The publication proposes that the change was designed to spur sales of Microsoft's newest Office 365 suite, the "Home Premium" version ...
Microsoft can't "pull" customers in. That would require products that appeal to customers. A concept totally foreign to Microsoft's marketing department. Because, for decades, Microsoft's marketing consisted of two tactics: forcing PC manufacturers to sign licensing contracts that require them to pay Microsoft for all all PCs sold (even the ones without Windows installed), and crushing smaller / younger / more vulnerable companies before they are able compete against Microsoft.
Nothing about "customer" or "appeal" in either of those tactics. Can't "pull." So they "push" just like always.
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
To access the cloud-based solution, users pay a yearly subscription of $99.99. Student pricing comes in at a substantially cheaper $79.99 for a four-year subscription to Office 365 University.
Microsoft: "Aha! That's it! That's how we can generate yearly income from Office even if nobody wants to upgrade. It'll just drop dead after a year unless they pay us. That way, we get $1000 in ten years instead of an initial purchase and maybe one or two upgrades in ten years. And besides, there's just no way we could do a major update every year anyway. That would require, like, engineering. Or something really hard like that."
This was a stupid move, but Im not sure what other choice they had. Office is MS cash cow. They can't compete on price with Google or iWork, so they have to push their customer base towards their subscription model whether they like it or not, and they won't.
Compete with free or piss your customers off. Sounds like a lose / lose scenario.
2013 will be the year we look back and realize Microsoft went full-tard on pricing. The Surface Pro and Office.
This is a huge opportunity for Apple. Personally I find Numbers clunky but I love Pages. I wish Apple hadn't gone 3 years between updates.
Now's the time to put some polish on these apps and remember that people would love to have a seamless experience between their desktop and mobile hardware.
Also add some group sharing functionality to the Apps. I'm a buyer now. I'd be a rabid buyer then.
Apple could really put the hammer down if they released new updated versions of Safari and iWork for Mac and Windows. Millions of iDevices... Another MS cash cow that can easily bit the dust.
But Apple isn't doing it... Sometimes they seem so retarded. Oh well, they can't be perfect, right? They could just recruit more programmers and focus even more on software. I want an upgrade cycle of at least 7 years for my 13" Air 2011, software plays a big part. C'mon Apple.
Are you saying you want to keep using the same Mac Book Air for the next 7 years?
I doubt any computer company wants a customer who only gives them money once every 7 years and expects support for their increasingly obsolete stuff in between. People like that are more trouble than they're worth.
I think this article should have been titled "Microsoft raises Office for Mac 2011 prices - Pushes customers toward alternatives from other vendors".
Office 365 is a dream product for Microsoft: ongoing revenue, zero piracy and the ability to mine customers data for information they can sell. Google thinks customer data is so valuable and profitable that they offer Google Docs for free. Microsoft wants their piece of that pie and thinks people will pay for the privilege of being exploited if it looks like they're getting more stuff for free.
Office 365 is a dream product for Microsoft: ongoing revenue, zero piracy and the ability to mine customers data for information they can sell. Google thinks customer data is so valuable and profitable that they offer Google Docs for free. Microsoft wants their piece of that pie and thinks people will pay for the privilege of being exploited if it looks like they're getting more stuff for free.
Well, I have nothing positive to say about MS for sure. But so far their track record in protecting user privacy is certainly respectable. They have a lot of big corporate, educational and government clients. One single indication of them exploiting Office cloud data (user content) would do irreparable damage. FWIW, I consider Apple and MS (and likely Amazon) to be the safer places when it comes to storing content online.
Apple could really put the hammer down if they released new updated versions of Safari and iWork for Mac and Windows. Millions of iDevices... Another MS cash cow that can easily bit the dust.
But Apple isn't doing it... Sometimes they seem so retarded. Oh well, they can't be perfect, right? They could just recruit more programmers and focus even more on software. I want an upgrade cycle of at least 7 years for my 13" Air 2011, software plays a big part. C'mon Apple.
Apple isn't forcing you to upgrade. I had my imac for 7 years and the main reason i'll get a new iMac soon is because it died. Apple is a hardware company.
Looks like Office 2011 will be the last version of Office I'll ever own. That matters little. For writing, I use Scrivener. For formatting I use InDesign. I have no need for a word processor that does both badly.
