Retail version of Office 2013 allowed on only on one PC

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Microsoft has changed the terms of use of the new version of Office. Originally, with the retail version of Office, customers could have installed Office on another computer (provided it is installed on only one computer). However, with Office 2013 this is no longer the case.

Specifically, Office 2013 is "locked" to the first computer on which it is installed, but it is on terms and conditions (EULA) that is cannot be installed on another computer. So you get the same product as if you bought an OEM version, which is sold (or should sell) only with a new PC.

Microsoft's motive is perfectly clear - get more customers that do not buy the software, or the right to use the software, to subscribe to the software, in this case Office 365. The question is just how much money will this move bring Microsoft, and how much it will cause resentment among customers and current users.

[Ed- After sitting through more than one EA agreement meeting over Microsoft licensing it is very clear that Microsoft has no clue how much it is alienating both consumers and enterprise customers with their push to the cloud. In fact it is very common for people to drop products off of their agreements (especially office) simply because they no longer want to deal with the way Microsoft continually changes their agreements. Microsoft needs to wake up and realize that they are not the only game in town. I know of several companies that are moving to Linux for servers and even beginning limited trials with Linux on the desktop simply because they no longer want to be held hostage by Microsoft and their greedy licensing team. In the consumer market this will start to happen as well. It is just a matter of time…]

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