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Any opinions on Office 365? What are you all doing for Office stuff at work? Do you plan on sticking with what you have? What about for home use? I'm weighing this all out right now. Especially now that Microsoft has FINALLY made this available for iOS and Android.
My initial thoughts are that I don't want to pay a subscription cost. And it just feels like too little, too late. I also think it's kinda expensive considering there are other options that are just as good that are free.
I could see using it for hosted exchange, small companies can have what the big boys have with respect to collaboration, but without the overhead of managing their own exchange...
True. But it's $150 per/user per/year for something useful. Is that a reasonable cost? And what about the fact that data is stored in the cloud? That's pretty sh*tty imo.Quote:
Originally Posted by Semper Fi
Depends what subscription you are talking about, difficult to say if it is a reasonable cost without knowing as there are so many O365 subs available. You can get a 25 gig mailbox for €40 ($50) per year in Europe for example. Office proplus for €150/$110 per year. That gives you Office pro suite and I think online office and onedrive space, can;t remember exact specs? Pro costs about €450 now to buy outright I think so over three years you have spent the same but spread payments.Quote:
Originally Posted by Webhead
As for data stored in the cloud it is all relative, I wouldn't call it shitty, it depends on particular requirements. Some see it as a plus point.
Those $ prices above are me guesstimating the exchange rate from €, I see MS have adjusted them so 150 here is pretty much 150 there, http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/bu...104051403.aspx.
Do you pay a subscription fee for it?Quote:
Originally Posted by emr
For what?
For Office 365. In other words, are you an Office 365 user? If not, what Office software do you use?Quote:
Originally Posted by emr
99 bucks a year for 5 devices is a pretty good deal.
I started a thread before the hackers took the old site down.
The only issue I had is you lose some advanced features if you are offline. You basically download a very basic version of office and the rest is done online.
The only reason I cancelled is because I replace my computer every 2 years and 139 for a stand alone version to last me 2 years just makes more sense than 200 which only gets me free upgrades if and when they make them.
So you're using the standalone version of 2013 right now?Quote:
Originally Posted by Larommi
Overall, I guess I would say that Office 365 isn't a terrible deal, though I think some smaller business are probably better serviced by buying Office on disk and running it until it fails to meet their needs. The cost of Office for consumers, and students is pretty inexpensive, but I'd still maintain many of those folks would be just fine with Libre Office. One of the concerns I have with software as a service, is that I can't shake the notion that the publisher is likely to suddenly shove a railroad tie up my wazoo.Quote:
Originally Posted by Larommi
I think we've already seen this happen with Adobe's pricing of Creative Cloud. Last summer, Adobe ran a deal where a student could get a discounted subscription for only $24.95 a month, but the program required validation of eligibility, and Adobe ran it in the summer. very funny, Adobe. Right now, they have a deal until the end of the month where you can subscribe to Photoshop and Lightroom for $9.95 a month, and then after the contract expires, the subscription goes up to the going rate if you choose to stay. So, I bought Elder Child a subscription, since she's got some Photoshop experience and might have some fun. I also told her to that this would most likely only be a one year experience.
See, that's the thing. I like the idea of buying the software and using it until I feel that I'm ready to move on. With the new subscription/cloud model, you might pay, then never use the software. What a waste of money! Or you might pay, then forget to renew and at the critical moment when you really need it, it stops working. Then the fact that files are saved to the cloud is great but what if i don't have internet access one day? Part of me really wants to like this but I'm having a hard time accepting this whole thing of renting software.Quote:
Originally Posted by slgrieb
To answer your earlier question webby, we have internal use rights licenses through the partner cloud essentials program so we migrated to o365 about three months ago to take advantage.
What you say about paying a subscription then not using it doesn't really make sense to me. It is up to the person to extract value from theIr purchase. You can also buy the normal version then not use it. Buy a car and not use it, etc. That doesn't mean the car dealer is at fault.
And if you forget to renew then you should be better organised, again that is down to the person who purchases in the first place.
It takes a lot of overhead away for us supporting clients so I like it and the clients we have using it now also like it but it is certainly not the solution for everyone.
