I’m an Apple die-hard. Even though I write code for clients using Microsoft programming languages, frequently involving Windows-only applications like Crystal Reports with SQL Server, I do so on Macs in virtual machines. One of the challenges I face regularly is in exchanging files (Word documents and Excel spreadsheets) with these clients. While there are some great open source tools for “Office-like” document creation and maintenance, none of them give me the true compatibility down to complex formatting (in Word) and formula design (in Excel) and none of them give me the same macro and Visual Basic for Applications options.
Seeking input from my favorite Google+ forum, I heard quite a few good points, pro and con, on adopting other applications. I’ve used the iWork suite enough to know that it’s powerful but not really compatible in those key areas I’ve mentioned. Sadly, Apple hasn’t released a new version of iWork since 2009, far too long for it to be considered current. Microsoft now offers Office 365, an annual subscription service for the Office suite. I’m dead set against subscription services, which is one of the reasons I strongly recommend PixelMator 2.2 for those who don’t need all of the bells and whistles of Photoshop.
Subscription services take the once standard practice of paying once for software and being able to use it until its end of life and turn that concept on its head where you pay repeatedly on a monthly or annual basis to keep using the software. In some cases, this might be beneficial. It lowers the cost of entry into an expense (or overly expensive) software suite like the Adobe apps while allowing subscribers to keep up to date with the latest versions, provided they are also updating their operating systems and hardware to match. With all of this in mind, I really was against software-as-a-subscription-service in general.
Microsoft Office 365 has changed my mind. The entry point is $99 per year, but you get quite a bit for that price. For that fee, you get up to 5 installs on Macs or PCs plus Office-on-demand access for Windows computers. Unlike some subscription services that stream the software through ICA (Citrix) or RDP (Terminal Services), the on-demand access basically installs a temporary copy of the software and is optimized to download and install just enough to get you working quickly while the rest downloads.
A current promotion offered by Microsoft also includes a free year of XBOX LIVE with that $99 fee, something most of us who have the XBOX 360 and use it for Netflix, HBOGO, or Amazon on Demand have to pay $59 per year for -- so that cuts the first year cost down to $40.
Anyway, I made the leap, bought the subscription and I’m pretty happy with the software delivery. I won’t be using Outlook for mail - I’m very happy with Apple Mail and all my extension tools already installed there and I tend to see Outlook as a great example of bloatware on Windows.
Are you open to “renting” your software like this? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!
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