I currently use MS Office 2007 Home & Student (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, OneNote), the version which covers 3 installs so I have it on my desktop and my laptop, and also on my Mrs' desktop.
 
I do NOT want to go subscription option as I don't use Office enough at home to validate that ongoing expense, nor do I need the cloud integration - I'd rather just buy the one-time purchase and use it for the next 5-7 years or so, as I have done with Office 2007.
 
I don't need the Professional version either (adds Outlook, Access and Publisher).
 
Both Office 2016 and 2019 are going to have support expire at the same time - in 2025. Yes they are ending 2019 support early instead of the traditional 10 years, which many seem to think is because Office 2019 will likely be the last ever one-time purchase option, and MS will only offer subscription after that. The point is, there is no advantage getting Office 2019 in regard to support and security updates.
 
What really annoys me is that Office 2016 covers installation on one desktop, one tablet and one phone (presumably windows o/s phone).. and NOT for a laptop. Likely this is a money grab by MS in an attempt to push users onto subscription model and/or Windows tablets/phones, since many people have a desktop and a laptop. There is a way around it by deregistering the desktop and registering the laptop and then back again every time you want to use it, but that is a pita and means carrying around the install code and possibly having to phone up to validate it etc etc.
 
So my options are buy Office 2016 Home & Student now for $149, or wait and see if they even offer Office 2019 Home & Student outside of subscription (Office 2019 Business is already out on trial basis, but for business only, no retail home versions have been announced). The 2019 version has a few updates from 2016, but nothing earth-shattering. I would probably just leave my laptop and my Mrs' desktop on Office 2007 as neither of those use Office very often.
 
Why upgrade at all? I do use Office quite a bit on my desktop, and I am concerned at losing security updates, and this may be the last chance for the one-time purchase option before everything moves to subscription. $149 is a reasonable price imho.
 

@nereus: PM me if you have some time regarding this thread

XrayMan
 
I like my 2016.

Yes but some people prefer different versions. I believe I can help out Nereus if he contacts me.

You should go with a productivity office suite you are comfortable with whether free or paid. In Europe and especially in Germany unused Microsoft licenses can be resold under a court ruling. So you can find legitimate keys for far less than retail.

Nereus

rjohnson11
@nereus: PM me if you have some time regarding this thread

Thank you so much!


 

Glad I could be of help

as far as security updates - keep your OS updated and use anti malware software
 
I like Malwarebytes Premium, for the real time coverage - (there is a free version also)

Cool GTX
as far as security updates - keep your OS updated and use anti malware software
 
I like Malwarebytes Premium, for the real time coverage - (there is a free version also)

 
I have Norton Security and MalwareBytes - I was lucky to get the MalwareBytes Pro Lifetime license when I purchased it almost exactly 5 years ago. :)
 
 

XrayMan

rjohnson11

Nereus

rjohnson11
@nereus: PM me if you have some time regarding this thread

Thank you so much! 

Glad I could be of help

Wonder what the outcome of that conversation went?      

VERY kindly offered 2016 Pro, however I had some problems with Outlook 2016 being unable to sync with Google Calendar (you can view a snapshot of Google calendar, but you can't update or add new items to it through Outlook), and since I use Google Calendar extensively and have a number of others hooked up with mine, it was impractical to switch to Office calendar for that. There are 3rd party apps that can work around it by uploading calendar items to the cloud separately then converting and downloading again, but that's becoming too convoluted, and issues occurred with all 'all day' calendar items on one app changing to cover 2 days in another for some reason, and there were also issues with address book formatting and a few little things like that, although email was fine. Unfortunately with 2016 Pro when you install it's 'all or nothing', unlike earlier versions where you could choose which parts of Office you wanted to install.
 
Strangely enough, the basic mail and calendar apps that come bundled with Windows 10 have no such issue.. so I can only presume this 'problem' is intentional by MS to get people to switch everything over to their ecosystem. More than a little annoying, but not surprising behavior from MS.
 
Very much appreciated RJohnson11's generous offer though.
 
Looking at Office 2016 Home & Student since that doesn't include Outlook (or Access or Publisher etc).
 
   

 
Very!
 

EyeDeeNo

rjohnson11
You should go with a productivity office suite you are comfortable with whether free or paid. In Europe and especially in Germany unused Microsoft licenses can be resold under a court ruling. So you can find legitimate keys for far less than retail.

By whom or what platform would unused legitimate keys be sold?
 
I did a quick look and found this
https://www.key1024.com/buy-microsoft-office-home-student-2016-product-key-cheap-price.html
 
Is Key1024 safe? 
 
Edit: This being able to sell keys is probably the reason or part of it why Micro$oft is push users onto subscription based model. Like I want to rent software to make or view my own documents that have nothing to do with a business?
 

That key site looks legit

Yeah the limitation of Office 2016 on one computer is definitely annoying. Luckily I got a copy for free through my college while I was able to grab it. Consider trying OpenOffice or LibreOffice if all you need is docx, xlsx, etc editing support. I don't recommend people purchase the full office suite if all they do is lightweight document writing. Also keep in mind you can freely edit office documents at http://office.com online from any device, just login with your Microsoft account.

Sometimes it is a challenge to find a valid legal key but they do exist. 

By what do you mean?
I used the My Office app to input and activate so the key is linked to MS account.

Why upgrade, I only have 365 because i got it for free, before that I was still happily using Office 2000 Professional, which does not require activation of any kind