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Are You Ready to Subscribe to Microsoft Office?

tgdaily.com — It is one of these products and service you may not look forward to, but knew it was coming: A subscription model to Microsoft Office. Microsoft envisions that more and more users will not own a copy of Microsoft Office in the future anymore, but rent it and provide the company with recurring revenue stream every year, instead a onetime fee.

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  • MarkusX, on 07/02/2008, -7/+94Hate it! Hate it! Hate it!
    This is the worst idea I've heard in a long time.

    They wanna do what the Anti-Virus programs do for years now?
    I understand that they want a "recurring money stream" from me (which business wouldn't), but it's not like Microsoft is recurringly providing new features (that every user necessarily NEEDS) for Office - unlike anti-virus signatures and updates in the Anti-Virus programs, which are really NEEDED by every user.

    This feels much like legal blackmailing of their user base. So many people, like me, sumply like Microsoft Office so much, that Microsoft feels they can take advantage of their user's impression that there's nothing else out there that compares - and these people will agree to a subscription, because Microsoft Office is all they know. ...and change is hard (for many).

    • ZedoMann, on 07/03/2008, -1/+14Don't worry. I'm sure you will get used to not using Microsoft Software.
    • nixdoctor, on 07/03/2008, -4/+2M$ are already the biggest monopolistic dog out there. Why would they want to do such a thing like that?
      • SharkAtlantis, on 07/03/2008, -1/+4why not?
      • HonoredMule, on 07/03/2008, -1/+3Well, it's not like they have to compete or anything...

        A product is "worth" what people will pay. Even if those people don't know how poorly they are being treated or feel unable to bargain from a position of having feasible alternatives.
    • Tebixan, on 07/03/2008, -0/+3MS office is a great program, but if the rapidly climbing popularity of firefox is any indication, people are not afraid to use open source software if the proprietary version isn't as good.

      If it ends up costing substantially more to use their software with this new business model than the previous one, they will probably lose a lot of customers. Businesses will probably continue to pay whatever MS asks, but people like me and you will have no problem using Open Office or some other peice of software.
      • HonoredMule, on 07/03/2008, -0/+3Businesses are just as heavily influenced by the bottom dollar as individuals. In the case of Office, it is already a trend in motion that, as with every other adoption of upstart technologies or open source programs, started with little businesses that can't take the hit to their pocket book...and is ending with large corporations proudly announcing to their stockholders how much they managed to slash their IT budget.

        The balance between interest in value and fear matches closely between businesses and individuals also. It turns out those faceless corporations are hiding large quantities of what ultimately turn out to just be more people (albeit with carefully limited liability).
  • Brew, on 07/02/2008, -4/+70$69.99 a year? I guess this is Their answer for people who do not buy into their pointless upgrades. What did making another new file format seem too transparent of a money making scheme?

    Good thing MS Office is not the end all for productivity software anymore. iWorks, OpenOffice, and GoogleDocs does what most people need anyway. Sure, MS Office is by far the most robust, but if I can get the same basic thing for a fraction of the price why would I pay MS exorbitant amounts of money. Leave it to Microsoft to alienate their install base.
    • Vector36, on 07/03/2008, -3/+10Actually, the new file format was created to be open source. You can literally rename any of the o2k7 documents .zip instead of their default extension and open them with a standard opening zip program.

      And they are giving away the plugin that allows for backwards and forward compatibility, and have the white papers on the file format published so anyone can use them to properly read and use the format. (i.e. open office googledocs etc)

      That said, there was already an open source standard, but since when does MS follow the standard.
    • kinglenster, on 07/03/2008, -1/+13Office for Mac is not robust. It EATS up resources. No-one should waste any money on it.
    • Calibur, on 07/03/2008, -0/+14Its almost too easy for opensource products to keep gaining market space while M$ keeps doing stupid ***** like this.
      • MacEnvy, on 07/03/2008, -0/+6Especially since OpenOffice 3 (Beta) is really fantastic on Windows, Mac, and Linux. I didn't used to like OO.O, but 3.0 is slick.

