Is Office 365 worth it?

Due to problems involving a badly stored CD, among other things, I'm stuck without Office on my PC.

I don't use it much, but I do use it. So I'm thinking about biting the bullet and paying rent for Office 365. Buying the program really no longer makes sense, though paying a monthly fee for it feels really wrong (but that's another matter).

I can get the individual home edition (1 PC) for as little as $55-60 per year (the exchange rate fluctuates). This seems little enough (and therefore dreadful enough, too), though I've little use for the "extras" like the 1 TB in vulnerable storage in "the cloud," or Skype minutes I won't use (I wonder if I can sell them...; funny, though, fifteen years ago I'd have killed for them).

The other home edition with a license for 5 "devices" would make sense if they ever release it for Android. Though even then I don't expect to make much use of it on a 7" tablet. The price is nearer to $75-80, too, and confers no more advantages then the 5 licenses. There's the laptop, but I have Office 2007 on it already and hardly ever use it. If I get a larger tablet/lighter laptop once Win9 debuts, I still won't use it much and Office Online is free anyway.

The alternative are the various Spawn-of-Linux office suites like Apache and Libre Office. I really don't want to use one system at the office and one at home, though, even if I'm still dissatisfied with the Office interface since 2007.

Any thoughts?

Are you eligible for the Microsoft Home Use program?

Quote: ThatDonGuy

Are you eligible for the Microsoft Home Use program?

I didn't even know they had one. But I suppose so. I'm one person and own home PCs. I know the BSA gets mighty huffy about the kind of license one has, but I don't think they'd concern themselves with me.

You mentioned LibreOffice, and a preference against it.

I don't consider it an inferior product; it seems to be able to handle Microsoft Office documents readily (and export documents suitable for Microsoft Office, with minimal thinking), and it seems to do all the usual stuff.

I hate the 2007+ Office interface, too.

If it turns out you do, in fact, hate it, well, you're not out a lot of money, and you can always buy Microsoft's competing product later.

I do consider LibreOffice to be significantly more usable than Google Docs / Google Drive.

Quote: Dieter

You mentioned LibreOffice, and a preference against it.

Not quite against it. The thing is I use Office 2010 at the office all day long, and I prefer to keep on with a similar interface at home rather than a different one. Besides, what I do at home, less often, is far simpler than what I do at the office.

Quote:

I hate the 2007+ Office interface, too.

I'd have been ok with it if the functions had been kept grouped the same way they were under the pull-down menu interface, and if the more common commands were permanently available at all times. Sure you can "pin" some commands above the ribbon, but finding them is not always so easy, and when you upgrade or change PCs you have to do it over again.

Quote: Nareed

Due to problems involving a badly stored CD, among other things, I'm stuck without Office on my PC.

If you still have the 25 digit code that came with the CD all is not lost.
You can borrow a copy and install it using your code providing it's an identical copy.
Replacement CD's are available from Microsoft, some versions can be down loaded, for both you need the original 25 digit code.
Oddly enough if the damage is very slight and you have suitable software, copying the damaged CD can sometimes result in a working copy.

Quote: Nareed

The other home edition with a license for 5 "devices" would make sense if they ever release it for Android.

Office is available for Android. It has been available for months and is free, as long as you have a hotmail or outlook.com account. Whether the single computer subscription is worth it depends entirely upon the importance you place on always having the latest version installed. The 5 device subscription is a steal is you have that many devices on which to install it.

Quote: darrellg

Office is available for Android.

How about that?

When I was looking up O365 online, the 5 licenses were described as available for Windows, Mac and iOS. Android was conspicuously absent. I just assumed there was no Office for it.

Quote:

The 5 device subscription is a steal is you have that many devices on which to install it.

As of now at most I've got three: the home PC, the laptop and the Android tablet. But if it's free in the tablet, then that leaves 2.

I'll probably try it. Unless it's much improved over Office 2007, I'll just pay the individual subscription.

Quote: Nareed

I'd have been ok with it if the functions had been kept grouped the same way they were under the pull-down menu interface, and if the more common commands were permanently available at all times.

That's kind of how LibreOffice seems to organize the menu (at least on the version I use).

I understand the convenience of not having to switch UI metaphors between work and home, but at the same time... if you know you don't like how Microsoft Office has elected to make their product work, why spend money on it?

If you are going to do it, ask your work IT department if there's a promo. I seem to remember that from time to time, bigger organizations (and some medium and smaller) get promo deals where they can offer the current version of Office to employees for home use for some ridiculously low rate, like $10 or $20 per employee, for something like 3 computers.

Quote: Nareed

Due to problems involving a badly stored CD, among other things, I'm stuck without Office on my PC.

