6 ms·

Why on earth would I want to pay each month for software? I'd rather just pay one cost and use the product.

sp332 10y ago
It gets regular updates. There is a version that you can just buy once, but it only gets updates for (I think) a year and then you have to buy a new one whenever you want an update.
- jmanderley 10y ago
  The problem with this is: Office is pretty much feature complete for most uses, people don't need regular updates to their word processor. Microsoft has even removed quite a few features since the Office 97 days. Retail Office gets updated about every three years. That's plenty, buying a subscription for Word seems hardly worth it.
nxc18 10y ago
Because the price is the same as buying it outright in the long run (assuming you use the newer versions as most do), its at least as good a deal as the outright purchase. For things that create value over the term of ownership, a subscription makes a lot more sense than a large up front cost. We do this model, but with more middlemen & machinations, for just about everything nowadays (houses, cars, student loans, etc.). The only difference is Microsoft isn't screwing you. The value-add here is that Office comes with cloud storage, really great built-in sync, and a continuous stream of improvement. Amazingly, Office is still getting better, but now improvements are released by the month, not every 3-4 years.
- jmanderley 10y ago
  It's more expensive to get the subscription even if you do upgrade regularly. And I don't think most people buy the latest version of Office with every release. And what "monthly improvements" are even needed? Office seems pretty feature complete for most use cases.
  - Omnius 10y ago
    You also get several installs, cloud storage, and the IOS apps. I would buy it outright for home but for my users in the office the subscription model works great.
kyriakos 10y ago
I personally use the home edition for my family. 4 family members have office / 1 TB onedrive with a single yearly subscription which is a fraction of the price I'd pay for a single perpetual license (and I have an extra user license to spare). It feels like a good value for me.

sp332 10y ago

It gets regular updates. There is a version that you can just buy once, but it only gets updates for (I think) a year and then you have to buy a new one whenever you want an update.

jmanderley 10y ago
The problem with this is: Office is pretty much feature complete for most uses, people don't need regular updates to their word processor. Microsoft has even removed quite a few features since the Office 97 days. Retail Office gets updated about every three years. That's plenty, buying a subscription for Word seems hardly worth it.

nxc18 10y ago

Because the price is the same as buying it outright in the long run (assuming you use the newer versions as most do), its at least as good a deal as the outright purchase. For things that create value over the term of ownership, a subscription makes a lot more sense than a large up front cost. We do this model, but with more middlemen & machinations, for just about everything nowadays (houses, cars, student loans, etc.). The only difference is Microsoft isn't screwing you. The value-add here is that Office comes with cloud storage, really great built-in sync, and a continuous stream of improvement. Amazingly, Office is still getting better, but now improvements are released by the month, not every 3-4 years.

jmanderley 10y ago
It's more expensive to get the subscription even if you do upgrade regularly. And I don't think most people buy the latest version of Office with every release. And what "monthly improvements" are even needed? Office seems pretty feature complete for most use cases.
- Omnius 10y ago
  You also get several installs, cloud storage, and the IOS apps. I would buy it outright for home but for my users in the office the subscription model works great.

kyriakos 10y ago

I personally use the home edition for my family. 4 family members have office / 1 TB onedrive with a single yearly subscription which is a fraction of the price I'd pay for a single perpetual license (and I have an extra user license to spare). It feels like a good value for me.