        Now would be the time to try it out if you haven't yet.
    • Charlotte_Web, on 07/03/2008, -0/+5The big question is, How many large enterprise IT departments will embrace online apps? I don't see it. Companies the size of Bank of America are going to be very anal about security. Opening up the firewall so that office documents can go to Microsoft's servers... I just don't see it happening. I could very easily see enterprise IT departments making Open Office the standard if Microsoft tries to force everyone into this model.
  • xatx2, on 07/02/2008, -26/+5goodbye googledocs
    • twoboxen, on 07/03/2008, -3/+6you won't be missed.
    • Charlotte_Web, on 07/03/2008, -1/+6Last I checked, Google Docs was free.

      Granted, Google Docs has a LONG way to go to catch up to MS Word, but the more missteps MS takes, the more they drive people to seek out adequate alternatives.
      • xatx2, on 07/03/2008, -2/+2googleapps, i meant. regardless if it stays free or completely moves to subscription model...it's got barely any chance to encroach into ms office territory now...*****
  • WriterSD, on 07/02/2008, -2/+59Ugh. No thanks.
    • CrazedLeper, on 07/03/2008, -0/+11Really. Hey Mi¢ro$oft! Spell-check this: "www.openoffice.org"
      • catfish182, on 07/03/2008, -2/+1hang on there lets not jump the gun just yet.

        openoffice isnt a speed demon ether.
      • CrazedLeper, on 07/03/2008, -0/+5It need only be free and effective.
      • PopcornDave, on 07/03/2008, -0/+1@catfish

        When was the last time you tried to play Halo in MS Office? Unless the alternative programs are as slow as a terminal on a VAX-11 server, who cares if they're speedy as *****?
      • CrazedLeper, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1I have never tried to play Halo at all but I have had to write many documents in one Word Processor or another.
  • seltaeb4, on 07/02/2008, -7/+64Yes, the Microsoft Office Subscription service...

    For those amongst us who prefer to be screwed monthly, instead of at indefinite multi-year intervals...
  • PeterNorton, on 07/02/2008, -4/+7Yeah right. How silly is that.
  • dujkan, on 07/02/2008, -23/+0hey, that's a great article! i'd like to have windows, office and all other software from ms and other vendors available either as a one-time payment or through the subscription model. the problem is, i'm not willing to pay more than $9.99 a month to have the latest version of office or windows. i think that's a fair price, especially if it is delivered to me as automatic download, meaning software vendors have different, far less cost of distributio as opposed to the physical delivery model..
    • omnichronic, on 07/03/2008, -1/+23Isn't $69.99 a year less than $9.99 a month?
      • Buckeye17, on 07/03/2008, -4/+6Haha no, where'd you go to school?!
      • KingFog, on 07/03/2008, -1/+4Buckeye17, where did you go to school? Seriously...

        $9.99 x 12 (there are twelve months in a year if you hadn't realised) = $119.88

        $119.88 is considerably more than $69.99 So omnichronic is right you douchebag...
    • klco, on 07/03/2008, -0/+8Steve Ballmer??? I didn't know you were on digg!
  • Khanvalescent, on 07/03/2008, -5/+138Goodbye Office, Hello OpenOffice.
    • anillop, on 07/03/2008, -13/+3Too bad it isnt 100% compatible with Office or it would actualy be an option. Yes i understand that it is very close but when it comes to sharing documents with my clients I need flawless compatibility. Also update the look of the damn thing this isn't the late 90s.
      • MacEnvy, on 07/03/2008, -0/+4Try the 3.0 (Beta). It looks better and it's getting Office Open XML compatibility. The only problem I have with it is that the Presentation app is a bit weak ... but that's what Keynote is for!
    • micklerlop, on 07/03/2008, -1/+9or Google Docs or Acrobat.com
    • devophl, on 07/03/2008, -0/+21I pretty much do everything in OpenOffice now. I just can't justify spending $599 to license the version of office on my home PC. Good grief, the PC only cost $575.

      Now I do everything in OO and convert it to office format if needed. Many of my office mates are now starting to look at OO as well.

      One other thing is that we've gotten into a Visio mode recently. There goes another $599 if I want it at home. So I go to OO draw and it gives me almost everything I needed out of Visio.

      For me, I just can't justify spending more money on a single software package than I paid for the computer in the first place... subcription or not!
      • TheInformer, on 07/03/2008, -1/+2Where is the cadre of people clamoring that Microsoft be taxed for windfall profits?

