In the past, Microsoft’s Office suite could be used by a user on more than one machines. However, with Office 2013, Microsoft seems to be changing this policy. In Office 2013, the software suite locks itself to the first computer it is installed on, so that it can’t be used on any other machines when, for instance, a user wishes to change his PC.
The move, many have reckoned, is meant to push more users towards Microsoft’s Office 365 offering. Office 365 essentially provides a fairly comprehensive cloud-based Office experience so that it can be accessed on multiple devices. Microsoft’s attempt to lock Office 2013 on a single computer may be meant to persuade the users to move on to Office 365.
However, if that’s the company’s intent, it has chosen a horrible way to achieve it. Many users are already citing that they are highly annoyed at the fact that the license for Office 2013 suite applies only to a single machine.
The End User License Agreement of Office 2013 reads, “Our software license is permanently assigned to the licensed computer.” A spokesperson for the company further stated, “We’ve been very clear in all of our communications that customers seeking transferability should get Office 365 and that Office 2013 is licensed to one device.”
It remains to be seen that whether or not the end-users take kindly to this ‘forced transition.’ We will find our answers in the total user base of Office 365 in the coming days. If it is significantly bolstered, that would mean Microsoft has succeeded in achieving its goal.
Courtesy: Slashgear
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Boycott!
Don’t vote for this crap with your money.
Boycott Office 365 and Office 2013 …until Microsoft is forced to come up with fair terms. What if your mainboard breaks and needs replacement? Or you just want to upgrade your existing computer? You’d need to pay for a new copy of office. That shouldn’t even stand in any court of law, but who’s going to the expense of suing a corporate Nasty?
Its easy to boycott, cause they’ve been cutting features for years now, hiding the fact under questionable UI changes.
My Office 2003 can do a lot of things that my Office 2010 can’t do anymore. Just one example: chart customization in Excel got real shallow, as M$ seems to be trimming everything so it won’t overtax the Television-Nation part of the population.
Simple primer on corporate ethics:
Screw people as far as you can by hiring an army of lawyers to make it somehow look legal enough to fool a judge.