Clarifiy version and licensing issues

[Mike Lewis]

I haven't used Microsoft Office much lately and am not up to date with the latest versions or licensing issues. But I am occasionally asked to give tuition to new users. I'd like to check that my understanding on certain points is correct.

I'd be grateful if you could confirm or otherwise the following points:

Office 2021

1. This is the last version that will be available for outright purchase (as opposed to a subscription). It will not receive any updates.

2. You need to log into a Microsoft account (and therefore have an Internet connection) in order to install (or activate?) it.

3. But you don't need to log into the account or have an Internet connection in order to use it (assuming you are not using Microsoft's cloud storage).

4. The Home & Student edition can only be used by one user. Does that mean that it can only be physically installed on one computer? Or does it mean that only one person can use it at any one time?


Microsoft 365

5. As this is a subscription, it will constantly be kept up to date.

6. You need to log into your Microsoft account (and therefore have an Internet connection) every time you use it.

7. If you don't log into your account, or if you don't have an Internet connection, you will still be able to run the software, and open and view existing documents (if stored locally), but you won't be able to edit them in any way.

8. If you let your subscription lapse, you will lose access to documents stored in Microsoft's cloud storage. You will still be able to open and view existing local documents, but not edit them in any way.

Sorry for so many question. Thanks in advance for any help and clarification.

Mike

__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

Visual FoxPro articles, tips and downloads

 

[spamjim]

You've provided 8 great reasons to use something like LibreOffice.

The points all seem correct. Office 2021 LTSC (for larger commercial and government licensees) will go out of support on October 13, 2026. It is unclear if "support" means only security updates or if some functional updates may appear in that time.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...-mac-faq-d574cf0b-3ebc-42cf-9035-a3b837e0463c

 

[SkipVought]

@Spamjim,

No other spreadsheet program comes close to Excel in 1) native features and 2) programming capabilities IMNSHO.

But I might be prejudiced or ignorant.

Skip,
[sub]
Just traded in my OLD subtlety...
for a NUance![/sub]
"The most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible" A. Einstein

You Matter...
unless you multiply yourself by the speed of light squared, then...
You Energy!

 

[pjw001]

Skip's point is valid, but how many people actually use all the features of Excel?

I switched to LibreOffice about six months ago and it works fine for me. It is sometimes a bit tedious trying to find particular facilities but this is mainly because they aren't where they were in Excel. (But the same applied when a new version of Excel appeared.)

 

[spamjim]

No other spreadsheet program comes close to Excel in 1) native features and 2) programming capabilities IMNSHO.

Understood and agreed. Those features are valuable for advanced users, like this web site's audience.

However, this limited survey suggests only 6% use VBA. If those 6% had access to a report/SQL server to better manage their data, that percentage might be even lower.

 

[Scott24x7]

@Mike
Answers to your questions:
1. Maybe
2. Installing it, no, not if you have a full install downloaded first (or installation media -- I assume that some crazy existence of this is still actually out there, i.e. DVD install), but if you use the download from MS website that is an "Installer", then yes, you will need a network connection to actually perform the install. And part 2, no, you CAN actually activate it by calling them as well, but it's usually faster/easier to just activate over an internet connection.
3. Correct
4. I'm not sure about the Student edition, but the Home Edition (at least of 365) allows up to 5 devices. The original license holder has to activate it though.

O365
5. Yes, so long as you keep paying (either monthly or annually, which is cheaper overall).
6. No. You only need to log in to activate it and/or reactivate it if it's out of date (i.e. you haven't used it in a while, and it's past your subscription and you try to use it again. Even then I think it will give you a 3 day grace period).
7. No. Only if the "subscribed period" has expired.
8. Not sure you can still open and view them actually. I recall hitting some roadblock with this before on a machine that was without an active license. As for cloud storage, there is a certain capacity that is free (it's a lot too, I want to say 1TB) but that is not part of the O365. We don't keep anything in the cloud for business docs, due to legal entanglements, so I don't really use this aspect much.