        Surely it's "not fair" that they sell Office 2007 for $599 when the computer itself only costs $575. What kind of profit margin do they make... 10%? 20% 30%? Profit margins like this are wrong. Poor people have to decide between food and Offic.... wait wait wait. This isn't Huffingtonpost.com.
      • SharkAtlantis, on 07/03/2008, -0/+2between food, office or the free open-source openoffice.org
    • Asrrin29, on 07/03/2008, -0/+2saying hello to OOo? I've known about her for years! one of the best opensource softwares out there, right up there with apache and firefox. The only reason I still even use MS Office (2003) is because I got a free license for personal use at my old work.
    • strooltz, on 07/03/2008, -0/+4i made the switch in my office a few months back (couldn't find our legal copy of 2007). even the non-techy guys haven't complained. as for the UI - i HATE the look of office 2007 - it took me 6 months to get used to it. i love the traditional look/feel of openoffice...
    • PopcornDave, on 07/03/2008, -0/+2Careful, Balmer's going to throw another chair if he hears that too much.
  • SuperWinner, on 07/03/2008, -4/+40Oh Microsoft, you just won't be happy until every man woman and child in the world is paying you 29.95 a month for being so terrific.
    • TheInformer, on 07/03/2008, -0/+9Microsoft won't be happy until you have to pay for each part of Office each time you use it. For example, to check the spelling of your document, you'll have to pay 5 cents. Each 100 words will cost 2 cents to render. Want a table? 10 cents.

      Extrapolate what Microsoft is doing and tell me this isn't where they're going.
  • Rolcol, on 07/03/2008, -7/+52And the downfall of Microsoft has begun...
    • gcnaddict, on 07/03/2008, -16/+5You guys always say that.
      • Hangly, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1The downfall of Rome took about 400 years. It was still a downfall, even if it didn't happen all at once. Be patient.
    • Buckeye17, on 07/03/2008, -7/+5Microsoft Office subscription isn't anything new, it's been talked about before.
    • mrgreenjeans9, on 07/03/2008, -0/+4we can only hope
    • Dynasty911, on 07/03/2008, -0/+7It already started with the introduction of Vista.
      • Hangly, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1The causes of Microsoft's demise were there at its inception. IBM handed Microsoft a monopoly; all they had to do from then on out was maintain it by crushing whatever rivals they thought might threaten it. That's all they've done for 27 years. It's all they know how to do

        So Microsoft was doomed as soon as it no longer had any credible rivals to compete with.
    • RubineBoy, on 07/03/2008, -0/+8No, no ... Not begun... They just found something new to speed up the downfall and fall even deeper.
    • philhatesyou, on 07/03/2008, -0/+11No it hasn't. If screwing with consumers was a bad idea, MS would have been put under by 95/98/ME. Or by the RROD fiasco in the Xbox360. Instead, these were all wildly successful products. Consumers are too ***** stupid and too busy eating grass and bleating to realize they're getting ***** in the ass. This will work, and if people are too stupid to see they're getting the shaft then, quite frankly, they deserve it.
  • agisten, on 07/03/2008, -4/+32It's a trap
    • solarwind24, on 07/03/2008, -1/+2Thanks for posting without the ascii-spam.
  • Renian, on 07/03/2008, -4/+47DO NOT WANT
  • Haecceity, on 07/03/2008, -1/+39And I would want this why?
  • dgaspard, on 07/03/2008, -2/+52It is this business model that will push open source.
  • TheInformer, on 07/03/2008, -1/+35This will end up hurting Microsoft Office more than helping it. People will look towards free alternatives and to pirated versions as well.
    • Troy64, on 07/03/2008, -0/+5Or just continue to use old versions. Just how much can you improve on Word or Excel?
      • Hangly, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1They need to be made web 3.0 compliant ASAP. Don't want to be left behind by the next big wave!
    • dming, on 07/03/2008, -1/+2Where as right now people do not look for free alternatives and pirate? I'm pretty sure there are already more pirated copies of Office installed right now than legit copies on consumer PCs (i.e. non-business/enterprise) and let's face it, having a subscription is the only real way for a business to not have to deal with piracy.

