Subscription Software Ramps Up, Now It's Microsoft
Discussion
6 replies
Posted by Paul DeCesare on January 29, 2013 at 1:44 PM
A while back I had posted one of my gripes that software makers will push for us to move to subscriptions for software instead of paying once and using it for however long we wish, and this is definitely Adobe's agenda. Microsoft has been pushing this for years, and they've finally announced it... Office will go to $100/year, here it is on CNN's site.
It's probably a good time to think about upgrading to latest versions of stuff to get it over with, then ride those purchases for many years, lol. Right now the best deal to get on the latest for-purchase version of Office is to spend $228 on Office 2010 Home & Business which gives you a two-PC license (the H&B edition doesn't include Access or Publisher, but does have Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote which I LOVE). I'm fairly sure that if you purchase it before 1/31 you get Office 2013 FREE. That'd put you on Office 2013 for two PCs for $228 and that'd probably be a viable version of Office for MANY years to come, certainly more features than most of us would ever need. Here it is on Amazon. They do have a link for the "newer version of this item" which takes you to the Office 2013 page for $219, but that is a ONE PC license. Even if the coupon for the 2013 upgrade doesn't come in the Office 2010 box, Office 2010 is quite a good version and you'll get two installs for the same price as a one-license version of Office 2013.
Subscription software is inevitable, and I do realize it does have its merits for some (mostly businesses). But right now is a great time to secure a for-purchase set of software tools that will work for many years to come. I'm on Win 7 64-bit, Adobe's Production Premium CS6 and Office 2010 on a screaming 6-core processor with 24GB of ram... honestly, I could work with this rig for a LONG time. This isn't like 1998 where you had to upgrade every 12 months, if I were to stop right here with what I have and devote 100% to photography and not worry about PC and software, I wouldn't exactly suffer. I dare say that if you need mainstream software, Win7 & CS6 is the way to go before all the subscription stuff kicks in. I don't know how this affects Mac users (hey, I still have my working SE/30!), and certainly if you run Linux and Open Office, this is all moot. But if you run Windows and want to shore up one last time and avoid subs, get Win 7, CS6 and Office 2010 or 2013 and be done with it.
Just my 2 cents! Oh, it'll be a penny a month starting January 2014...
Posted by Buck Ward on January 29, 2013 at 5:57 PM
I have several versions of MSOffice whixh I usually have installed when I purchase a new computer for my business. My latest version of MS Office is 2010, if I recall. I'm perfectly happy with older versions, as well. In fact, I generally use compatibility mode, to make documents usable in older versions. I also use, in lieu, LibreOffice and Apache OpenOffice. Both of these are free open source applications, and, as far as I can tell, comparable to MS office. They can use and create documents with Office file extensions.
Honestly, I am more concerned with the long term availability of large format color film than with MS Office and PhotoShop. My investment in my LF camera equipment and scanner far outstrips my need to have up-to-the minute software. I can live happily with Office 2010, Windows 7, and CS6 for a long time to come, but I'd be dead in the water if film was no longer available.
--P
Posted by Paul DeCesare on January 30, 2013 at 2:55 AM
It may take a while but I'm thinking this is the route "has been" companies will take; it's just the first nail in the coffin. Ultimately, there will be other programs available for purchase and many consumers will simply move to those.
When technology becomes too expensive, other alternatives will be sought.
Pretty simple.
Posted by Gary Yeoh on February 1, 2013 at 7:40 PM
Paul:
Software companies will find ways to push you to upgrade. As an example when I bought the D600 a few months ago, the only raw converter available would only work in CS6 and Adobe refuse to extend this to CS5 which is what I have. One needs to convert this to PNG format before it can be imported to CS5 - just another extra little step but a little annoying. The alternative is to use LR4 and then edit in CS5 which works well for single image but one cannot do this by exporting several images as layers into CS5. I am still holding out on upgrading to CS6 because I can do what I want with CS5 (or almost all except the raw converter) and see no reason to upgrade to CS6.
As the software develops, you will find some features which will not be retro-compatible with the older versions. If these new features are what you need, then there is no choice but to upgrade.
Discussion
6 repliesIt's probably a good time to think about upgrading to latest versions of stuff to get it over with, then ride those purchases for many years, lol. Right now the best deal to get on the latest for-purchase version of Office is to spend $228 on Office 2010 Home & Business which gives you a two-PC license (the H&B edition doesn't include Access or Publisher, but does have Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote which I LOVE). I'm fairly sure that if you purchase it before 1/31 you get Office 2013 FREE. That'd put you on Office 2013 for two PCs for $228 and that'd probably be a viable version of Office for MANY years to come, certainly more features than most of us would ever need. Here it is on Amazon. They do have a link for the "newer version of this item" which takes you to the Office 2013 page for $219, but that is a ONE PC license. Even if the coupon for the 2013 upgrade doesn't come in the Office 2010 box, Office 2010 is quite a good version and you'll get two installs for the same price as a one-license version of Office 2013.
Subscription software is inevitable, and I do realize it does have its merits for some (mostly businesses). But right now is a great time to secure a for-purchase set of software tools that will work for many years to come. I'm on Win 7 64-bit, Adobe's Production Premium CS6 and Office 2010 on a screaming 6-core processor with 24GB of ram... honestly, I could work with this rig for a LONG time. This isn't like 1998 where you had to upgrade every 12 months, if I were to stop right here with what I have and devote 100% to photography and not worry about PC and software, I wouldn't exactly suffer. I dare say that if you need mainstream software, Win7 & CS6 is the way to go before all the subscription stuff kicks in. I don't know how this affects Mac users (hey, I still have my working SE/30!), and certainly if you run Linux and Open Office, this is all moot. But if you run Windows and want to shore up one last time and avoid subs, get Win 7, CS6 and Office 2010 or 2013 and be done with it.
Just my 2 cents! Oh, it'll be a penny a month starting January 2014...
--P
When technology becomes too expensive, other alternatives will be sought.
Pretty simple.
Software companies will find ways to push you to upgrade. As an example when I bought the D600 a few months ago, the only raw converter available would only work in CS6 and Adobe refuse to extend this to CS5 which is what I have. One needs to convert this to PNG format before it can be imported to CS5 - just another extra little step but a little annoying. The alternative is to use LR4 and then edit in CS5 which works well for single image but one cannot do this by exporting several images as layers into CS5. I am still holding out on upgrading to CS6 because I can do what I want with CS5 (or almost all except the raw converter) and see no reason to upgrade to CS6.
As the software develops, you will find some features which will not be retro-compatible with the older versions. If these new features are what you need, then there is no choice but to upgrade.