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Microsoft Launches Office 2024 for Mac and PC
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Yes as in I own it and they can't turn it off (and if they can then clearly I don't own it despite thinking I bought it).
Then different situations call for different solutions. My home computer has Office 2016 while my business computer has Office 365.
Then your cost comparison is a little off. Most Mac users don't need to buy Outlook ($100 for Outlook -- I would literally pay $100 to never see Outlook again) and would be fine with the $150 version, and I would expect that to work fine for at least the next 2-3 years. Office 2007 came up fine on Mojave. I believe Office 2016 goes through Ventura though I haven't personally tested that.
A lot of people want to get off this forced upgrade subscription train. If I am supposed to constantly cycling through updates (new machine -> new OS -> new Office -> new OS -> new machine -> ...) and store everything in the cloud, why am I not just doing everything the cloud?
We have Office 365 through work, only really use Outlook though. I can't stand how OneDrive works so I just stick with my Dropbox account that has 2TB, works so much nicer then OnceDrive. If I ever needed to create a powerpoint presentation I would use Keynote as it is much nicer and smoother transitions.
If I am working on anything with variable data to be merged I stick with Excel as I just know it works, I don't want to reinvent the wheel with keynote and convert to CSV to work with with Indesign.
Considering that they have had only minimal changes in 20 years, they are.
I use Google Docs and Sheets at work and they're more than adequate. There was a time when Microsoft Office was an absolute must have in any office environment – that time is gone, specially since any Office document can be opened and generated in third party apps.
At home, I've been pleasantly surprised by iWork, it's really come into its own. Numbers particularly, is surprisingly good and Apple's user experience philosophies are able to get an incredible amount of functionality into a UI that looks simple and is easy to use.
At home, I've been pleasantly surprised by iWork, it's really come into its own. Numbers particularly, is surprisingly good and Apple's user experience philosophies are able to get an incredible amount of functionality into a UI that looks simple and is easy to use.
It's no worse than it was during the pre-subscription days. Heck, ISTR that, back in the 80s,
Trouble is, the "value" comes down to how long it is before the current version gets broken by a new MacOS - do you feel lucky?
My ballpark rule for subscriptions is that, with most software, I'd probably typically want to upgrade after about 3 years, either to keep up with new features (and file compatibility) or because of an OS upgrade - so 1/3 of the one-off price per year is about right. The MS 365 subscription is a bit more than that, but comes with other bells and whistles so (assuming that you need/want MS Office in the first place, which has always been an expensive app that I only use because I can't avoid it) I'd say the subscription was a reasonable deal.
I think it's unreasonable to expect to buy software once and get indefinite free updates - esp. when Apple make breaking changes to Mac OS every couple of years and there's a continual stream of security vulnerabilities turning up in common libraries etc. Not so much dinosaurs like Microsoft or Adobe (for whom I don't have a small enough violin) with massive captive markets - but other companies as well, who charge a lot less for their software. E.g. I got about 7 years of free updates, including major new features, after paying something like £70 one off for Affinity Designer (I did upgrade to V2 a year or two back, but that wasn't even forced). Kudos, folks - but that's not going to be sustainable long-term in a world where software often stops working if it doesn't get updates.
Some companies take ridiculous liberties with their subscription prices (and rely on people not being able to multiply $9.99 per month by twelve) but - at a reasonable rate - I think that subscriptions are unavoidable.
TLDR
I like open source programs like Libre Office. Its word processing and spreadsheet programs do all that I need for my needs.
I like open source programs like Libre Office. Its word processing and spreadsheet programs do all that I need for my needs.
Steve critiquing other companies of no original ideas but apple had the iPod and iTunes music store and stopped at that then copied online music streaming.
Feel lucky you didn't have to buy Microsoft Office decades ago. The suggested retail price for Microsoft Office in 1990 was just under $1,000 which is over $2,300 in today's dollars. Granted, it typically sold for a few hundred less than that but still a lot of money compared to today.
I would assume not, as VBA has been on the chopping block for at least a decade now, replaced by the Power Platform. Pretty much everything people used to use VBA for can be done by Power Query, Power Apps or Power Automate.
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I think the internet connection requirement is mostly for the initial download, any future updates, and accessing OneDrive. However, I imagine it will largely be able to function offline.
Back to? MS never stopped offering standalone (non-subscription) versions of Office.
Keynote is superb, better than PowerPoint. If you need charts and graphs, Numbers also is amazing. Pages is good, though Word has some functionality like internal references, indexes, tables, table of anuthorities, etc. that some people need.
Everyone suggesting alternatives:
Please remember that "100% compatibility when sharing with other users" supersedes basically all other concerns for many of us
(especially in corporate environments)
Please remember that "100% compatibility when sharing with other users" supersedes basically all other concerns for many of us
(especially in corporate environments)
Im still on 2019 and everytime i open a document i get a popup saying there wont be anymore security updates lol
I got it for dirt cheap via my colleges online software store even though i graduated years and years ago
Maybe i can get a similar deal on 2024
I got it for dirt cheap via my colleges online software store even though i graduated years and years ago
Maybe i can get a similar deal on 2024
Really? Not what I heard of. As I said I don't really care as last time I used their products was around Office 95.
If they always kept having a non subscription version, that's good for those who buy them.
I've been playing with OnlyOffice and if feels lighter weight, file formats already default to MS formats and looks a little nicer.
The Home version is probably priced the way it is to push people towards 365. The business version is priced the way it is because very, very many businesses use excel.
I use Pages for all my word processing. Word is only for when I need to deal with client files and I don't want any conversions being done. As for spreadsheets, I use Numbers for all my personal stuff, except when I'm crunching large sheets (usually csv dumps) Excel just handles those much better and easier than trying to do it in numbers.
Powerpoint, meh, don't use it, if I need something like that I'll use Keynote.
You will need to have a Microsoft account to install it, but not to use it. Can probably create a one time thing just to download and install the software.
The reason M$ does this is because it's locked to the machine you install it on. Only 365 will let you do diff machines.
Depends on what you are doing. If you are an advanced business user, Office. I would prefer the simplicity of Pages for home use.