      Just think about MMORPGs, before online subscription play virtually any game can be pirated with ease. So it's no wonder that more and more software businesses are shifting to the subscription/service model.
  • Captbob007, on 07/03/2008, -22/+4This isn't that bad of a deal. You pay less up front, and always have the latest version. Wish it came with Outlook, but other than that it looks reasonable to me.
  • palewook, on 07/03/2008, -2/+42NO, see openoffice.org. Byebye MS~
  • puter, on 07/03/2008, -2/+27Good move MS, nice of them to help make open office mainstream.
  • YodaJones, on 07/03/2008, -1/+26This will be the end of Microsoft Office. Who is going to pay month after month when you can get a better office suite (Open Office) for free? Actually using Microsoft Office today anyway is a huge waste of money.
    • gcnaddict, on 07/03/2008, -4/+6The layuser who can use it (plus OneCare) on three computers for 70 bucks per year. That's who will use it.
      • PopcornDave, on 07/03/2008, -0/+1Yes and no. As more and more people turn the layuser, meaning friends and family who you feel will pay the fees, on to Open Office, MS Office subscriptions are going to fall.
    • thetreat, on 07/03/2008, -8/+5Don't be ridiculous. This will not be the end of MS Office.
    • crapuccino, on 07/03/2008, -0/+7I wouldn't say that OO.o is better, although I've been using it almost exclusively for a few years (since about v1.3). It's more than good enough for everything that I want to do - business reports, forms, simple flyers, accounting. I run my business using it.
      I managed to persuade one of my customers to go with it (guy wanted us to pirate Office and we wouldn't, so gave him the alternative of OO.o). The senior admin lady was sceptical, but anything she thought it couldn't do was just in a different place and it's come through every time. She's happy now and doesn't mention Excel anymore.
    • YodaJones, on 07/03/2008, -0/+1070 dollars per year or free....gee that's a tough one. I can tell you studied economics.
      Think about it: you could buy another video game or a extra controller for your Wii dude....
      • widgetmaker, on 07/03/2008, -6/+1That argument wont hold muster for the thousands of businesses that will continue using it. Besides open office is horrible compared to Office (esp 07) and £35 quid a year isn't that bad for most people.
      • YodaJones, on 07/03/2008, -0/+6Sounds like you are a cubicle dweller who doesn't foot the bill for the software your company uses. Or maybe you are the grill or fries specialist at your McDonald's and don't use a computer for your job anyway.
        And I am impressed that you feel that Office 2007 is a good product.
        BTW: the other lemmings await you at the cliff.
  • forcedfx, on 07/03/2008, -2/+34I'm happy with Office 2003 and seeing as I rarely use it, I'll keep it as long as possible then switch to Open Office if this comes true.
    • f4nt0m4s, on 07/03/2008, -0/+14Office 2003 is rock solid. All I ever use is Word and Excel. Occasionally I'll throw something together in Power Point. I suspect the majority of the home users feel the same way. The only profit Microsoft will make off of this move will be the business users.

      The thing is, Office hasn't made much forward progress in terms of improvements noticeable to the average user. Most home users would probably be just as happy typing up something in Office 97.
      • hydrodev, on 07/03/2008, -0/+4Microsoft will just make the older file formats obsolete, sell file converters, whilst "phasing out old technology"....in the end it will be subscribe to MS office or go Open Orifice.
    • anubis2night, on 07/03/2008, -4/+4WoW... Fisrt Vista now this It's almost like M$ wants to fail. HEy I know why not increase the cost of your OS as well then charge people to fix the flunky system, oh wait they already have done that. What we really need is OS X for PC and Open Office, then life without M$ could be complete. Ah to dream.
  • wildfire, on 07/03/2008, -6/+8Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 Licensed for 3 PCs - Retail: $109.99 (NewEgg.com)
    Microsoft Live OneCare for 3 PCs: $49.95/yr
    Total: $159.94 (savings of $89.94 when purchased for 1 yr)

    So two years will still cost less and by that time Office 14 will be out. Lets all cry together...
    • neFariou5, on 07/03/2008, -0/+4And how many people use pirated office? If there is no way to continue to pirate office, the giant market share will drop substantially.
      • wildfire, on 07/03/2008, -2/+2I didn't know that was one of the talking points here...

