Amid all the excitement of Windows 8 hitting the markets, the release of Office 2013 has been pushed somewhat to the background. On 17th Sept, 2012, Microsoft announced the pricing for Office 2013 and traditional Office users are, as usual flooded with a plethora of options from which to choose. Office 2013 pricing is very cleverly done this time, and seems to be aimed at making the traditional software-in-a-box concept redundant. The prices for the traditional software have been hiked significantly, forcing users to take a look at the new model of subscribing the software on an annual basis. Let’s take a look at the Office 2013 pricing structure and the best options for purchasing the latest Office suite.
Office 2013 Pricing – Subscriptions
Office 2013 is available in two modes, the traditional software-in-a-box and the new pricing model based on subscriptions. Let’s first take a look at the subscription pricing model.
Office 365 Home Premium
Includes: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Access, and Publisher + Software updates + Access to web services + updated templates.
Licenses: You can install the software on up to 5 PCs or Macs and on certain smartphones and tablets. Any number of users can use the 5 PCs or Macs.
Cost: $8.33 a month or $99.95 a year
Bonus Offer: The primary user gets 60 Skype minutes a month and 20 GB of extra SkyDrive storage in addition to the already existing free 7 GB storage.
Office 365 Small Business Premium
Includes: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Access, Publisher, Lync and InfoPath + Software updates + Access to web services + updated templates.
Licenses: Are available only on a per-user basis. You can install the software on up to 5 PCs or Macs and on certain smartphones and tablets.
Cost: $12.50 a month or $149.99 a year
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Bonus Offer: Free hosted Exchange with a 25 GB mailbox and shared calendars, 10 GB storage of SharePoint for business and additional 500 MB storage of SharePoint for individual users. Lync users get free HD video conferencing and screen sharing.
Office 2013 Pricing – Traditional
Users who wish to purchase Office 2013 from retailers the traditional way, will have to contend with a price hike.
Office Home & Student: Includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, will cost $139.99.
Office Home & Business: Includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook will cost $219.99.
Office Professional: Includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Access and Publisher will cost $399.99.
Licensing: The software is available for use only on one machine. If you want to install Office 2013 on an additional machine such as your laptop, tablet, or another desktop, you will have to buy as many licenses for each of the devices.
So, that’s a lot to chew on. If you are a home user, you will definitely see the advantage in subscribing to Office 2013. Of course, users don’t like things pushed on them, and the new Office 2013 pricing model is surprising. That said, it is the way forward, and you’ll probably be better off embracing the change!
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