News - Office 2013 retail is “permanently assigned” to a single computer

[shaithis]

If it's anything like thier oem windows licenses, all you need is a phone and the code windows generates when it detects different hardware and to confirm that the license is installed on one working machine only when you make hardware changes to your pc. My Vista oem license got used on 2 iterations of one pc and then moved to a totally different pc when main rig became win7. Probably nothing to worry about here.

Other then they can (and do sometimes) say no.

Sounding naive is usually enough to get them to reset it but it isn't guaranteed by any means.

[Firejack]

Using Microsoft products with the ridiculous activation/licence rules just makes the whole process more effort then its worth.

On top of this you can't have any confidence that the product you are using will be supported in 1-2 years time. Without warning Microsoft are just pulling products and services. Leaving you no upgrade path or escape route.

Windows Home Server being a prime example. How many of us have been abandoned by Microsoft? With little or no warning Microsoft just pulled the plug and left the customer with a massive headache.

[Saracen]

I'm sure MS are not going to be terribly bothered what I do, one way or the other, but personally, there is a zero percent chance I'll upgrade to Office 2013 if this means it's locked to that machine, and a new machine means buying a new Office licence, That, on my machines, is simply not going to happen. Period.

Nor is there a snowball's chance in hell of me paying an annual subscription for an Office suite. Not now, not ever.

So, it seems option 1) for me is to simply stick with my current Office (2007, IIRC, though I'd have to look to be sure), permanently.

Option 2), upgrade to 2010 and stick with that.

Option 3), and it's looking increasingly attractive by the week, is to finally jump to Libre.

I've been using MS office (small 'o') products since before there was an Office (capital 'O') product, when Word was still playing second fiddle to WordPerfect, and Wordstar was a major contender. But congratulations, MS, it seems you've finally found a way to get rid of me.

What with this and Win 8, Ubuntu and Libre are looking increasingly attractive, and maybe that'll be the basis of my next major build, and I'll just keep a Win 7 machine for Photoshop and a few other things, and for Office '07 when I nred compatibility.

[sykobee]

"Probably nothing to worry about" isn't good enough for me.

I've bought a copy of the software, where I run it is none of Microsoft's business. Moving the software from one computer to another is certainly something that cannot be restricted in the terms of the license, because the software didn't come with the hardware, it is its own self-contained entity. If they're worried about selling on of computers, then have an online means to de-authorise previous installs, or do it automatically when the software is reinstalled. Apple's done this for years without any issues.

[Gitch28]

Microsoft really hate themselves. I suppose it is about time, both them and Apple are nosediving to failure as they deserve.

[kasavien]

I don't really see what the problem is. When you buy the license you know what you're buying into, if you don't like the T's and C's don't buy the product and get something different. The argument about policies like this encouraging piracy sounds tired, no-one is forcing you to buy Office, there are plenty of adequate free alternatives.

[kingpotnoodle]

I don't really see what the problem is. When you buy the license you know what you're buying into, if you don't like the T's and C's don't buy the product and get something different. The argument about policies like this encouraging piracy sounds tired, no-one is forcing you to buy Office, there are plenty of adequate free alternatives.

That's very true, and it's far from the most draconian activation and EULA in the industry - many more niche applications are a lot worse.

I wonder if and how they do any tracking of whether Technet/MSDN users really do use the software just for testing /development.

[Irien]

I've always recommended OpenOffice/LibreOffice to customers, but understood that some need/want/appreciate MS Office. The 3 machine home deal made recommending MS in that situation a logical and reasonable approach, as users could upgrade their home systems in one go for a fair price.

MS Office 2013, on the other hand, pushes prices up, and restricts installation to the point where I cannot see myself making any recommendation of the software period.

That said, I have just upgraded a few people to 2010 for this very reason!

This isn't going to win MS any extra sales, that's for sure, and I can't imagine retail partners like PC World being overly happy, as it's a much harder sell to get a customer to buy 3x100ukp programs than just one!

[tigertop1]

I got a free copy of Office 2013 after buying as 3 licence office 2010. This decision to tiein the 2013 licence as a OEM model is just plain crazy. Somebody at Microsoft needs to seriously restrain and retrain the company's beancounters as this will lose MS customer trust.
My Office 2013 CD will now become a hanging bird deterrent over the strawberry patch- if the cat doesn't want it as a toy

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

What some people don't get that this is retail and NOT OEM software. They don't see to get it all,and what they fail to realise is that unfortunately for many purposes,you still need to use Office for compatability reasons for people who need to do work.

The retail versions of Office cost hundreds of quid. Office 2013 retail is well over £200.

The vast majority of RETAIL software can be re-installed on a new machine,if it is deactivated on the old one. This includes software from Adobe and even niche ones which cost thousands of quid which require dongles and the like which I have used.

What annoys me is when people make excuses for money grabs from companies due to some weird reason,like symphocants. I suspect a lot of them get copies quietly from work or even use pirated versions,so its OK for them,since they don't pay for it.

What they also don't seem to get again,is that the flipping pirated version can be reinstalled on a new computer probably with no problems at all. Hence,even if someone paid THE SAME FLIPPING PRICE FOR THE PIRATED VERSION AS THE ORIGINAL RETAIL VERSION, THEY WOULD BE GETTING A BETTER DEAL EVEN IF THEY INSTALLED IT ON ONE COMPUTER.

In the end ligitimate users get screwed over whereas pirates pay nothing and get a better product!!

[bobharvey]

nasty. Very nasty

[bridges009]

As a very satisfied owner of Windows 7 and Office 2010 I can say Microsoft won't be getting a penny out of me for their current products. They'd better make this a short generation of products otherwise Apple and Google will kill them dead in the consumer space.

[shabz8324]

This all comes down to what version of office you normally buy. If like a high percentage of people you buy home and student then yes you are getting a pretty raw deal. However if you are someone who buys the office home and business, which costs around £180, you are getting a great deal with office 365.

[pipTheGeek]

If this is confirmed then I won't be moving to Office 2013. Mostly out of principal; this just seems to be a stupid restriction. Nor will I ever be buying a subsription for Office, not for home use, it just isn't worth it.

Slightly off topic but still in line with stupid license restrictions. Has anyone else noticed that it doesn't appear to be possible to buy a non upgrade retail edition of Windows 8? Or am I just being dumb and can't see it?

[SpeedyJDK]

Find out which part that wants to phone home and lead it to 127.0.0.1 in C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc\hosts ? So they have no idea that you have installed it and should be able to use it if your pc breaks down. No ?

[Agent]

Find out which part that wants to phone home and lead it to 127.0.0.1 in C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc\hosts ? So they have no idea that you have installed it and should be able to use it if your pc breaks down. No ?

You need to activate it to use it. Not going to get far with a hosts file block.