        But in counter, there will still be retail versions and Norton Antivirus is subscription-based and pirated. Woohoo?
      • MacEnvy, on 07/03/2008, -0/+3@wildfire
        Norton Anti-Virus doesn't require a subscription to use the program, it requires a subscription to update the program. That subscription gets you some value-added positives, whereas a subscription to Office doesn't get you jack *****.
    • KaiserArny, on 07/03/2008, -0/+5That's if you upgrade as soon as it comes out, which most people don't do. If you decide not to pay your subscription anymore, What happens? Are you left with nothing? At least once you buy it, you can use it as long as you want. People simply do not buy office every 2 years.
      • wildfire, on 07/03/2008, -0/+2You mean as long as its supported in the mainstream. Moreover, it would be cheaper in the long run since you get two products for one price and Office is shortening its development cycles along with Windows.

        Retail versions would end up being mostly bought by corporations who develop for a specific version of Office.
    • adamk0310, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1Right - and does the $69.99 subscription price include licensing for 3 PCs?
  • jeffs3rd, on 07/03/2008, -1/+31If you buy office once every 3 intervals or so (2000, 2003, 2007 for example) you would be paying ~$120 every 3 or so years for MS Home and Student ($115 at amazon.com). If you subscribe to this "service, you would pay $70.00/year.

    $210 every 3 years > $120 every 3 years.

    Yeah, I think I will stick with what I have. Open office.
    • heatforlife, on 07/03/2008, -3/+3Also comes with Windows Live OneCare----> $50 a year x 3 = $150 + your previous $120 = $270 compared to $210.

      Plus i dont think it will be manditory for you to get the subscription, they will still offer the normal lifetime software version.

      I work for CircuitCity and this will DEFINITELY be a better deal than what customers usually spend for Office and Antivirus together. $169.99 + $59.99 = $230. For $20 more a year from what they would pay for an antivirus renewal, they can also have Office for another year. Not a bad deal for people that dont know much about computers.
      • xcecatalina, on 07/03/2008, -0/+6Well what about mac users? It's really not any incentive to offer OneCare or any antivirus software. Plus Office is bloated enough on the mac. I only use it for compatibility issues.
      • niceyuk, on 07/03/2008, -0/+2Windows Live OneCare isnt worth anything, its not much better than no AV at all.

        All it offers is a false sense of security.
  • santasing, on 07/03/2008, -14/+3Chill out people, its only 19 cents a day, not a big deal.

    At least that's the logic people who defend XBox Live give.
  • thetreat, on 07/03/2008, -8/+3You guys do realize that this won't be the only way to buy Office, right? If you don't want to do a subscription, don't do it.
  • Namco, on 07/03/2008, -3/+30Open Office for the win, Alex.
    • Awspire, on 07/03/2008, -6/+2Awww, how cute, you use Open Office. Post back when you work in a real office environment, and need more capabilities than writing a letter to your Senator to bitch about Comcast.
      • TheInformer, on 07/03/2008, -0/+4It seems some other countries governments are switching to open source software, which includes OpenOffice.

        Once we get away from the MS proprietary document formats and begin to use truly open standards, OpenOffice looks even more attractive.
      • Namco, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1I don't use Open Office, I use Microsoft Office, but in light of the article it is apparent that Open Office is becoming more attractive as a replacement some day in the future... say if MS wants to drastically modify their licensing models.
  • monkeysaurus, on 07/03/2008, -0/+19Personally, I prefer paying nought noughty-nought per month for Open Office.
  • Lawbringer, on 07/03/2008, -8/+4I think it's a great idea. I much prefer subscription based software it stops major update (read reasons to charge for new version) and means that programs can be constantly in development (think WoW). However given that there is a decent free alternative i'd probably use that..
  • katorga, on 07/03/2008, -6/+1Huge revenue increase for MS...most companies are locked into office through a history of files going back years stored in closed office formats and dependence on Office macros as work automation tools. OpenOffice implies a huge and expensive transition effort. As long as MS keeps the new costs lower than the transition cost, they can raise the price at will.
    • Hangly, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1Haha, OpenOffice is huge and expensive?

