On the subject of Microsoft products: MS Office

[CharlieChomper]

By now this may not exactly be new news (as I'm still going through my archive of articles to post), but for those who haven't heard this yet, Microsoft has launched a new "subscription" program for Office where for $70US (as the offer is currently limited to the US), you can "rent" the use of Office for a year and then renew it each year (at that same price) versus paying for the boxed copy outright.

They're also bundling it with the controversial "Windows Live OneCare" subscription service and a couple of other pay applications (notably "Live Mail" and "Live Messenger") as part of the package and allowing the license to be good for up to three Windows PCs.

However, part of the current speculation, as it's never been a secret for the past few years now within the industry, is that Microsoft is planning or is hoping to make its entire Office suite a subscription service versus the current situation that exists now with it and its availability, and whether or not this is a "taste" of what's to come or whether they may be doing this in part to better compete with lower-cost or free alternatives out there.

The article I originally had read this appears to have expired, but an alternative (if not a bit biased toward Microsoft) article can be found here for anyone wishing to read about it.

[silverlining]

Thanks for the update!

Hmm..so long as the boxed version is still availible I don't really care. Though admittedly I'm not looking forward to potentially having to buy it if I get a laptop. *shudder*

[CharlieChomper]

There are other, free alternatives to it out there that are fully compatible with it and work just as well if sometimes not better than Office.

If you need any names or links, let me know and I'll be more than happy to pass that information along to you.

[silverlining]

Yeah, but the thing is I actually really like Word 2007 (for one thing it's the only reason I managed to publish a book all on my own since adobe's online pdf-convertors suck) and don't intend to jump on the "kill microsoft" bandwagon unless I have a reason to. And when I have a software that I like, that works well and that I'm comfortable in I don't like changing it unless the one I'm currently using is actually giving me problems, y'know. I surfed on IE for ages because for the longest time it worked perfectly for me.
*cough*no,I'mnotacreatureofhabbit*cough* XD

[CharlieChomper]

I'm admittedly puzzled and am not entirely sure of where the "kill Microsoft" bandwagon came in with respect to alternatives to their products in this instance.

Some people do switch over to alternatives for that reason, but the majority of times, it actually has nothing to do with how the person making the choice feels about the company (or whether or not they even care one way or another).

I also never suggested at any point to change your software. If what you have works for you and you're happy with it, that's the main thing. I was mostly offering to provide names of other software as possible alternatives for the future.

[silverlining]

And when/if I need 'em, I'm sure I'll bug you to no end for 'em! You are, after all, resident techie! hehe.

[Kiri]

Hi Charlie Chomper - I reckon you should put up the alternatives in a separate thread anyways. It's always good to have choices, regardless of whether people take them up on it at some time.

I know I've been interested in Gimp as an alternative to PSP7 - not because I intend on stopping using PSP7, but different tools have different abilities even when they're doing the same thing.

I use a very old version of Microsoft Office (95) and while I'm happy with it - I have no intention of paying subscription for any software.

So I will want to know them - simply if I ever need to upgrade

Kiri

[CharlieChomper]

I'll see what I can do when I'm both feeling better and have a chance to do so.

[Kiri]

take your time CharlieChomper - you do it in your own time when you have the spoons!

Kiri