[PCWorld]

Post your comments for Decoded: Microsoft's puzzling Office 365 roll-out here

[MarkJonesMJAppFactory3534]

We have just purchased Office 365 Home Premium, so among our three home computers, that's less than $3 per month, per person. So far, we are very pleased with the software. Being a software engineer, I rarely praise any software (including my own), let alone gush about MSFT. But for this, I'll make an exception. We interface seamlessly between our multiple devices (laptops, desktops, tablets, phones), using the built-in SkyDrive support to sync data between devices and between ourselves.

No, I'm not a MSFT troll. I share the skepticism (and sometimes antagonism) toward Microsoft because of their serious gaffes in customer relationship, poor mobile-device track record, and developer support. But Office 365 in its current state tells me there's at least one product group in Redmond who know what the real world is all about.

[PRMan]

Great if you don't mind the government reading all your personal documents whenever they want on your SkyDrive.

[Glennr4466]

It is not what it costs per month or per year. It seems that the MS average for a new version is 3 years so it is what it costs over 3 years which is significantly more than what Office 2010 cost. Also, many people do not want or need to upgrade every 3 years. How many people are still using Office 2007? Had they rented Office 36(2) back then it would now have costs them over $600.00!

[MarkJonesMJAppFactory3534]

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Great if you don't mind the government reading all your personal documents whenever they want on your SkyDrive.

Of course then, you wouldn't use SkyDrive for anything. What about other info you put on other company servers? Do you have a bank account? (etc. ...)

[MarkJonesMJAppFactory3534]

Quote

It is not what it costs per month or per year. It seems that the MS average for a new version is 3 years so it is what it costs over 3 years which is significantly more than what Office 2010 cost. Also, many people do not want or need to upgrade every 3 years. How many people are still using Office 2007? Had they rented Office 36(2) back then it would now have costs them over $600.00!

It works for us. Sounds like you want to plop down the extra up-front bucks for the DVD version. Glad that works for you.

[bartNJ]

I am setting up a small business, 3 employees, with a IT aand communication software package and policy.
I am pulled toward Office365 for a few reasons:

-MS years of experience in the Office suite. It's just universally used by most people. Spare me the bullet points on openoffice or googledocs... Most people use MS Word

-MS finally did the simplicity thing right with regards to the seamless integration and self-administration

- The cloud component (for a small business like the one I mentioned) is a godsend send cost-saver

I set up Office365 last month and for the administration costs alone it's worth the price.

[JB177]

Reading all the comments and had the trial version of Home Premium which I compared to Office 2007 which I really like especially Publisher which other readers think it is used to print flyers and glad that this feature has been deleted which I respected but I have a website so paper world to me is like me telling you that Fred Flintstone's car is technically superior to what is available. With that said, why would anyone pay for a product that has been watered down? Get Open Office or Libre Office it's free and yes I will be using it once MS stops supporting Office 2007.

[shanaza]

I have found that using the Exchange Server feature in Small Bus Office 365 allows Mac users to sync their contacts / calendars and mail under Office 2011, which cannot be done with iCloud. This feature, alone, pays for itself.