I don't use it much, but I do use it. So I'm thinking about biting the bullet and paying rent for Office 365. Buying the program really no longer makes sense, though paying a monthly fee for it feels really wrong (but that's another matter).

I can get the individual home edition (1 PC) for as little as $55-60 per year (the exchange rate fluctuates). This seems little enough (and therefore dreadful enough, too), though I've little use for the "extras" like the 1 TB in vulnerable storage in "the cloud," or Skype minutes I won't use (I wonder if I can sell them...; funny, though, fifteen years ago I'd have killed for them).

The other home edition with a license for 5 "devices" would make sense if they ever release it for Android. Though even then I don't expect to make much use of it on a 7" tablet. The price is nearer to $75-80, too, and confers no more advantages then the 5 licenses. There's the laptop, but I have Office 2007 on it already and hardly ever use it. If I get a larger tablet/lighter laptop once Win9 debuts, I still won't use it much and Office Online is free anyway.

The alternative are the various Spawn-of-Linux office suites like Apache and Libre Office. I really don't want to use one system at the office and one at home, though, even if I'm still dissatisfied with the Office interface since 2007.

Any thoughts?

I'm an OpenOffice/LibreOffice user since 2008. Recently I've been trying out FreeOffice. IMHO if you're a M$ type, and got borked on the Office suite, the nearest replacement "free" is LibreOffice 4.3. That means you still need the Java Run Environment (JRE). JRE will need an upgrafe, and really, Oracle is not your best next-door neighbor... updates every 3 months... quite addictive. But for the sake of compatibility, LibreOffice is about the best to hope for at $0. Expect an 800Mb download. /IMHO

IMO, Office 365 is well worth it if you use Microsoft Project and "cloud" storage...

Quote: Dieter

I understand the convenience of not having to switch UI metaphors between work and home, but at the same time... if you know you don't like how Microsoft Office has elected to make their product work, why spend money on it?

Well, if I had a better interface at home, I'd dislike working at the office with Office that much more. Considering the time I spend working, that would make my life rather more miserable than it needs to be.

Quote:

If you are going to do it, ask your work IT department if there's a promo.

Thanks. I already did. In fact they have nothing like that at the moment.

Quote: aluisio

IMO, Office 365 is well worth it if you use Microsoft Project and "cloud" storage...

So you want to steal my nudie pics, is that it ? ;)

Fortunately for me, I have none. But if I did, I wouldn't keep them in the cloud.

Quote: ThatDonGuy

Are you eligible for the Microsoft Home Use program?

The MicroSoft Home Use program allows one with a site license (such as your work) and is an employee at the site to install the same version of Office at home as they have at work. The VLSE (Volume Licensing Site Administrator) has to set it up through MicroSoft, but it allows employees who use Office at work to also install it at home using a special license code.

My email from Licensing (I am the administrator at my church, see, a Christian helping an athiest) and looks something like this:

Quote: email

Dear Boymimbo,
Please note that this e-mail message was created by the Microsoft Worldwide Software Assurance enhancements team. Microsoft is sending it to you on behalf of your organization's benefits administrator boymimbo. This communication was sent from a non-monitored e-mail address. Please do not reply. If you have questions concerning this communication, please contact your Software Assurance Benefit Administrator for assistance.

Your organization is eligible to use The Microsoft® Home Use Program (HUP) and you have been selected as the Benefits Contact. In this capacity, you are responsible for deploying this benefit within your organization. This benefit is based on the purchases made under your Microsoft Volume Licensing Agreement .

The Home Use Program helps to increase employee productivity and maximize the value of your Microsoft Office System investment by enabling your employees to work from home. The Home Use Program gives eligible employees a licensed copy of most Microsoft Office desktop PC applications to install and use on a home computer. Eligible employees for each application include users of licensed copies of that application with active Software Assurance under the enrollment. For more information about the Home Use Program, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/sa.

How eligible employees can obtain this HUP benefit.
Employees can order software online at the Microsoft HUP Web site. To access this Web site, they must use the unique program code provided below. Please retain this program code and only distribute it to eligible employees.
To access the Microsoft HUP site, your employees should:

1. Go to http://hup.microsoft.com/
2. Select the country to which they want their order to be shipped to and choose the language for viewing the order Web site.
3. Enter their corporate e-mail address and program code.
4. Place their order online, and it will be shipped to the location you have chosen. Please note that a fulfillment fee will be charged to cover packaging, shipping, and handling costs.

The unique Program Code is: xxxxxxxxx
Please note that this program code is only valid for the duration of your Software Assurance coverage, under your Microsoft Volume Licensing Agreement. These coverage dates can also be viewed on the Volume Licensing Service Center Web site at https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/servicecenter/.