Microsoft reports hefty quarterly loss of $2.1 billion

[HEXUS]

$7.5bn write-down of Nokia business plus restructuring charges wiped out its profits.

Read more.

[Corky34]

Office 365 Consumer subscribers increased to 15.2 million, with nearly 3 million subscribers added in the quarter. But traditional Office software consumer revenue went down by 42%.

Good enough reason to stop development of traditional Office software?
It wouldn't surprise me if Office 2016 was the last standalone version.

[Silmaril.SE]

everything is heading towards software as a service, so I think you're almost certainly right.

[cheesemp]

everything is heading towards software as a service, so I think you're almost certainly right.

It certainly is in the home environment. I think large enterprise will still have specific releases for a while though...

[crossy]

everything is heading towards software as a service, so I think you're almost certainly right.

It certainly is in the home environment. I think large enterprise will still have specific releases for a while though...

Hmm, while there's probably some truth in that, it wouldn't be a difficult "sell" to the LEC's on the idea that there wouldn't be an Office2016, Office2017, etc but instead you'd end up with six "feature packs" a year that would gradually introduce new features. A lot less disruption for CorpIT and the users, and less testing effort for CorpIT. (Plus easier to unroll).

From Microsoft's point of view this would be a great idea - again less effort to slip out those "feature packs" compared with a full release. Plus a strong encouragement (a la Office360) for customers to stay on the subscription trail.

From a personal point of view, I've said in the past that Office365 was a non-starter as far as I was concerned. Trouble is that the current offering is very attractively priced for a family that has the (usual?) mix of desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones. Also doesn't hurt that the Android versions of Word and Excel are pretty slick. Good enough that if Microsoft were ever to do an "Office for Linux" then I'd be very tempted.

[shaithis]

I think most were expecting this.....although it was a bit heftier than I was expecting....

I still feel that Microsoft could forge a successful business out of handsets but they have a long way to go yet!

[crossy]

I still feel that Microsoft could forge a successful business out of handsets but they have a long way to go yet!

Can't help wondering if spreading their software to iOS and Android could prove very lucrative in the long run. Shame also that they didn't fancy porting MUI to Android - it'd be interesting to see how it would perform compared to the various other launchers, (Nova, etc).

[Toxic Calpol]

App store is where they are losing out the most on the handsets

[Saracen]

...

From a personal point of view, I've said in the past that Office365 was a non-starter as far as I was concerned. Trouble is that the current offering is very attractively priced for a family that has the (usual?) mix of desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones. Also doesn't hurt that the Android versions of Word and Excel are pretty slick. Good enough that if Microsoft were ever to do an "Office for Linux" then I'd be very tempted.

From my personal point of view, I'm not doing software on a subscription basis, and that's that. I want to know what it's going to cost me before I buy it, and that's the basis on which I decide IF to buy it. Or not.

As for Office, there's nothing I need to do, home or business, that my existing legit, licenced versions won't do. So option 1) is simply to stick with that. Net monthly (or annual) cost =£0.

Any forthcoming version has to justify to me why whatever changes there are justify the cost. And on a subscription, I can't even quantify total cost.

My current latest (*) version is 2010 Professional. I've had it since shortly after release so, what, 5 years-ish. I don't rememver what it cost me exactly, but from memory, about £400. So, £80/year, and dropping every year for which it remains sufficient to my needs. If I fet another 5 years, it'll be £40/year.

But if I go subscription, it'd be that cost, plus whatever the subscription is. My cost goes up, instead of currently, going down as time passes. Subscription means I lose the ability to decide for myself if whatever MS do to it is worth £ x/year over however many years I choose (not MS, but me) to make it last. It also means I lose the ability to entirely reject changes MS make, like I did with Win8 MUI, adopting a "oh hell no, stuff that" attitude.

Subscription effectively ties me in to meekly accepting whatever MS dedide to do with Office, and paying whatever they decide to jack the rate up to which, mark my words, they will, once sufficient numbers are looked in. The only option will be to completely dump Office, which is the alternative facing me now if they decide to go subscription only, as has been suggested in this thread.

So ... as with Windows so it is with Office, my mind is already clear on it .... no way, hell no, stuff that, it ain't happening, no way am I going there. If (repeat, IF) MS do, we part company.

