How to buy a Microsoft volume license on the cheap
Most people think of Microsoft volume licenses as the province of big companies -- as Microsoft's way of keeping the hoi polloi from buying some of its fancier products. VLs are expensive, cumbersome, and not for the faint of heart, the story goes. But that story's wrong. It turns out there's a trick that people in the know have been using for years to comply, quite precisely, with the rules and pick up any VL software they might want for a song. Read more...
Microsoft: Office 2013 license is for just one PC, FOREVER
Microsoft has clarified the licensing for retail versions of its Office 2013 productivity suite, confirming that boxed editions of the software are licensed for a single PC only and that the license may never be transferred, even if the user upgrades to a new PC.
Over the past week, Office users around the web have expressed dismay over new, draconian-sounding terms in the Office 2013 retail license that seem to severely curb what customers can do with the software. Specifically, this paragraph raised the most eyebrows:
You may not transfer the software to another computer or user. You may transfer the software directly to a third party only as installed on the licensed computer, with the Certificate of Authenticity label and this agreement. Before the transfer, that party must agree that this agreement applies to the transfer and use of the software. You may not retain any copies. Read more...
Microsoft kicks off free Office 2013 upgrades
Microsoft on Friday launched an Office upgrade offer that gives customers who purchase the current Office 2010 a free copy of the upcoming Office 2013.
The deal, stuck with the official title of "Microsoft Office Pre-launch Offer," started Oct. 19 and ends April 30, 2013. Customers who buy a retail copy of Office 2010 for Windows or one of several stand-alone applications within that period can download a free copy of the corresponding version of Office 2013, or in some cases, choose a free one-year subscription to an Office 365 plan.
Although Microsoft has announced Office 2013, provided a preview of the new suite and named prices, it has not set a launch date. Most expect Office 2013, and the Office 365 plans that rely on it, to ship in late January or early February 2013. Read more...
Office for ARM will lack features, report claims
Sources close to Microsoft have claim that the version of Office 2013 that ships for Redmond's Surface tablet and other ARM systems will be missing features from the build for rival Intel-based Windows machines.
Among the items to be pruned from the version of Office for ARM-based Windows RT will be macros, third-party add-ons, and support for Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), The Verge reports.
The features are allegedly being removed to conserve battery life and improve reliability on devices with limited processing power.
If true, it would be something of an about-face for the software giant. At a press event announcing the Office 2013 Preview in July, Microsoft honcho Steve Ballmer said that Redmond was committed to providing the full Office experience on Surface and other devices running Windows RT.
"You'll see this as we and our partners ship PCs and Surface devices with ARM chips in them," Ballmer said. "Full Word. Full PowerPoint. Full Excel. You give up nothing of the rich capabilities of Microsoft Office when you embrace a Windows 8 ARM device." Read more...
Can Microsoft get SaaS right with Office 2013?
Microsoft's pushing hard to convince individuals and small organizations that they should rent instead of buy Office 2013. But unless it has learned from mistakes made with its Office XP rental experiment, the company could face an uphill battle convincing users.
The standard download for the Customer Preview version of Office 2013 comes emblazoned with the name and some of the accoutrements of Office 365. Microsoft clearly wants testers to associate Office 2013 with the online-only Office 365 package.
Microsoft rolled out Office 365 about a year ago as the successor to its BPOS (Business Productivity Online Standard) hosted server package. The emphasis was on all of the server-side stuff Office 365 brought to the mix: Microsoft would host Exchange, SharePoint, and Lync servers for you and also rent Office 2010 as part of the package if you wanted it. Read more...
Office 2013 shifts security focus from devices to identities
Business users may find the productivity-boosting potential of Office 2013 tantalizing; its ties to the cloud and support for devices beyond PCs means on-the-go users are never far from their important documents. IT admins, on the other hand, may feel more wary than excited by Microsoft's move to untether its ubiquitous productivity suite from the desktop because it represents a significant shift from traditional end-user security.
Microsoft summarizes the nature of the shift pretty well in a security overview of Office 2013: "[This release] makes a fundamental change from computer-centered identity and authentication to user-centered identity and authentication. This shift enables content, resources, most recently used lists, settings, links to communities, and personalization to roam seamlessly with users as they move from desktop, to tablet, to smartphone, or to a shared or public computer." Read more...