That's certainly one of the more interesting observations I've read about the program. All the same, don't you still find yourself getting a lot of calls where you have to explain things like "And this is the File Menu."? I'm curious, because it seems that most of the service issues I deal with are caused by the least capable 1%, and you can't escape them.Quote:
Originally Posted by emr
Right. I guess what I'm trying to say could be compared to renting a movie. Let's say it costs $20 to buy a movie. If you buy it, you can keep it. Watch it 5 years from now if you want. But it doesn't matter because you have it. But if you rent it, then maybe it costs a little bit less. Say $5. But you only get a 24 hour window to watch it. An emergency comes up, you didn't get to watch the movie and now you're out $5.Quote:
Originally Posted by emr
Same thing here. In most cases, you can purchase an "app" or some piece of software and use it whenever you want anytime in your life. This is how we've always done it for decades. With this renting model, you pay and you get a limited window of time to use it in. I have a feeling I'm in the minority here but I think that model sucks. I don't want to have to think about it. I just want to buy it and know that I have it.
As for putting the burden on the user to be better organized,.. I have to disagree with that. There are other Office suites that don't put that burden on me. I just get it and I have it and that's it.
That's cool you are running it at work. Sounds like it's all working out. But where do all the files get saved? Is there an option to save work to the users local computer? Or does it all stay in "the cloud"? Or do you keep it all on a server that you manage?
I think what I'm trying to figure out in my mind is if there's a reason to try to stick with Microsoft or just leave them in the rear-view mirror. As a user at a company, I think it's an easier choice. But as an average user, I'm just having a hard time justifying the cost of staying onboard with them going forward. I hate the idea of being tethered to subscription fees if I can avoid it. I have so many monthly bills already. Just hate the idea of adding another one to the mix.
When have you used Norton Commander last time? Or NAV 2000? What about Windows 95? Office 5? Do you think you'll ever use them again in your life time?Quote:
Originally Posted by Webhead
Attachment 13Own it. Embrace it. It is you.
I was going to reply something else, but I'm not going to be trash like you.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mobile PC
You don't need to reply something else, you show your trashy side weekly.Quote:
Originally Posted by CeeBee
I've never done personal attacks against anyone, so kindly go screw yourself.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazzak
Ok, I guess this isn't the place to have mature conversations. Nevermind. I tried at least. Oh well.
You keep saying that files are stored in the cloud, but i don't think it's exclusively only in the cloud, right? in that you can store data anywhere you want, they just offer a cloud for additional flexibility/convenience.
Yes, you can put the files where you want.Quote:
Originally Posted by Semper Fi
I think it's great that there's still a forum online where you can say what you think even if it isn't always politically correct. The occasional flareup of temper, or rude remark is just normal human behavior. Personally, I detest the "corncob up the ass" mentality that dominates most forums. I'm happy to help, but if a forum demands that I be rigidly professional without a trace of humor or whimsy, they should be writing me checks.Quote:
Originally Posted by Webhead
Anyway, in general, I certainly tend to agree with you that the subscription model for software has some pitfalls; primarily because once you are locked into the model, they can ratchet up the price a bit at a time until you suddenly find yourself paying a small fortune for a subscription that once was cheap. On the other hand, a subscription gets you a product that's always up to date.
What I think we are going to see, is most software vendors increasingly pushing the subscription model, and pricing is likely to remain fairly low to make software piracy unattractive. Then, at some point, we're going to find that a lot of business software will only be available as a subscription. When that happens, unless there's a good open source alternative, I expect the subscription rates might become a little more painful. It's almost a classic supply and demand curve.
Yeah, I'm basically trying to ask and discuss this because I don't know. I don't use this product and wanted to get thoughts and comments from those that do or know something about this. Hence the posting of the discussion topic.Quote:
Originally Posted by Semper Fi
Thank you. That's good to know. The way they market it, it seems like it's just cloud based everything.Quote:
Originally Posted by Larommi
Those are some interesting thoughts. There are definitely some pros to renting software. Like you said, it's always up to date which is good.Quote:
Originally Posted by slgrieb
For me here at my company, I'm on Windows 7/Office 2010. It can't stay that way forever though so I'm trying to get an idea of what the future looks like in order to plan ahead. In the past, it's always been the same recipe. New version of Windows comes out, let it mature, then upgrade. New version of Office comes out, let it mature, then upgrade. And both of those things didn't happen very often. So to do it was a big deal. We spent time planning for it, made a budget for it and made it happen. Like moving from Windows XP to 7. Or moving from Office 2003 to 2010.