To make matters worse, even if you're using Office 2011, they install Office 365 (as of the last upgrade). Although I use 2011, I regularly get a message that "Office365 has encountered an error and must quit". Fine with me - I never wanted Office 365 running, anyway. I've also noticed that Office is eating RAM like crazy-which it didn't used to do.
I want to be able to ditch Word and Excel for Pages and Numbers. I wish Apple would apply major pressure here over the next two years.
Word and Excel are capable but make everything unnecessarily complicated. You only have to view invisible formatting marks on your colleagues documents to see that most users don't understand how to manage basic things like alignment or use of font styles. This is because the software does an appalling job of teaching users how to use it. the help menu is completely laughable. There is a whole industry of third party websites answering basic questions like "how do I combine two text strings in excel?".
There is a huge opportunity here for Apple to drive adoption of the mac in enterprise but producing an office suite that is capable, supports efficient workflows and is easy to use. If they can take Word/Excel off the table as a de-facto standard then windows will fall soon thereafter.
From a Graphic Design point of view you want a laugh ?
Bring in a word doc or anything from office into Illustrator or freehand or whatever your using. Switch to key line have a look at how these apps draw a border or underline. Truly, truly pathetic.
Even M$ supposedly err, professional Publisher did that.
Epic fail.
Im guessing nothing will have changed in office 2011
And just when I though MS had gotten their act together. I have been developing VBA code in Excel on a Mac for mostly Windows users. And Office for Mac 2011 or is it Office 2001 for Mac? actually works. the only issue I have run into so far (since I do not use ActiveX) is that certain graphics do not render the same on both platforms which makes the Mac version look a bit skewed and required that I write two versions of a custom dialog so that it would not be all gorked out on one platform or the other.
OpenOffice can be good for light users. But could be way better.
Google Docs may be another option but with its own suite of issues.
A coherent - integrated - office suite natively from Apple could do very well I think. Then again despite having them installed I cannot recall the last time I used them. I have been a Mac user for many years but was forced to use Windows at work the past 15 years - and some habits are hard to break. Although my use of Windows for work is now limited to a few programs running in a VM on a Mac so that progress at least - and I have been using Mac Mail at work for a year now - but still Word, Excel, and PowerPoint (for Mac) - Excel is the only Windows version I still use and only for validating my code - and it is used by a couple programs to write their output.
I have been using Pages/Numbers/Keynote since 2008 (almost) exclusively. I consider myself a sophisticated user and have never come across a time where iWork couldn't do what I needed to do. OK, maybe if iWork had better equation support, that'd be nice, but I am really at a loss what more I want it do to.
I sometimes have to work with Office 2013 and it's not a pretty affair. The whole ribbon interface is a disaster. Granted, one could make beautiful documents in MS Word or Pages or even ClarisWorks, but I will argue its whole alot more pleasant and easier with Pages.
Isnt it amusing what type of documents 90% of consumers make with Word? ALL CAPS with whole spacing between lines with the odd clipart. That may be an exageration, but you know what I mean. Man, people have no sense of typography, style, spacing, ..... I better stop this rant before I go on.
Apple isn't forcing you to upgrade. I had my imac for 7 years and the main reason i'll get a new iMac soon is because it died. Apple is a hardware company.
with the best desktop OS (OSX, better than every other OS),
the best mobile OS (iOS, there's no possible discussion here),
The best video edition application (final cut),
the best (?) photo editing application (aperture),
an amazing Office suite (the BEST suite for 99,99% of users, even if they do not realize that. Much more user friendly and capable for great beautiful docs, especially keynote),
the best browser (speed, looks, gestures,etc) (safari),
the best digital store/ecosystem/media player (iTunes),
the best audio editing software (logic),
the best cloud solution (iCloud),
etc
When a hardware company manages to be by far the best software company in the world, well...
My problem is that Apple has everything (talent, resources) to make an even better desktop OS. Mountain Lion is the best desktop OS out there, but I'm sure it could be even better if they fixed some bugs.
God, I just love my macbook air. iT's just perfect. I have it since 2011 september, i will never buy another computing device again!! (exaggeration, but i just love this machine.)
with the best desktop OS,
the best mobile OS,
The best video edition application,
the best (?) photo editing application,
an amazing Office suite,
the best browser (speed, looks, gestures,etc),
the best digital store/ecosystem/media player,
the best audio editing software,
the best cloud solution,
etc
When a hardware company manages to be by far the best software company in the world, well...
