

Sure, of course they're not holding a gun to anyone's head.

I was originally responding to your comment about paying yearly subscription fees for software in general by saying that word processing is an example of software which does not fit into the subscription business model very well, and people's negative reactions to this announcement are evidence of that.

 

[Pizzakoerier]

Even more reasons to just use the current version of iWork. It works great.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Yes, I am aware. Given my age, the entry point into the "future" might be a little earlier for me than for some on this forum.

My statement was made to illustrate the fact that we really do lease almost everything, and have been for a while.

This is accelerating, however, i.e. we no longer buy music, we lease it via Spotify, Apple Music, etc. We don't buy movies, we rent them on our preferred on-demand service. We don't buy our devices, we lease them through the carrier. Our cars, our houses, even our health can be had for a low, low monthly fee.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for it, even if it is just an illusion that gives us middle/lower-classers a taste of the world belonging to those that can actually afford to buy everything outright.

As a society, we have definitely moved further into the subscription world. As much as some would like, I don’t think we can go back (even just a little) to what we grew up with.

I could certainly turn the clock back and start ripping cd’s, dvd, blu-ray and all the rest. I have thought about it many times. And I quickly came to the conclusion, that my time on earth is much too valuable to spend hours upon hours trying to recreate my history. As much as I may grumble at times, a subscription savers me time which also saves me money.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Sure, of course they're not holding a gun to anyone's head.

I was originally responding to your comment about paying yearly subscription fees for software in general by saying that word processing is an example of software which does not fit into the subscription business model very well, and people's negative reactions to this announcement are evidence of that.

You have a valid point about updates being subjective. For some, the weekly Microsoft updates are seen and welcomed while others didn’t have a problem, and are tired of the weekly downloads.
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The people that bought Office 2016 back in 2010 are always up to something.

Exactly. And those are the same people still using Windows 98.

 

[velocityg4]

I can see that this may be annoying to purchasers. I like the subscription model as it's a lot cheaper for keeping six computers up to date with Office. Plus the 1TB of storage per user is nice. It comes out as a way better value than purchasing Office and some other cloud storage plan.

I'm not a fan of the subscription model but with the price difference they've set for the standalone versus subscription, I'm feeling forced into the latter.

Does anyone know how a Microsoft 365 Family subscription (for up to six users at $100 per year instead of $70 for an individual) works? I have a couple of questions as I consider it:

• Is it similar to the standalone, one-time purchase where you basically just get a serial number and input it?
• Can all of the users see each other's names and email address, or only the administrator / main user?
• If the subscription is via an account / email address for each person, can any email domain be used, or does it have to be a Microsoft-owned one? Can person A use a Gmail while person B uses Yahoo and person C uses a work email?

If you purchase through a store you'll get a product key. But you register that with an MS account on their website. When you install office 365 on a computer. You register with one of your user e-mail and passwords to keep it active. Sometimes you have to login again. Actually to buy any version of Office now you have to register with MS and download through them. Whether a purchase or subscription.

You're a family (presumably). When you login to the website to overview your account. You'll see all your family members. Although I have everyone registered as an Organizer. I'd assume child accounts could see everyone too. Why wouldn't they? The family account is for people living in the same house not businesses.

Anyone can use any e-mail address they choose to register their individual MS Account or they can get one from MS. It doesn't matter.

 

[pioneer9k]

I will likely never have a personal office subscription again if I have to pay full price. I just don't need it anymore since I've been out of school and have to carry a 2nd work laptop.

The only reason I have it now is because my company is part of the Microsoft Home-Use Program and I can get it on my mac for $10, but it is never used. I use iWork whenever I need to for my personal spreadsheets and it meets my needs.

I started using Pages and honestly havent needed to look back. im sure theres some advanced features Word has that Pages doesn't but apparently I don't need them. Sometimes I'll use google docs as well.

 

[mk313]

Yes, only the subscription model is the only version that remains active. Some of us, possibly not you, cannot afford that fee every year we will live. Yet, it may surprise you, we do have a need for office functionality. The "boxed" software model is affordable for us as we can accept the static functionality as the years go by.

That’s not true. Mac office 2016 will continue to work just fine. It will no longer get any updates and it sounds like it won’t work with office 365, so possibly if you use those specific integrated parts, then you’ll have issues but office 2016 for mac will continue to work fine for most people. Also office 2019 is still available as a pitched product for those who don’t want to buy a subscription.

 

[Darth Tulhu]

As a society, we have definitely moved further into the subscription world. As much as some would like, I don’t think we can go back (even just a little) to what we grew up with.

I could certainly turn the clock back and start ripping cd’s, dvd, blu-ray and all the rest. I have thought about it many times. And I quickly came to the conclusion, that my time on earth is much too valuable to spend hours upon hours trying to recreate my history. As much as I may grumble at times, a subscription savers me time which also saves me money.

I don't know about that.

I only use the subscriptions I must and buy things outright when I can. I generally prefer making long-term investments.

In the end, subscriptions don't save me neither time nor money. I end up paying more in the long-term, just like when you get a mortgage and don't pay it off early. And when a subscription ends for whatever reason I have to spend the time to assess and replace it with something equivalent, which isn't always better or easy (getting OUT of Apple's walled garden is MUCH harder than getting in). Divorce in any form tends to be expensive.

Again, I'm not raging against subscription models. If I were, I'd rage against having no other option.

Which thankfully today, in most cases at least, we do.

 

[TheOldChevy]

I don't like subscriptions... but when I see how Office is useful for me for its price and how much I pay for Disney+, Netflix, Prime and other services, i think it is a bargain. And I understand that MSFT wants to make money from their products.

 

[ghostface147]

I guess I'm good for three more years, but while we don't use Office 365 for everything, we do use it for exchange only.

 

[luvbug]

I thank God I don't have any requirement to touch Microsoft "software" (and I use the term loosely).

 

[jdclifford]

5 Trillion US Dollars?

How did you work that out?

MSFT current market cap is approx $1.7B

 

[Wags]

Welcome to the future! Where we lease everything and own nothing! Yay us!

BMW is arrogant enough to think they might be able to add subscription services to their vehicles.

 

[H00513R]

I’ve been all-in on the free LibreOffice at home for a while and haven’t missed MS. My needs aren’t hardcore but I do create/use spreadsheets, text docs, etc and can save/open MS formats.

 

[TiggrToo]

MSFT current market cap is approx $1.7B

I assume you meant T and not B.

Anyways, it sure ain't the claimed $5T!