Earlier quoted context omitted.
I did not mean this.
So please tell us what you did mean.
I am perfectly happy with the original statement.
Microsoft increases Office 365 and Microsoft 365 license prices
221–230 of 593 posts
Re: Microsoft increases Office 365 and Microsoft 365 license prices
#222This feels like a dangerous game they're playing. Yes, there is some lock in, but competitors exist and are better than ever. The new "features" they're justifying this with (Copilot) isn't even something that most people want
Business basic goes from $6 to $7. Business premium is unchanged from $22 to $22. Price increases are normal. (I’ve been on HN long enough to remember when “raise your prices” was treated as the best startup advice around in HN comments) These price increases aren’t excessive relative to inflation for other services in a business context. I don’t see this as a dangerous game. > The new "features" they're justifying t…
> Their average customer is probably demanding it
The average australian customer managed to get angry enough that the ACCC is working to force a slop free variant and a refund for everyone dark patterned into upgrading.
Re: Microsoft increases Office 365 and Microsoft 365 license prices
#223Earlier quoted context omitted.
Have you stopped and thought about what you're saying or are you just assuming this is expensive because it's Microsoft and they're Bad? Let's actually look at what you get for your money (I'll just go by current consumer pricing since it's easy to find/understand): Microsoft 365 Family: $130/year 6 people, 1TB storage per person Each person gets 5 devices for all Office apps Higher AI usage limits than free (only pr…
> No Gemini in Google apps unless you're paying for Google AI Not true. Gemini in Google Apps (Gemini for Workspace) is included by default as a set of core features (Help me write in Docs, Gemini side panel in Docs/Sheets/Meet, etc.). The AI Pro tier of Google One adds additional AI functionality, (billed annually, which seems the correct comparison given all your other price quotes are per year and seem to use annu…
Interesting, Google’s price comparison made it look like free tiers didn’t get that.
I did try to use annual pricing with annual discounts wherever I could, some services don’t really list it explicitly.
I will admit Microsoft’s pricing doesn’t really look as good if you’re not sharing the storage, and they get demerit for not providing a free tier for most of the apps at all.
Re: Microsoft increases Office 365 and Microsoft 365 license prices
#224As an alternative, if you need Office, just search the web, there are plenty of places selling legitimate Office 2024 licenses for the cost of one month of one of these subscriptions. [also massgrave will activate Office if you are really stuck...]
I'd be surprised if many normal people pay for this. It's for businesses, who aren't going to pay for sketchy keys. Also businesses generally want the web-based collaboration features. The days of emailing round files are long gone.
Re: Microsoft increases Office 365 and Microsoft 365 license prices
#225Earlier quoted context omitted.
> And for publisher there probably isn’t the same network effect as for Word/Excel/Powerpoint. There isn't because any serious print shop will laugh you out the door if you come to them with a Publisher file. Publisher is fine for home/office printing, and you will probably get away with it at your local corner shop that does digital printing on a Xerox box in the back of the shop. But if you're sending stuff off to…
> There isn't because any serious print shop will laugh you out the door if you come to them with a Publisher file. You say this like customers don't show up with a PowerPoint file.
When I did IT work for my university, I was in charge of a big plotter printer that the science students used to print posters with summaries of their research for conferences. The only format I ever got was PowerPoint. Based on the number of search results for "powerpoint research poster template", it looks like this PowerPoint is still the format of choice.
I never really thought about it, but it is kind of odd that the same community that loves using LaTeX for document formatting and typesetting research papers is also using PowerPoint as a desktop publishing substitute.
Re: Microsoft increases Office 365 and Microsoft 365 license prices
#226This feels like a dangerous game they're playing. Yes, there is some lock in, but competitors exist and are better than ever. The new "features" they're justifying this with (Copilot) isn't even something that most people want
Business basic goes from $6 to $7. Business premium is unchanged from $22 to $22. Price increases are normal. (I’ve been on HN long enough to remember when “raise your prices” was treated as the best startup advice around in HN comments) These price increases aren’t excessive relative to inflation for other services in a business context. I don’t see this as a dangerous game. > The new "features" they're justifying t…
> The Venn diagram of their customer base and Hacker News commenters doesn’t have much overlap.
You're completely right about this. But how does the Venn diagram look for features between different Office versions and for customer needs? Another commenter here said that Office 98 is good enough for most users, and I have to agree.
What reason is there today for somebody to upgrade from a 10 or 15 year old version of Office? Is Copilot it?
I've managed a very information-intensive career so far without using MS Office. Apple's iWork software is perfectly fine. And I'm not avoiding Office out of any principle. If I needed or wanted it, I'd be happy to pay for it.
Re: Microsoft increases Office 365 and Microsoft 365 license prices
#227Earlier quoted context omitted.
I want to love these, mostly because they're FOSS and Office/Google Spreadsheets seems to get more and more bloated, and subsequently slower. But the UX is just a lot worse, and it isn't easy to go from one application to another because they're slightly different enough that your productivity takes a hit from all the small papercuts. I'm waiting for some FOSS spreadsheet solution that doesn't just try to copy Office…
Many would say that the FOSS alternatives don't copy Office enough. Often, by going there own way with various tasks, they create a bigger jump. Case in point, the Linux distros that attract the most attention for common folk and not niche use, are the ones that are more Windows-like. Examples: Linux Mint, Ubuntu, Zorin, etc... The smaller the jump, the more you can convince people to switch over. When there is a sig…
I think the main issue for most people is that the layout is slightly different, probably to help prevent microsoft from suing them.
But once you get used to those differences, (also, knowing that there are a handful of themes that can shorten the difference significantly) then it becomes a non-issue after less than 10 hours of use.
Re: Microsoft increases Office 365 and Microsoft 365 license prices
#228Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is no foss competitor to Excel.
Google Docs works fine for most people though (not FOSS, but most Office customers don't care).
My problem is the knee-jerk "Google will sell/read our data" that suggesting any of their suite seems to engender. It doesn't really matter what Google says in their contracts, too many executives trust them less than MSFT.
Agreed that their actual products seem to work fine for almost everyone.
Re: Microsoft increases Office 365 and Microsoft 365 license prices
#229Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is no foss competitor to Excel.
Open Office, Libre Office, Only Office to start.
Yes, but take OpenOffice off the list, development has slowed to a glacial pace and it’s close to abandoned in favour of LibreOffice, which is actively maintained.
Looks like there was finally a OpenOffice release recently but that was after years of people complaining of security vulnerabilities not fixed in the release version.
Re: Microsoft increases Office 365 and Microsoft 365 license prices
#230I bet the folks of the state Schleswig-Holstein are celebrating right now, having switched away from it recently https://www.heise.de/en/news/Goodbye-Microsoft-Schleswig-Hol...
Should be the standard for modern governments.