Best way to get Microsoft Office as a home user?

Brendan Burgess

Brendan Burgess

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I am getting a new pc for the home.

I use very old versions of Word , Excel and Powerpoint. I use Thunderbird for email.

I looked at buying it and it seems to be about €69 a year from Microsoft.

www.microsoft.com

Buy Microsoft 365 Personal (Formerly Office 365) – Microsoft Store

Achieve more with the Microsoft 365 Personal plan for all your devices. Features AI-powered Office apps, 1 TB of cloud storage plus premium mobile features.
www.microsoft.com

Then there is a one time purchase for €18.90 which doesn't have Outlook.

1) Is Outlook much better than Thunderbird?
2) If not, what is the best way to buy Word , Excel and PowerPoint?

Brendan
 
Does it have to be Microsoft Office? Have you ever tried any of these free alternatives:

Apache OpenOffice - Official Site - The Free and Open Productivity Suite

The official home page of the Apache OpenOffice open source project, home of OpenOffice Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw and Base.
www.openoffice.org www.openoffice.org

https://www.libreoffice.org (Runs on Android and iOS phones & tablets too)

FreeOffice: The best free alternative to Microsoft Office

FreeOffice, the best free alternative to Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) for Windows, Mac and Linux
www.freeoffice.com www.freeoffice.com

There are Mac/UNIX versions of all of the above and all are free.

They and others are reviewed here in Sept 2020, reasonably well balanced apart from the need for Access in a basic office suite: https://www.pcworld.com/article/218394/best-microsoft-office-alternatives.html



If you (or anyone else) wants low-cost office software (US$30)to use on a Mac only have a look here: https://www.neooffice.org/neojava/en/download.php#download
 
You could try out Libre Office first. Like Thunderbird it's free and open source, and attempts to be compatible with MS document formats (but doesn't always succeed for complex documents). You've the option to try it first anyway before shelling out for office.
 
Thanks.

I don't have the headspace for learning something new, so it's really what is the best way to buy/rent Microsoft Office

Brendan
 
Brendan Burgess said:
I don't have the headspace for learning something new, so it's really what is the best way to buy/rent Microsoft Office
Click to expand...
Just be warned, if you're currently using a very old version of Office it will have changed a lot, at least visually.

Some of the open source options are very good, but if you are a power user of Excel, they fall short in some areas, like pivot tables. The syntax of functions is slightly different. But for most of what an average person does, you wouldn't even notice a difference.

Brendan Burgess said:
Then there is a one time purchase for €18.90 which doesn't have Outlook.
Click to expand...
A one time purchase of MS Office Home is €149. Websites selling it for less than 20 are not legitimate. If you check, most such websites are only a few months old. They get shut down, and reappear under a new name. They're selling cracked keys, and MS may end up locking your key. By the time that happens, the website will be gone.

Check if you can get it discounted when buying the PC as a bundled software.

You can buy a one time licence for Home & Office which includes Outlook & Access, for about €240 if you need Outlook.
Personally, I don't use an email app for personal mail. All web based, so I've no need for Outlook.

With the one off purchase, you're buying that specific version. No free upgrades, which come automatically with the subscription service.

With the subscription, as well as the full suite of Apps, you also get 1TB of cloud storage. It's handy if you're working from a few devices, but you won't see the benefits if you've only got 1 PC. The license works out better for families with multiple users, but again, no benefit if it's just you.

Here's a good comparison:
www.windowscentral.com

Office 2021 vs. Microsoft 365: Which should you buy?

Can't decide between Microsoft 365 or Office 2021 for school or work? In this guide, we'll help you pick the best option for you.
www.windowscentral.com www.windowscentral.com

If you don't see any benefits you'll use with the subscription, it's cheaper to buy up front.
 
Last edited:
RedOnion said:
With the one off purchase, you're buying that specific version. No free upgrades, which come automatically with the subscription service.
Click to expand...

Red. That is great . Thanks for the comprehensive reply.

So this one at €69 a year seems perfect.

www.microsoft.com

Buy Microsoft 365 Personal (Formerly Office 365) – Microsoft Store

Achieve more with the Microsoft 365 Personal plan for all your devices. Features AI-powered Office apps, 1 TB of cloud storage plus premium mobile features.
www.microsoft.com

I get all the products
I get the updates.
I get cloud storage.


And if I change my mind for some reason, it's only €69 gone.

Brendan
 
Brendan, part of your original question was about Outlook v Thunderbird. I don't think there's an easy answer and it's really a question of what you need from a mail client. And if Thunderbird has worked for you up to now why change?
 
I've bought Office 2016 from this website - [ link removed]
with no problems. And I also bought a Windows upgrade from them several years ago.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hi HK

I checked these guys out and I don't think that they are legitimate so I removed your link. They don't say how they can do it so cheaply.

answers.microsoft.com

Cheap Windows 10 pro - via digital licence

I have been tempted by a cheap digital licence (ie less than £10) Windows 10 professional and also Office 2016 pro plus - readily available through multiple sellers on Ebay/Amazon and wonder what the
answers.microsoft.com

www.howtogeek.com

Cheap Windows 10 Keys: Do They Work?

Microsoft charges $200 for a Windows 10 Professional product key.
www.howtogeek.com www.howtogeek.com


Brendan
 
I am happy to pay € 99 per year for Microsoft Office - it removes all doubts and questions about legitimacy.

And you can share it with family on up to 5 devices
 
MrEarl said:
Hello,

Students and Educators (including those who are part time), can get a heavy discount - in fact, I see that it's currently being offered for free!

So, any mature part time students, or lecturers, should check to see if their educational institution qualifies - I know that my one does :)
Click to expand...

This is great thank you. I forgot that MS offer this and my son is at Trinity and our license is up soon so will save a few squid.
 
Just a tiny note for Mac users. I'm a long time Office-user, both PCs and Macs. Over that time, the updates for use on Macs have tended to be intermittent and not quite equivalent to the PC ones and the performance on Mac has been less than ideal, but if you are working with Office users you don't really have much choice but to use it. As a result, personally, I chose to buy one-off last time I was doing a major update in 2016. The one off purchase includes all the minor/security updates. And guess what? They only just updated it properly again for the new M1 Macs (will also run on Intel Macs). So I've saved on NOT buying a subscription, although I normally recommend a subscription to PC users.
 
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