@spamjim, @skip @pjw
Yeah, nothing beats Excel to be fair. If you're doing only basic row and column adding or simple math across rows/columns, then you can get away with it. But if you step a toe much beyond that "extended calculator" capability, you will run out of functions pretty quick.
Try using a data slicer, or any kind of pivot table functions in any other spreadsheet, and you will find this much functionality: [ ]
Yup, that's an empty box.


Best Regards,
Scott
MSc ISM, MIET, MASHRAE, CDCAP, CDCP, CDCS, CDCE, CTDC, CTIA, ATS, ATD

"I try to be nice, but sometimes my mouth doesn't cooperate.

 

[Scott24x7]

@Mike
There's one other thing that you haven't asked about, but may not be obvious either.
There are two "levels" of O365 as well. One that lives ONLY in a browser, and one that can be installed on a PC.
In the previous existence of that (this is called O365 basic, I think it's like $3 a month) many of your points/assumptions are true then. Obviously if it's browser only based, there is no installation, and if you don't have an internet connection, there is no access to anything.
However a Microsoft account of any type (like hotmail.com, outlook.com) are a type of MS account, and the storage is provided with it. (One Drive is part of Windows, if you have a Win10 or Win11 install as well). So if you're on a Mac, I have no idea what happens for storage there.

Just thought I'd round this out.


Best Regards,
Scott
MSc ISM, MIET, MASHRAE, CDCAP, CDCP, CDCS, CDCE, CTDC, CTIA, ATS, ATD

"I try to be nice, but sometimes my mouth doesn't cooperate.

 

[pjw001]

Scott24x7 - I use pivot tables. This is probably in a fairly basic form, but the facility does what I did with it in Excel.

 

[SkipVought]

The other thing is that nearly every company I've had association with used Windows/Microsoft Office/Excel extensively from the mahogany panels to the shop floor.

Skip,
[sub]
Just traded in my OLD subtlety...
for a NUance![/sub]
"The most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible" A. Einstein

You Matter...
unless you multiply yourself by the speed of light squared, then...
You Energy!

 

[Mike Lewis]

Thank you all for your replies and observations. Much appreciated.

Scott: Thanks in particular for answering each of my points. This is most helpful.

SpamJim: I'm also a fan of LibreOffice. What I like about it is that, once you have installed it, you can use it in complete privacy. You don't need to register it, or sign into an account, or worry about keeping up with a subscription, nor does it nag you to update it. I'm aware of its limitations, especially in the spreadsheet department, but for the most part I can live with these.

Mike

__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

Visual FoxPro articles, tips and downloads

 

[spamjim]

Skip, that's more of a vendor lock-in situation and a lack of competition than a matter of employees needing any advanced exclusive features of Excel. While this topic has had a slight detour on the merits of Excel, the real licensing issue at hand is that these office applications have mostly reached a feature plateau. Just like the slumping sales of Photoshop moved Adobe to subscription licensing over a decade ago, Microsoft is looking to more reliable revenue for a stale product. The move to subscription based cloud storage and collaboration features will likely migrate the office audience to better data tools than traditional spreadsheets and word processors. My new idiotic boss, who allegedly is a project management master, has me updating a gantt chart in Excel. Someday he will discover and learn to use the collaborative project management tool my company has used for years.

 

[SkipVought]

The devil you know seems better than the devil you don't know.

Why did the farmer choose a little beetle over the bigger beetle?
Because it was the lesser of two weevils.

Skip,
[sub]
Just traded in my OLD subtlety...
for a NUance![/sub]
"The most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible" A. Einstein

You Matter...
unless you multiply yourself by the speed of light squared, then...
You Energy!

 

[Mike Lewis]

Why did the farmer choose a little beetle over the bigger beetle?
Because it was the lesser of two weevils.

If I knew we were going to get jokes like that here, I would never have started this thread. (Only kidding.)

Mike


__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

Visual FoxPro articles, tips and downloads

 

[SkipVought]

I stand convicted!

Skip,
[sub]
Just traded in my OLD subtlety...
for a NUance![/sub]
"The most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible" A. Einstein

You Matter...
unless you multiply yourself by the speed of light squared, then...
You Energy!