Upgrading to Office 2013

[bschulze]

Apologies first, not sure where this should be posted too. I've searched around but have only found answers from 2013, I need to know if the issue has changed.

I'm finally going to pull the trigger, I'm still on Office 2007 and would like to go directly to Office 2013 (skipping 2010). One of the main reasons for upgrading is the BI advances in 2013 (jumping to 2013 because 2010 and 2013 are not fully compatible). I do not want to pay a monthly/annual licensing fee, would much rather purchase a standalone version. My current understanding of the issue below, can someone let me know if/what has changed and perhaps other alternatives I may not be aware of.

- Power Pivot is only offered in Office 365 E3/E4, through VL, and in the standalone Excel

Purchase Options:
1) License through 365 (nooooooo!!!!)
2) Obtain volume licensing, purchase 1 version of Office Professional, purchase 4 copies of another cheap software
3) Purchase Office Professional (stand alone) and well as Excel (stand alone)


Is my understanding correct? Has anyone gone through this exercise recently (I've not compared pricing yet), which option comes out cheaper?


Thanks in advance, cant believe MS has made it this challenging...The day I'm forced to license is the day I look into all available open source options.

 

[cyrilbrd]

Hi,
I am not sure about the lack of compatibility in between 2010 and 2013 as I am running both on my unit and so far so good.
2010 has the advantage of being a one time purchase, it is fully capable of handling PowerBI.
2013 is a bit more complex. Just to give you an idea, the Microsoft service center of Singapore was NOT capable of giving us a straight answer regarding the cost of 2013 Pro plus.
Hopefully someone here on the forum (Scott at Tiny Lizard) will have great insight about this...
This said it will mainly depend on what you are doing and planning to do.
One more thing, files created on 2013 64 bit are compatible with 2010 32 bit and with excel for mac 2011... again as I said earlier "so far so good".

 

[alansidman]

If you work for a company that sponsors the purchase of HUP, (I believe the full title is Home User Program), you can purchase Office Professional 2013 for approximately $10 US. Your company must be a participant in this MS program..

 

[FDibbins]

Alan, thanks for the reminder I applied for - and got - my HUP d/l approval for 2013, but them promptly forgot to do it

 

[bschulze]

Thanks cyrilbrd and alansidman. My understanding is that the underlying structure in 2010 and 2013 are different. If that's the case there are certainly going to be things that are not compatible, however I'm not certain what they are. I have known about the HUP for a couple of years now, what an excellent option for large businesses and there employees. Unfortunently, in this case, I own a small one employee business.

Anyone familiar with the best purchasing option in 2015?

 

[scottsen]

I feel you brother. Be sure to check the pinned post about making Power Pivot free for all. 2013 ... ugh.

So, first of all... as far as the BI stack, I can't think of much diff from 2010 and 2013... in terms of the core functionality. And I have NEVER had an issue upgrading a 2010 workbook to 2013 in terms of Power Pivot models.

2010 is honestly superior from a UI standpoint, and licensing standpoint. But I can certainly understand your desire to move to the latest. Heck, maybe having never seen 2010, the terrible UI in 2013 won't bother you

Unfortunately, your understanding of "ways to get Power Pivot for 2013" is completely correct. O365, Pro Plus (which is volume license only) and stand alone Excel (the last... you have to thank Rob @ Power Pivot Pro... for beating the crap out of msft until they gave in).

I'm not as anti- pay-a-year-fee as you are (though, I do forget what the cost would be for the appropriate tier of O365 to get you power pivot). The saving grace is it came w/ 5 licenses, so mom/dad/gma/bro all got their copies too which made the price reasonable.

 

[cyrilbrd]

Unfortunately, your understanding of "ways to get Power Pivot for 2013" is completely correct. O365, Pro Plus (which is volume license only) and stand alone Excel (the last... you have to thank Rob @ Power Pivot Pro... for beating the crap out of msft until they gave in).

Is it only here in Asia or is it a common situation that makes having a clear answer to the question "how much does it cost" a vast void of uncertainties on the side of the Microsoft Customer Service (Pro plus cost per se)? our It department was unable to get an OR for 2013 Pro Plus.

 

[scottsen]

Not sure. I mean, Pro Plus is only available through volume licensing, which I assume mean it tends to be negotiated by the number of seats and such. So, not horribly surprising.

It looks like https://products.office.com/en-us/business/office-365-proplus-business-software O365 Pro Plus is a thing? I don't recall that... but who knows, i'm too busy being frustrated by this fiasco. $12/mo for 5 licenses seems pretty fair to me.

 

[cyrilbrd]

...I'm too busy being frustrated by this fiasco...

 

[scottsen]

It looks like https://products.office.com/en-us/business/office-365-proplus-business-software O365 Pro Plus is a thing? I don't recall that... but who knows, i'm too busy being frustrated by this fiasco. $12/mo for 5 licenses seems pretty fair to me.

1 user, 5 devices. Still a fiasco