Office 365 or Office 2016

alphanumeric · 05 Jul 2018

I log in with a Microsoft Account, that hasn't done anything to office, as far as I know anyway. Nothing obvious. JFYI.

alphanumeric · 05 Jul 2018

I don't know if this is related but Microsoft changed how they want me to install and activate Office 2016 Pro. If I check my Product Codes for Office 2016 Pro on My Visual Studio subscription (MSDN) my original keys are marked "Discontinued". The download link for those keys gets me an ISO to use to do the install. Those product codes still work with that ISO though.
I also have a new set of Product codes for Office 2016 Pro, The download link for those keys takes me here, Office A web install. As far as I know though, its not office 365. There are some differences though. The Outlook setup was bit different and I could not for the life of me get it to work with my ISP's pop e-mail. Also, that new product code I used is now tied to my Microsoft Account. If I click the Get Office App it lists that product code as single license. I just click it to use it, and don't have to manually enter it.

Superfly · 05 Jul 2018

Thanx Alpha ... interesting... from all accounts they prefer us to be on O365...

I even got a free O365 at Dev Centre - still need to test it

I'm actually quite impressed with O2019 ( but then I come from a 2013 environment) it does not even seem like a preview - obviously missing some features but I'm not a hectic user so doubt I'll miss anything.. LoL

alphanumeric · 05 Jul 2018

I had a free Office 365 sub (trial) as a perk of being an MVP. I wanted the 1TB extra OneDrive storage. It was a Business subscription though and I had to use OneDrive for Business to access it. That meant my XBOX couldn't see it.=( It ended up being a bit of a pain to use it along side my normal OneDrive storage. I didn't renew this year so its expired anyway now. My current MVP My Visual Studio Subscription doesn't run out on its own until next year some time. I had to get a new one when I switched e-mail address and got a new ISP. I'm hoping they let me keep it until it times out on its own. If that happens I may get lucky and snag Office 2019 keys. It would be a nice bonus.

Anyway, this is the first I've heard of any reports of Office Pro switching to Office 365 on its own?

jimbo45 · 06 Jul 2018

Hi there
I think it's the current fad for making everything "Subscription based" whether it's music, video, software or whatever.

These things can trick the consumer very easily - a few cheap per month subscriptions might seem cheap but they soon mount up !!! - just look at say over a 24 month period the difference between a standard mobile phone subscription and just paying up front for a phone and then a "pay as you go" model for calls.

The problem with so many providers of services is that the consumer actually ends up paying a lot more to receive approximately the same content. While in general competition is good it can leave undesirable side effects too so the skill is in managing the right level -- by no means a trivial task.

Personally while software subscription might be ideal for businesses since they invariably have a "service contract" attached - I don't think this model is right for typical home consumers -- for example how many home users of OFFICE (any version from OFFICE 2003 onwards) actually use more than a fraction of what's in the suite, and do they really need all the latest stuff.

I've old excel spreadsheets from around 2000 still working just fine (and I'm actually quite a power EXCEL user -- do a lot of stock trading analysis etc with it) and although I have OFFICE 2016 I could just as easily have stayed with OFFICE 2007 or OFFICE 2010.

Some products are inherently stable and don't really need adding / extending much and I'd put OFFICE into that category.
However the name of the game is "Monetisation" and I'm afraid the subscription model will just grow - so it could be OFFICE 2016 or 2019 will be the last "purchaseable" versions.

However there are some passable alternatives such as WPS Office which even run on Linux OK so it's not all doom and gloom out there.

Cheers
jimbo

alphanumeric · 06 Jul 2018

Pro's and cons. With Office 365 you always have the latest version, and at no additional charge. Other than your monthly fee. Office 365 also gets you more OneDrive storage, a lot more.
With Office xxxx Pro, you pay up front, but when a new version of Office drops, like say Office 2019, your paying full price all over again to get that new version. If you want it or need it.
I have a free MSDN subscription so my Office Pro is free. That's one reason why I'm using it versus 365.

Getting back on topic, it would be interesting to see what it says in Settings > Apps > Apps & features. And also Default Apps for e-mail etc. What options are listed on the OP's PC. Does it say Office professional or Office 365, or maybe both?

Diankah · 19 Aug 2018

I am having a similar problem. I have never to my knowledge indicated that I want Office 365 or an Office 365 "free trial"; I have Office 2016 installed on my laptop. The application list on the start menu does not include Office 365. However, Settings/Apps does indicate that it's installed. Today my system was co-opted by Office 365 Click-to-Run grabbing both disk and CPU; this has not happened before.

I bought this laptop two years ago, bought Office 2016 and installed it via Microsoft download as no installation media were provided. I uninstalled the annoying "Get Office" application at that time and have been a happy Word user until earlier today.

I don't know if this is relevant, but this behavior started right after Windows Update installed the August 14 cumulative update (KB4343909). No updates to either Office version appeared in update history.

My questions about how to deal with this situation are:
--Would the Uninstall option in Apps get rid of Office 365 entirely and leave Office 2016 in place and working?
--Is there an effective way to disable or stop Click to Run and keep it stopped?
--Should I change the update setting in Office to Do Not Update? I did try to look at the Office update history, but all I got was an Office 365 sign-in screen--useless because I don't have an Office 365 account.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks very much in advance.

alphanumeric · 19 Aug 2018

It's my understanding that Office updates are no longer delivered via Windows update, even if you tick the give me other updates box. They come via "click-to-run" which runs automatically on its own. It likely checks for updates for Office when you launch an Office Program like Word or Excel etc. I have no Office updates in my Windows update history.
Something is a bit messed up though because if I click the Office Updates drop down button in Outlook, and select view updates it takes me here, What's new in Office 365 - Office Support And I'm also not running Office 365, I'm running Office 2016 Professional Plus.
If I click the update now option I get a Downloading Office Updates box. I guess I wasn't fully up to date? Hmm, the box just closed and nothing else happened, must have been just "checking" for updates?

EDIT: The "The following application needs to be closed" box was hidden under another open window. I had to close Outlook for Office to finish updating.

alphanumeric · 19 Aug 2018

Anybody know when the next Official release of Office is going to happen? Google says Office 2019 in second half of 2018. I hunted around on Microsoft's Yammer group while I still had access for a hint but didn't find anything. I'm hoping it drops before my Visual Studio Subscription times out so I can snag some product codes. Also want to see if its download (web install) only. What do IT types do in that case? I'm sure they are going to want a local installer to do the X number of PC's they have to do. I guess you'd install once then image?

axe0 · 19 Aug 2018

After reading Office 2019 release calendar: Mark these dates | Computerworld I suspect, like they do, the release to be in less than a month.