MS Word one off payment

WeAreGhosts

sorry, probably being thick here but I need to buy MS Word but can only find monthly/yearly payments for it. can you not buy it outright any more?

i usually use LibreOffice but need Word for work purposes

victor2

Microsoft is moving into the rental only market with Office 365 products. But if you search for Word 2013, you should still be able to buy it with an indefinite licence for the computer you install it on.

However, check the licence arrangement at work. It used to be that employees using a licensed version at work could also legally install a copy on their home computer for work purposes. That may well have changed now - it's been a few years since I was able to take advantage of that.

bod1467

And unless you specifically need MS Word, if you just need a word processor, look at options like LibreOffice, OpenOffice, Kingsoft Office etc. which are all free.

WeAreGhosts

i'm self-employed so not an employee. i will look for word 2013. thanks

victor2

WeAreGhosts wrote: »

i'm self-employed so not an employee. i will look for word 2013. thanks

LibreOffice will open/save documents in MS format. Why do you need the Microsoft software? The menu layouts are slightly different and I've found some compatibility issues with Excel graphs, but unless you are teaching or supporting other Microsoft users, then isn't the free package you already use satisfactory?

gjchester

WeAreGhosts wrote: »

sorry, probably being thick here but I need to buy MS Word but can only find monthly/yearly payments for it. can you not buy it outright any more?

http://products.office.com/en-GB/buy/office


if you want it for commercial use its £190 for Word alone, £219 for Office, although you may get it cheaper by anywhere like Amazon.

Victor2 wrote:

It used to be that employees using a licensed version at work could also legally install a copy on their home computer for work purposes.

That's never been the case, companies under certain Microsoft subscription schemes may have been able to get a licence for their Employees home use for low (or to the employee) no cost, but just because you use it at work there's never been the right to use Office at home.

Geodark

victor2 wrote: »

Microsoft is moving into the rental only market with Office 365 products. But if you search for Word 2013, you should still be able to buy it with an indefinite licence for the computer you install it on.

However, check the licence arrangement at work. It used to be that employees using a licensed version at work could also legally install a copy on their home computer for work purposes. That may well have changed now - it's been a few years since I was able to take advantage of that.

As stated previously this has never been the case, the only way this *might* be possible with certain MSDN licences which are made out to named users. Very rare outside large software companies though as the price is very prohibitive.

abibee

Might Office online be adequate? It's free.

https://office.live.com/start/default.aspx

victor2

Not particularly relevant to the OP, but I knew I'd come across installing more than one copy in the minefield that was (and probably still is) Microsoft licensing...
From a 2007 article by a "Microsoft Senior Sales Excellence Manager":

• Secondary Use Rights are a benefit included in some licenses that allows for the primary user of the license to also use that software on a portable device (like a laptop) under the same license. For instance, if you look at the EULA for Microsoft Office Small Business 2007 online, you will see that the Retail Box license of Office contains the following:
  • Licensed Device. You may install and use one copy of the software on the licensed device.
  • Portable Device. You may install another copy on a portable device for use by the single primary user of the licensed device.”
  • This same clause exists for Microsoft Office purchased via Volume Licensing; however, it is not included in the OEM Microsoft Office license.

So, I was incorrect in stating installing on a home computer (unless it's portable...), but I did remember you could install additional copies for employees to use.

RumRat

WPS Office makes a good solid alternative to MS Word and it's free. It probably looks the most similar to MSWord.