That's not to say I think subscription-only doesn't make sense for other users, or for MS, or that they WILL go there. If they do, it may well be right for them, and it may appeal to other users. But I have worked hard to absolutely minimise regular monthly payments, and right now, I'm down to one (broadband, phone, etc) and I'm NOT making it two with MS, even if they dress it up in annual form.


(*) I say latest because I have a number of full, boxed retail versions (not upgrades) on different machines, including Office 97, XP, 2000 and 2003. Each, considering what I use each machine for, still does what I need and where I need something more, I simply do it on another machine.

[Corky34]

Not that anyone will probably care but a while ago ComputerWorld put up a handy calculator to work out the costs of using Office 365 vs the standalone version.

[crossy]

From my personal point of view, I'm not doing software on a subscription basis, and that's that. I want to know what it's going to cost me before I buy it, and that's the basis on which I decide IF to buy it. Or not. ...

I did say "from a personal point of view". I've got two high schoolers and a wife who doesn't want to faff around with LibreOffice ("Open"Office is tainted as far as I'm concerned). Now they all have laptops/desktops plus smartphones and tablets - so that's less than £20/year each for all the Office apps plus 1TB of cloud storage. And the cloud storage alone would come to close that. Note that while I fully appreciate that 3rd party cloud storage is the spawn of Lucifer to you (with good reasons) it's a great "facilitator" for me and mine.

That said, the last copy of Office I bought (2013) was less than a tenner - thanks to the corporate agreement my current employer has with Microsoft. But that means that only two of us get the use of Office, plus nowt but the basic cloud storage.

Not that anyone will probably care but a while ago ComputerWorld put up a handy calculator to work out the costs of using Office 365 vs the standalone version.

Downside is that the calculator is from 2013 and prices have moved down since then. But it's handy to know about. Thanks.

[Saracen]

Not that anyone will probably care but a while ago ComputerWorld put up a handy calculator to work out the costs of using Office 365 vs the standalone version.

Well, on this device (Android tablet) it dodsn't work. Does nothing at all, in fact. Also, it based on some basic assumptions about needs which, in my case, were wrong anyway.

My calculations were as follows :-

1) Existing version, already got it. Cost going forward = £0.

2) Office 365 requires both licencing for business use, and access to Access ('scuse pun), so requires 1-user licence for EnterprisePro, or whatever it was called, at £10.10 per month, which is £121.20 per annum, which for my projected minimum likely use is £606. Plus VAT, of course.

So, I can stick with existing version, or switch to Libre, for £0. Or I can use an MS subscription, which seems to have the advantage, dubious though that is in my view, of always having the latest version, whether I want it or not, and paying over £600 over 5 years for it. More, if I make my current version last longer.

It also appears to require an MS account, which I don't have and don't want. You also get extra services, like Skype minutes (er, no thanks), cloud storage (hell, no, no way) and so on.

For me, it's a no-brainer. For others, YMMV.

[Saracen]

I did say "from a personal point of view".

Indeed. Absolutely. So did I. I also said I can see why it might appeal, and/or make sense to others, in a different set of circumstances.

I have no problem with MS offering the subscription route, but it's not for me. The suggestion was made that subscription-only might be on the way. That, I do have a problem with, and am not going to do.

Clearly, MS aren't going to gasp with shock upon noticing they've lost me, and alter their strategic direction (if indeed, as seems quite plausible, it is their direction) in a panic at the thought, so I'm left with either conceding (not gonna happen ) or planning MY strategic direction when/if they go sub-only.

So I have. And I may not be in the majority, but I'm certainly not alone.

[aidanjt]

Ditto, already using LibreOffice, don't need MSO backwards compatibility, much less LibreOffice's valiant attempt at it, and I'm absolutely not going to spend hundreds per year on a subscription 'service'.

[Myss_tree]

I still feel that Microsoft could forge a successful business out of handsets but they have a long way to go yet!

Agree ... have a 640XL and its a very good device however Microsoft do need a couple of premium devices in the phablet and small form factor sector. I much prefer Windows Phone OS to Android or IOS and i like the vision of one OS for all devices. The (apparent) lack of apps on Windows Phone is a non issue for me as there seems plenty for what i need.

[peterb]

I won't be going beyond W7. I have windows running on a VM with the only couple of Windows only applications I need. That'll keep me going for a few years.