The European Union Court of Justice has recently taken a milestone decision in favor of the commercialization of second hand software licenses of any kind. According to this, once a software seller or distributor sells a copy of any software tool, it automatically loses its exclusive rights to distribution, making it completely legal for companies and individuals to re-sell their own copies, legitimating this niche market for companies such as the German based UsedSoft, the company that took the case to the European Court.
In addition, it is clearly stated in the Court decision that no difference could be applied between physical media and download products. āIt makes no difference whether the copy of the computer program was made available by means of a download from the right holderās website or by means of a material medium such as a CD-ROM or DVD,ā the court ruled. āEven if the right holder formally separates the customerās right to use the copy of the program supplied from the operation of transferring the copy of the program to the customer on a material medium, the operation of downloading from that medium a copy of the computer program and that of concluding a license agreement remain inseparable from the point of view of the acquirer.ā
The transfer of property of the licenses also implies the transfer of the legal obligations stablished for both parts, including maintenance and upgrades, also meaning that multiple user licenses for instance cannot be split and sold separately, since the original conditions would still apply in case of a re-sell.
However, this decision only affects the European markets, since previous Court decisions in the United States followed a completely different direction. In the precedent-setting case Vernor vs. Autodesk, it was established that US buyers purchase the ability to use a license, but they do not own the software, making redistribution not legally possible. This does not prevent American users to purchase licenses outside the USA, although the legality of such possibility is still unclear.
Nevertheless, this European Court decision has a huge importance for companies, since it eliminates the distinction between the purchase of a license and the purchase of a product. The implications of this measure for international trade and intellectual property legislation on the long term still would need to be further discussed, but on the short term the cost-saving potential for European organizations is undoubtedly very important. We will see in the future the real impact that the opening of this market has for European Union based companies.
If you just want to run private documents (not sharing MS Office from work), using the Apple apps or LibreOffice may be valid options you can try out for free.
LibreOffice has more features, Pages+Co are more Apple and can share documents with e.g. iPads.
If you rely on many old MS Office documents, or need to process those for work on the Mac as well, you will see issues with any MS document beyond very simple ones. The others work for decades to be ācompatibleā, but itās a journey.
If you really rely on MS Office compatibility, even the Mac version of it will be different than the Windows version.
(I use LibreOffice and predecessors since 20 years, since it was supposed to run on āany platformā (Windows, Linux, Mac), where āanyā today would include iOS/Android. At work employer sponsors full Office 365 deluxe, which has features (e.g. online collaboration) none of the others offer in the same way.)
You donāt have to buy a 365 subscription, there is still a downloadable version available for a one-off payment. You donāt get regular updates, and there may be some other differences.
Iām using Microsoft 365, advantage for me is you have Onedrive and apps for iPad and iPhone. Files are available from the cloud for every device. Subscription you can find for euro 50 a year. Works very well.
For me as an occasional user I donāt see the need for a 365 subscription. I can sync documents easily using iCloud or Dropbox. Iām sure for some users it makes sense as we all have different needs.
@frenchrooster I wouldnāt bother with Libre Offer on an M1 Mac. Thereās technical reasons to avoid it, but itās just not a good enough clone of a suite like Office.
The Mac comes with Appleās first-party Apps: Pages, Numbers and probably the best presentation software out there, Keynote.
They are all compatible with their Office counterparts and are easy to use, providing the most important functionalities. Iād give them a try before installing or spending dosh.
Iām all Mac now. I was all Windows til I need to get a Mac for a SW comparison for a conference and then switched everything over.
Leaving the SW aside, the HW on the MacBooks is of a uniformly high quality. I havenāt had a single problem in 15 years and I keep my machines for quite a while (the old one as a standby just in case). The Windows machines from all the usual high-end suspects simple werenāt in the same league.
Other than it is free, I canāt think of any way that LibreOffice is ābetterā than MS Office. But having said that, I still use LibreOffice at all times as I am happy to support the āopenā license system, and prefer to avoid All Things Microsoft.
You donāt need 365 to get Onedrive. I think you just need a Microsoft login account. Iāve never has 365, but one drive works for me in the way you describe. I believe itās a separately downloadable free app
Same as you. Single upfront annual payment of Ā£65 for 5 licenseās on PC.
Not exactly breaking the bank.
Surprised at some of the complaints re. price especially as they probably come from people who happily pay thousands for Hi-Fi equipment!
I like photography & never fail to be surprised by people who buy top of the range cameras in the Ā£2,000 plus price range & post forum requests for the cheapest/free software, want to know if they can use micro compact flash memory card adapters with their ancient micro memory cards in their expensive new Nikons, Canons & Sonys etc. to avoid buying a new memory card for Ā£25!
Mind you, 45 years in business showed me that we are all different in our attitudes to money so who is to say whoās right or wrong?
Indeed - each to their own. Another benefit was that when my 7 yr old MacBook suddenly died in January, I was able to download 365 on to my new M1 Air within minutes and be good to go. Worth price of 365 just for that IMO. However, fully admit Iām not a techie so happy to pay for convenience
I switched to Macbooks for personal use almost 20 years ago and used a mouse for the first couple years. I later lost my mouse while on a trip. Forced to use the track pad I regretted not switching sooner. Thereās no need for a mouse with a Macbook. I use a mouse for my work (Finance/Accounting) on a PC though.
