Microsoft 365 Personal price hike on renewal!

Heedtheadvice

I would add the web version should be ok for general use. You access it via a browser so it is free. It has a slightly different look and feel but for

many people it should be fine. Some advanced features may be missing but you can try it out now anyway as mentioned above.

Microsoft 365 basic is not an ideal backup ( more a sync to files then stored in the cloud) but better than only storing your book/ docs on your personal computer. Very cheap for 100GB storage at £1.99 p.m. or about £20 per annum. 

Post on here if you need setup advice.

There are other cloud backup services that are probably better for pure backup but you get a bit more in terms of support and ransomware protection with 365.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/microsoft-365/p/microsoft-365-basic/cfq7ttc0ktxs

BFBW

aries1 said:

I should explain that I am not very tech savvy being of the "older generation" so if I'm honest I find it all very confusing!

Microsoft has emailed me to advise that our Microsoft 365 Personal due for renewal on January 4th is increasing from £59.99 a year to £84.99 !! I really cant afford to keep paying this as we in fact only use Word and nothing else.

If I explain our circumstances perhaps you could advice us what would best suit our needs please? I do hope you will have patience and forgive any poor explanation on my part.

There is just me and my husband using one laptop with Windows 11 and we dont mind sharing Word.

I use Word to write a book I have been working on for years and I have over 80 chapters saved as Word documents ( illustrations and text on these). I do need to be able to go back and edit these chapters which some free Word equivalents do not allow.
It is also imperative that I do not lose these chapters by not renewing my current Microsoft 365. I have about another 10 chapters to write and I really do need to continue in the same Word  format I am familiar with.

The only other thing I will use Word for is the occasional letter to companies etc.

My husband uses Word solely to write Estimates to his customers and also some letters.

I have tried using the internet for advice for advice and it has come up with the following :

"Some websites sell Microsoft Office very cheaply because they’re reselling old or unused business licences. These can work at first — but they’re not always fully legitimate, and Microsoft can sometimes deactivate them later."

Is this true? I ask because there are some cheap offers on Groupon that I was considering. 

I would be most grateful if anyone can help me and offer advice.

Many thanks

The cheapest way, is to buy another instance of Office 365 Home and run it on another EDGE browser profile. https://softwaresupply.net/product/microsoft-office-365-personal-pc-mac-tablet-1-device/ £8.99/£7.20 with their promo code.
Though that path isn't recommended for the technologically challenged.
Instead, best to run Office that doesn't need a subscription. Make sure that you download everything held in the cloud via your current Office 365 subscription, to your device storage before switching.

Either use the free Libre Office suggested earlier or obtain an older or up to date version of Office. 
https://softwaresupply.net/product/office-2019-home-and-student-for-pc-lifetime/ £15.99/£12.80 with promo code.
It's no longer supported by Microsoft, but will still work indefinitely.

If you want the latest; https://softwaresupply.net/product/microsoft-office-2024-professional-plus-for-windows-5devices/ £29.99/£24 with promo code.

victor2

@aries1 please do make sure that you have backup copies of your work. That should be a local copy on a separate storage device and a copy stored elsewhere, possibly in the "cloud".
As well as the cheaper/free options for Word already suggested, there are also free options for cloud storage which may meet your needs.

Dicentra

You can simply purchase MS office 2024 for less than £19.99 from this site, no annual subscription to worry about. I have used this site and it simply works, just follow the guide. https://ecokeys.co.uk/microsoft-office/

BFBW

Dicentra said:

You can simply purchase MS office 2024 for less than £19.99 from this site, no annual subscription to worry about. I have used this site and it simply works, just follow the guide. https://ecokeys.co.uk/microsoft-office/

Or maybe not... https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/15104017

Dicentra

Interesting, all I can say is that I checked them with the online scam and virus checkers and it was reported safe and just checked again and still is reported safe, as I said no issues using them.

flaneurs_lobster

Dicentra said:

Interesting, all I can say is that I checked them with the online scam and virus checkers and it was reported safe and just checked again and still is reported safe, as I said no issues using them.

The software will be safe since presumably it was downloaded from the official Microsoft site.

The key, however, which is the thing you purchased is not supported by MS - they don't support resold keys or the software that is accessed using it. In effect you are using unlicensed software. 

Might work fine forever, might stop working tomorrow if MS revoke the key.

BFBW

flaneurs_lobster said:

Dicentra said:

Interesting, all I can say is that I checked them with the online scam and virus checkers and it was reported safe and just checked again and still is reported safe, as I said no issues using them.

The software will be safe since presumably it was downloaded from the official Microsoft site.

The key, however, which is the thing you purchased is not supported by MS - they don't support resold keys or the software that is accessed using it. In effect you are using unlicensed software. 

Might work fine forever, might stop working tomorrow if MS revoke the key.

If the key was ''revoked'' as you suggest, the company will replace it. That's their guarantee. So really not an issue for anything other than 365.

SiliconChip

BFBW said:

flaneurs_lobster said:

Dicentra said:

Interesting, all I can say is that I checked them with the online scam and virus checkers and it was reported safe and just checked again and still is reported safe, as I said no issues using them.

The software will be safe since presumably it was downloaded from the official Microsoft site.

The key, however, which is the thing you purchased is not supported by MS - they don't support resold keys or the software that is accessed using it. In effect you are using unlicensed software. 

Might work fine forever, might stop working tomorrow if MS revoke the key.

If the key was ''revoked'' as you suggest, the company will replace it. That's their guarantee. So really not an issue for anything other than 365.

How much trust can you put in a guarantee from a company that has been dissolved?

BFBW

SiliconChip said:

BFBW said:

flaneurs_lobster said:

Dicentra said:

Interesting, all I can say is that I checked them with the online scam and virus checkers and it was reported safe and just checked again and still is reported safe, as I said no issues using them.

The software will be safe since presumably it was downloaded from the official Microsoft site.

The key, however, which is the thing you purchased is not supported by MS - they don't support resold keys or the software that is accessed using it. In effect you are using unlicensed software. 

Might work fine forever, might stop working tomorrow if MS revoke the key.

If the key was ''revoked'' as you suggest, the company will replace it. That's their guarantee. So really not an issue for anything other than 365.

How much trust can you put in a guarantee from a company that has been dissolved?

I wasn't referring to that company. I was the one who pointed out that company had been dissolved. Didn't you notice?