My problem is that Apple has everything (talent, resources) to make an even better desktop OS. Mountain Lion is the best desktop OS out there, but I'm sure it could be even better if they fixed some bugs.
God, I just love my macbook air. iT's just perfect. I have it since 2011 september, i will never buy another computing device again!! (exaggeration, but i just love this machine.)
Software sells hardware. They haven't stopped with 10.8. They are constantly improving the OS.
Comments
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
The publication proposes that the change was designed to spur sales of Microsoft's newest Office 365 suite, the "Home Premium" version ...
Microsoft can't "pull" customers in. That would require products that appeal to customers. A concept totally foreign to Microsoft's marketing department. Because, for decades, Microsoft's marketing consisted of two tactics: forcing PC manufacturers to sign licensing contracts that require them to pay Microsoft for all all PCs sold (even the ones without Windows installed), and crushing smaller / younger / more vulnerable companies before they are able compete against Microsoft.
Nothing about "customer" or "appeal" in either of those tactics. Can't "pull." So they "push" just like always.
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
To access the cloud-based solution, users pay a yearly subscription of $99.99. Student pricing comes in at a substantially cheaper $79.99 for a four-year subscription to Office 365 University.
Microsoft: "Aha! That's it! That's how we can generate yearly income from Office even if nobody wants to upgrade. It'll just drop dead after a year unless they pay us. That way, we get $1000 in ten years instead of an initial purchase and maybe one or two upgrades in ten years. And besides, there's just no way we could do a major update every year anyway. That would require, like, engineering. Or something really hard like that."
Buahahahahaha! For all but a few people who need Office for it's in-depth feature set, Office is unnecessary for 90% of the people that have it.
This was a stupid move, but Im not sure what other choice they had. Office is MS cash cow. They can't compete on price with Google or iWork, so they have to push their customer base towards their subscription model whether they like it or not, and they won't.
Compete with free or piss your customers off. Sounds like a lose / lose scenario.
2013 will be the year we look back and realize Microsoft went full-tard on pricing. The Surface Pro and Office.
This is a huge opportunity for Apple. Personally I find Numbers clunky but I love Pages. I wish Apple hadn't gone 3 years between updates.
Now's the time to put some polish on these apps and remember that people would love to have a seamless experience between their desktop and mobile hardware.
Also add some group sharing functionality to the Apps. I'm a buyer now. I'd be a rabid buyer then.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pedromartins
Apple could really put the hammer down if they released new updated versions of Safari and iWork for Mac and Windows. Millions of iDevices... Another MS cash cow that can easily bit the dust.
But Apple isn't doing it... Sometimes they seem so retarded. Oh well, they can't be perfect, right? They could just recruit more programmers and focus even more on software. I want an upgrade cycle of at least 7 years for my 13" Air 2011, software plays a big part. C'mon Apple.
Are you saying you want to keep using the same Mac Book Air for the next 7 years?
I doubt any computer company wants a customer who only gives them money once every 7 years and expects support for their increasingly obsolete stuff in between. People like that are more trouble than they're worth.
I think this article should have been titled "Microsoft raises Office for Mac 2011 prices - Pushes customers toward alternatives from other vendors".
Office 365 is a dream product for Microsoft: ongoing revenue, zero piracy and the ability to mine customers data for information they can sell. Google thinks customer data is so valuable and profitable that they offer Google Docs for free. Microsoft wants their piece of that pie and thinks people will pay for the privilege of being exploited if it looks like they're getting more stuff for free.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bregalad
Office 365 is a dream product for Microsoft: ongoing revenue, zero piracy and the ability to mine customers data for information they can sell. Google thinks customer data is so valuable and profitable that they offer Google Docs for free. Microsoft wants their piece of that pie and thinks people will pay for the privilege of being exploited if it looks like they're getting more stuff for free.
Well, I have nothing positive to say about MS for sure. But so far their track record in protecting user privacy is certainly respectable. They have a lot of big corporate, educational and government clients. One single indication of them exploiting Office cloud data (user content) would do irreparable damage. FWIW, I consider Apple and MS (and likely Amazon) to be the safer places when it comes to storing content online.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pedromartins
Apple could really put the hammer down if they released new updated versions of Safari and iWork for Mac and Windows. Millions of iDevices... Another MS cash cow that can easily bit the dust.
But Apple isn't doing it... Sometimes they seem so retarded. Oh well, they can't be perfect, right? They could just recruit more programmers and focus even more on software. I want an upgrade cycle of at least 7 years for my 13" Air 2011, software plays a big part. C'mon Apple.
