Microsoft unveils iPad Office suite

[Jessica Lares]

Originally Posted by WillysJeepMan

I can understand your confusion.

Right, that's completely understandable.

And I'm glad someone who owns the hardware said it.

[mgmueller]

I'm one of those with the € 9,99 flat rate.
Why?
I can't do without Outlook. It's not a matter of choice. My needs, such as signatures with corporate logos, can't be solved with iMail and the likes.
I bought the flat rate briefly after getting my Surface Pro Gen 1.
Since I frequently switch units, I didn't want to invest € 250 at once.
With the flat rate I pay about the purchase price over 2 years - should I use it that long...
I don't have any problems with the price.
Compared to the purchase price of € 250, a monthly fee of € 9,99 is absolutely okay.
Is the purchase price of € 250 acceptable? It's certainly steep, if you only use it for your occasional private letter. But for professional or semi-professional needs, I guess it's acceptable.
I haven't tested the iPad version intensively enough yet. But since my flat rate works fine (I didn't even have to enter my account data, since I already had OneDrive activated), it's a free bonus anyway.
And like others said before: 5 installations!
I've got it on my MacBook Air, my Surface Pro 2, both my Dell Windows 8 tablets and now on iPad in addition.
Nothing to complain about!

BTW: I like, how they solved the activations. You see them in your account and can manage yourself.
I hate ADE in comparison. I always ran out of activations and had to contact the Adobe support, to receive new ones...

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

And like others said before: 5 installations!
I've got it on my MacBook Air, my Surface Pro 2, both my Dell Windows 8 tablets and now on iPad in addition.
Nothing to complain about!

I believe it's 5 PCs AND 5 mobile devices, so up to 10 in total.

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

Nothing to complain about!

Unless, that is, you sign up for Office 365 through the iOS app, in which case the license terms strictly prohibit using it for any commercial purpose. I couldn't even use it to write a book in my spare time without violating their terms.

[HarryT]

Sure you could. You just couldn't sell the book.

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Sure you could. You just couldn't sell the book.

Kind of defeats the purpose, don't you think?

[WillysJeepMan]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I believe it's 5 PCs AND 5 mobile devices, so up to 10 in total.

Correct. I have 3 PCs/Macs attached and 2 iPads, but the iPads are NOT showing up as taking up slots on the mobile devices section.

[sadievan]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Unless they changed their policy, you used to be able to install Office on at least two, if not three, computers. Those of us who already have Office on our computers don't need this new version on them. I'm one of those people who only upgrade Office about every other time, and keep in mind that Office is only updated once every few years. So this cloud crap is IMO just a way to bilk us out of more money. The same with Adobe Photoshop. I crunched the numbers and it would cost me 2-1/2 times more for Adobe's cloud crap than it did for buying every other upgrade. Neither Adobe nor MS ever seem to turn out major updates to their flagship products. Their updates are mostly incremental and not worth the money to update every single time.

I recently bought MS Office 2013 and it is for one computer only.

Carol

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by sadievan

I recently bought MS Office 2013 and it is for one computer only.

Carol

There are all sorts of different licences for Office.

[sadievan]

Originally Posted by HarryT

There are all sorts of different licences for Office.

Probably. What I bought was the key card which I think they are going to. I really don't see any of the discs being sold. All of the ones that I have seen are for 1 computer only and were in retail stores. They may have different licenses at MS site online.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by sadievan

...They may have different licenses at MS site online.

No. I've been in German Media Markt a few days ago. They sell key cards (no media) with numerous license versions there. I've found the one I've bought online as well: 5 PCs/Macs, € 10 per month or € 100 per year.

[Kumabjorn]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Sure you could. You just couldn't sell the book.

Are you saying that authors, provided they use Word, has to dole out for a Commercial version of tha application?

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

Are you saying that authors, provided they use Word, has to dole out for a Commercial version of tha application?

In short, yes:

Originally Posted by License terms (Office 365 consumer)

Only one person at a time may use the software on each licensed computer or licensed device. The service/software may not be used for commercial, non-profit, or revenue-generating activities.

Since writing a book that you intend to sell is a "revenue-generating activity," using the Consumer subscription to do so violates the license agreement.

Note, as explained in detail at the link, that the in-app upgrade is for a consumer license.

[Kumabjorn]

Read it, now I'm even more confused.
If the Publisher has a Commercial license you'd be ok? At least that was my interpretation.

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

Read it, now I'm even more confused.
If the Publisher has a Commercial license you'd be ok? At least that was my interpretation.

Here's my take on it.

If you already have a commercial license, you can add your iPad to it and maintain that.

If you don't already have a license, you can buy the one of your choosing through normal channels and use that, subject to whatever terms it imposes.

If you get the iPad app and buy a license as an in-app purchase, you'll get locked into a consumer license.

If you get the iPad app and want to get a commercial license through the app, you're out of luck.

Here's the key summary, from the second paragraph of the article:

The only subscription currently available for purchase through the app is for Office 365 Home Premium, which specifically prohibits commercial use. (Business subscriptions for Office 365 are set up through an organizational portal. There's no practical way to sell those subscriptions via in-app purchase.)