      Have you ever deployed MS office in a large organization?
  • dsherman73, on 07/03/2008, -0/+7I can see why microsoft is doing this. However, if they priced the softeware here to begin with instead of $200 to $300 then they would have almost no competition. oh well I guess it's time to push open office.
  • AlexSpelling, on 07/03/2008, -2/+9Just last night I convinced my wife to move to OpenOffice 2.4 because:
    a. I couldn't get a copy of 2003 for Windows anymore
    b. It is the same Office that I use on my Mac (Office 2004 is discontinued)
    As a student I have a "free" (included into outrageous tuition ;-) copy of Office 2007, but it is really unusable :-(
    She complained for a little bit (she always complain about anything new) but then after she started using it she actually liked it.
    • charlesg, on 07/03/2008, -0/+2I agree with most of the anti-MS rhetoric discussed here. But to say that Office 2007 is unusable is absolutely absurd. It IS the most modern and functional Office suite on the market. I just hope that market forces will push OpenOffice to catch up....
      • AlexSpelling, on 07/03/2008, -0/+3When a company changes user interface and shortcuts people used to use for at least 12 years re-learning renders software unusable. Or at least undesirable when there are other options with similar interface.
        Most people don't want to change their habits unless they gain something from it. People are more rational than whatever UI or Marketing gurus might think

  • frozenpxl, on 07/03/2008, -4/+20A Microsoft subscription that is actually worth my time does not exist.
  • LetsGoHokies, on 07/03/2008, -0/+14They could call this a "monthly fee" or another way of saying it would be "giving Open Office a bigger market share"
  • bschonec, on 07/03/2008, -0/+7Reminds me of the whole DIVX fiasco. People will pay more if they _own_ the product.... (Ok, so licensing isn't technically owning)
  • perlabsrat, on 07/03/2008, -7/+2%windir%notepad.exe

  • jedioniram, on 07/03/2008, -2/+2Well, it's not the worst idea I've heard, but my question is what happens to Office if you cancel your subscription? Does it continue to work just without anymore updates, because I can live with that. If it stops working all together.. well, then we have problems.
  • Sillywombat, on 07/03/2008, -2/+9Pirates Unite!
  • JustAFarmBoy23, on 07/03/2008, -1/+14OpenOffice is definitely the way to go. No money, no hassle.
  • wonderworm, on 07/03/2008, -1/+14This will be the death of Microsoft's Office and usher in the age of Open Source office. Bad first move Ballmer.
  • f4nt0m4s, on 07/03/2008, -1/+15Pass.
    I'll stick with Office 2003 which is ROCK SOLID, or OpenOffice. It was tough enough to swallow the transition from Office 2003 to 2007, but this is just silly on Microsoft's part. I bet they won't go through with this.
  • caldera, on 07/03/2008, -3/+10Wait, you're still using Microsoft Office? :)
    • Nintendesert, on 07/03/2008, -7/+1Because 2007 is still way ahead of OO.
  • TheJalu, on 07/03/2008, -0/+11***** This! Lets head over to Zoho or GDocs

    Dugged to spread this ***** up story
  • kinglenster, on 07/03/2008, -0/+17I hate MS Office these days. It is getting worse with every version. Everyone else is slimming down their software and Microsoft are making it bigger and slower.
  • laelfrog, on 07/03/2008, -1/+7No.
  • Kazbaeden, on 07/03/2008, -1/+6Am I blind, or are there no references in this whole article? How do we know this isnt just made up?
  • sfcaptainrob, on 07/03/2008, -2/+9OpenOffice is nice, but it's no Microsoft Office. Especially when it comes to Calc vs. Excel. However for the average home user, OpenOffice is more than enough.
  • postalblowfish7, on 07/03/2008, -0/+11yeah that'll work - because the "business dream model" of software subscription that works with addictive MMOs like World of Warcraft will clearly work with a spreadsheet and word processor that are both easily replaced by readily available, FREE, open source applications!
  • Dojjah, on 07/03/2008, -0/+20www.openoffice.org

    open source is the future, not greedy wannabe monopolies.
    • Buckeye17, on 07/03/2008, -5/+2This has already been said infinity times in the comments.
  • PhillyMJS, on 07/03/2008, -0/+9Why don't they just go back to changing their file format with every new version of Office, so if anyone you exchange documents with upgrades to Office n+1, you are pretty much annoyed into upgrading as well? That sure worked pretty well for them in the 90s.
  • n0odles, on 07/03/2008, -0/+16Nail in the coffin.
  • darkfus, on 07/03/2008, -0/+25No, no and no. Renting software? No again.

    I like open source and I will buy software that is fairly priced. I will never subscribe to software. Never. If Windows 7 is really going to be a subscription basis I will replace my remaining Windows PCs with Macs.
    • TheInformer, on 07/03/2008, -0/+5I'll be using WinXP Pro until at least 2014.
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