Apple isn't forcing you to upgrade. I had my imac for 7 years and the main reason i'll get a new iMac soon is because it died. Apple is a hardware company.
Word and Excel are capable but make everything unnecessarily complicated. You only have to view invisible formatting marks on your colleagues documents to see that most users don't understand how to manage basic things like alignment or use of font styles. This is because the software does an appalling job of teaching users how to use it. the help menu is completely laughable. There is a whole industry of third party websites answering basic questions like "how do I combine two text strings in excel?".
There is a huge opportunity here for Apple to drive adoption of the mac in enterprise but producing an office suite that is capable, supports efficient workflows and is easy to use. If they can take Word/Excel off the table as a de-facto standard then windows will fall soon thereafter.
From a Graphic Design point of view you want a laugh ?
Bring in a word doc or anything from office into Illustrator or freehand or whatever your using. Switch to key line have a look at how these apps draw a border or underline. Truly, truly pathetic.
Even M$ supposedly err, professional Publisher did that.
Epic fail.
Im guessing nothing will have changed in office 2011
I want this to come off as a non-nasty response. So, please take it that way.
Can someone explain to me -- a non-office worker -- what the value of Office is? That's all I want to know.
Thanks.
OpenOffice can be good for light users. But could be way better.
Google Docs may be another option but with its own suite of issues.
A coherent - integrated - office suite natively from Apple could do very well I think. Then again despite having them installed I cannot recall the last time I used them. I have been a Mac user for many years but was forced to use Windows at work the past 15 years - and some habits are hard to break. Although my use of Windows for work is now limited to a few programs running in a VM on a Mac so that progress at least - and I have been using Mac Mail at work for a year now - but still Word, Excel, and PowerPoint (for Mac) - Excel is the only Windows version I still use and only for validating my code - and it is used by a couple programs to write their output.
I have been using Pages/Numbers/Keynote since 2008 (almost) exclusively. I consider myself a sophisticated user and have never come across a time where iWork couldn't do what I needed to do. OK, maybe if iWork had better equation support, that'd be nice, but I am really at a loss what more I want it do to.
I sometimes have to work with Office 2013 and it's not a pretty affair. The whole ribbon interface is a disaster. Granted, one could make beautiful documents in MS Word or Pages or even ClarisWorks, but I will argue its whole alot more pleasant and easier with Pages.
Isnt it amusing what type of documents 90% of consumers make with Word? ALL CAPS with whole spacing between lines with the odd clipart. That may be an exageration, but you know what I mean. Man, people have no sense of typography, style, spacing, ..... I better stop this rant before I go on.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AaronJ
I want this to come off as a non-nasty response. So, please take it that way.
Can someone explain to me -- a non-office worker -- what the value of Office is? That's all I want to know.
Thanks.
It's a mature suite of apps that millions of people use.
It has shortcomings - as noted above.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jungmark
Apple isn't forcing you to upgrade. I had my imac for 7 years and the main reason i'll get a new iMac soon is because it died. Apple is a hardware company.
with the best desktop OS (OSX, better than every other OS),
the best mobile OS (iOS, there's no possible discussion here),
The best video edition application (final cut),
the best (?) photo editing application (aperture),
an amazing Office suite (the BEST suite for 99,99% of users, even if they do not realize that. Much more user friendly and capable for great beautiful docs, especially keynote),
the best browser (speed, looks, gestures,etc) (safari),
the best digital store/ecosystem/media player (iTunes),
the best audio editing software (logic),
the best cloud solution (iCloud),
etc
When a hardware company manages to be by far the best software company in the world, well...
My problem is that Apple has everything (talent, resources) to make an even better desktop OS. Mountain Lion is the best desktop OS out there, but I'm sure it could be even better if they fixed some bugs.
God, I just love my macbook air. iT's just perfect. I have it since 2011 september, i will never buy another computing device again!! (exaggeration, but i just love this machine.)
Software sells hardware. They haven't stopped with 10.8. They are constantly improving the OS.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jungmark
Software sells hardware. They haven't stopped with 10.8. They are constantly improving the OS.
No. Apple sells products. They don't sell "hardware" or "software". They sell the best computing devices. The device itself is what matters.
You were being limited.
*six more months later*
"Sir, they came back."
"Yawn. Shall we raise price again?"