Is windows still the cashcow it used to be?

[famousringo]

kowenicki said:

Yes, its a subscription, so of course you are paying over and over.  But you are paying for an evolving product where you recieve updates to that product as it changes, so no need to spend the very large amounts on each new iteration of office, you get all of the office suite with soem cloud storage and you are also allowed to fully install it on up to 5 devices.  It is far cheaper, much more flexible and I think an exceptionally good deal. 

I would also like to see competition, that is a good thing, but nothing comes remotely close yet and that isnt Microsofts fault.

Nice to hear that somebody's saving money with the new Office model. My org (education) paid $50 per user to license a version of Office in perpetuity, which means we enjoy the luxury of deciding whether the next version is even worth upgrading to, and we have skipped versions in the past. Now Microsoft wants to sell us a 4 year sub for $80 which we'll have to renew whether the next version of Office has worthwhile features or not. That's an increase in price and a decrease in value.

I'll admit, Microsoft's deal is still pretty reasonable, especially compared to what Adobe is doing. $20 a year per user is chump change even with our ever-dwindling budget. But this software as a service trend digusts me and strong-arming customers into subscribing is anti-consumer. It's an attempt to take the upgrade decision out of the customer's hands so there isn't even a need to provide a meaningful upgrade. I intend to hold off buying into it for as long as I can, and so far, the SaaS model isn't offering anything my org can't live without.

I think you're wrong about Office alternatives, though. Advanced Office features are very valuable, but only to a minority of users. Just look at how much penetration iOS and Android are getting in enterprise with effectively zero Office support. Look at how little traction Windows tablets are getting with full Office support. The vast majority of users simply have no use for mail merges or Excel macros, and if file compatibility with Office alternatives is good enough, there's a risk that Office license purchases will start slipping until they only cover users who are really using those advanced features.