So I'm trying to figure out what comes next after Win7/Off2010. Is this software renting thing going to catch on? (Just throwing out some rhetorical questions). Are people embracing this? Will it only be popular in a corporate environment but in the personal world people will start using other things? What is the future? What is the next step? Because honestly, I have zero excitement right now about upgrading my company to Win8.1/Office2013-365. And I can't imagine it's going to get any better. I feel like the market is asking me to give up some control. And I don't like that.
Maybe this will be a little less cryptic: I have to create yearly goals where I work. I want to know if I should be including some kind of company-wide upgrade or if I should start thinking about budgeting for that. Thing is though, I don't know anyone who wants Windows 8 or Office 365. Most people have a sour face when I even mention either of those things. And with support for XP coming to an end, and with Microsoft wanting people to adopt Windows 8 so badly,... it's just a matter of time before 7/2010 is phased out. I want to be ready for that when it happens.
M$ lowered the price on corporate licensing of 365. Definitely worth looking at if you replace your software every couple years to stay up to date.
The only thing I have noticed is that there have not really been any big breakthroughs in Office in the last couple releases. Other than patching many many many many many security leaks, I don't see anything must have in the near future.
That's another thing is cost. Since my company started small (and is still small), we've basically just bought a license as we've needed it over the years. So the cost wasn't really noticed. So now I'm in a spot where cost has been done and everything works. And with that, trying to convince management to move forward and spend $12+ per user/per month for Office 365 is definitely not an easy sell. If we were still going by the old model, then I could upgrade things one at a time like I did before.Quote:
Originally Posted by Larommi
I was just looking at this comparison chart. The more I think about it, the more compelling this is becoming.
link: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/bu...102918419.aspx
Take a trial then you can try it for yourself and get answers to a lot of your questions?Quote:
Originally Posted by Webhead
Yeah, but I'm trying to get an idea of other peoples experiences first. For example, if everyone said, "I love it!" Then I'd have to think that there must be something great about it. Or if everyone said, "I hate it because XYZ". Then that would be useful. But from this thread, there doesn't seem to be any clear direction yet. The general vibe seems to be something along the lines of, "Meh, it exists." It's ok though. This isn't a black and white thing that requires an answer. I just was just looking for opinions and thoughts.Quote:
Originally Posted by emr
I mean, thing is, this is a discussion forum. So we "discuss" stuff. This is a discussion topic. Just something to pass the time and talk about (for those interested). :)
You can read all the forums and have all the discussions you want, but with a free trial and a little critical thinking, you can decide for yourself.Quote:
Originally Posted by Webhead
Besides, it is Office, that in itself is worthy of "meh". Seriously though, in the last few years, other than hiding shit in the ribbon, there has not been anything that exciting. Just think of it like paying rent on your apartment. you don't have to pay for upgrades, it is part of the package, and I think as a bonus you get extra cloud storage.
Ah, the Ribbon! Man do I have mixed feelings about the interface! It makes some advanced features easier to use, but in my case, since I do a lot of autotext in Word, it made me do a few extra steps to get things set up the way I wanted. I still don't really find it superior to pull down menus except for a few features.Quote:
Originally Posted by Larommi
Before the ribbon: I knew exactly where everything was that I wanted to click on in the File menu and just did my work.
After the ribbon: Work exactly the same as before except now every time I want to click on something I have to Google first to find out where it's located.
Yup. Fortunately, I work with an Office nerd. I just call him. It is probably the single most frustrating thing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Webhead
Given Office 2013 is still available at this time be it in a different pay model for single install licenses the option is still open but for how much longer as they may just be putting a toe in the water with this one.