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What seems bizarre about this is that the licensed software market seems to be moving full-speed towards app stores with one-off fees, perpetual licenses and br

by mhw 14y ago

What seems bizarre about this is that the licensed software market seems to be moving full-speed towards app stores with one-off fees, perpetual licenses and broad usage rights across a customer's devices. But with Office 2013 Microsoft seems to be stuck with a strategy from about 5 years ago. Interesting data point that illustrates their confusion. On iOS the operating system can render Office documents for you with no additional software. On a clean install of Linux you can usually render and edit Office documents (using Libreoffice or OpenOffice). I imagine the situation is similar on Mac OS X and Android. On a clean install of Windows 8 there is no software pre-installed that will render Office documents. Worse, if you click on a .doc file the operating system helpfully suggests that you can look for an app to open the file in the Store. The top match for opening .doc files in the Windows 8 app Store at the moment? Corel Office!

nordsieck 14y ago
Microsoft does supply a full suite of viewer software http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/downloads/office-online-file-converters-and-viewers-HA001044981.aspx http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/downloads/office-online-fi... Your point is well taken, though, that the experience is generally inferior to other operating systems out of the box.
derefr 14y ago
Microsoft make the lion's share of their money from businesses, not consumers. And the B2B software market--you know, the one Patrick Mackenzie says you should target if at all possible--is pretty much exactly aligned with Microsoft right now: per-seat SaaS subscription models. Your point about "confusion" comes apart when you realize that there is almost nobody who wants to use Office, who then purchases a computer with Windows, but without Office. Computers bought from big-box stores already have Office on them. Computers bought in tech refreshes by Big Corporations have Office imaged onto them as part of the deployment. Office is a "separate product", but Windows isn't built to expect you to not have an office suite. The only reason it's optional at all is so you have the option to use a competitor.
- maguay 14y ago
  Actually, I've hardly ever seen a new computer come with a full licensed copy of Office. A trial of Office, yes, but not a full-featured edition. Office 2007/2010's 3-seat family editions, though, did get a ton more normal users buying Office than anyone could have predicted.
largesse 14y ago
You made me briefly imagine an 'excel app' with a 10 hour download from an app store. Don't make me do that again. I'm still recovering.
georgemcbay 14y ago
.doc is a legacy format as far as modern Office is concerned (.docx is its native format). Not that this makes your example any less goofy, but it probably explains why Office 2013 isn't considered the top match for .doc files.

by mhw 14y ago

nordsieck 14y ago

Microsoft does supply a full suite of viewer software http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/downloads/office-online-file-converters-and-viewers-HA001044981.aspx http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/downloads/office-online-fi... Your point is well taken, though, that the experience is generally inferior to other operating systems out of the box.

derefr 14y ago

Microsoft make the lion's share of their money from businesses, not consumers. And the B2B software market--you know, the one Patrick Mackenzie says you should target if at all possible--is pretty much exactly aligned with Microsoft right now: per-seat SaaS subscription models. Your point about "confusion" comes apart when you realize that there is almost nobody who wants to use Office, who then purchases a computer with Windows, but without Office. Computers bought from big-box stores already have Office on them. Computers bought in tech refreshes by Big Corporations have Office imaged onto them as part of the deployment. Office is a "separate product", but Windows isn't built to expect you to not have an office suite. The only reason it's optional at all is so you have the option to use a competitor.

maguay 14y ago
Actually, I've hardly ever seen a new computer come with a full licensed copy of Office. A trial of Office, yes, but not a full-featured edition. Office 2007/2010's 3-seat family editions, though, did get a ton more normal users buying Office than anyone could have predicted.

largesse 14y ago

You made me briefly imagine an 'excel app' with a 10 hour download from an app store. Don't make me do that again. I'm still recovering.

georgemcbay 14y ago

.doc is a legacy format as far as modern Office is concerned (.docx is its native format). Not that this makes your example any less goofy, but it probably explains why Office 2013 isn't considered the top match for .doc files.