In an effor to shift consumers from owning the new Office 2013 productivity suite and rather trying to get consumers to rent the suite via a subscription, Microsoft has implemented a new procedure that ties the licensing of Office 2013 to the first PC it is installed on. This prevents consumers from deleting Office 2013 and installing it on another PC.
“That’s a substantial shift in Microsoft licensing. Let’s be frank. This is not in the consumer’s best interest. They’re paying more than before, because they’re not getting the same benefits as before,” Daryl Ullman from Emerset Consulting Group stated. He specializes in helping companies negotiate software licensing deals. According to the software’s EULA, “Our software license is permanently assigned to the licensed computer.” In other words, once you install Office 2013, don’t even attempt to install it using the same credentials on another computer. So what happens when you get a replacement PC if something happens to it? Microsoft offered no comment to that situation. The bottom line is, if you purchase a new computer, you will need to purchase Office 2013 again (if you want Office).
Further reading: Microsoft, Office 2013
