I have ms Office on my desktop, do I really need to pay monthly fee in order to use it on my surface?

[Jkacinski]

Ms surface and MS Office

 

[TechyInAZ]

It depends on what version of office your using. If your using office 365, then you will have to pay a monthly fee no matter what, BUT the good side is that you can put it on up to 5 devices for that same price.

 

[photonboy]

Note that "Office 365" is subscription based (currently using Office 2016), whereas "Office 2016" is standalone.

If you had Office 2010 on your desktop I assume it's not a subscription. i bought a serial that supported THREE computers with that.

MS Surface is simply another computer, so how this works depends on:

1) Is Office subscription or not?

2) How many PC's are supported with your license?

Other:
You can also shop around. If you don't need Outlook you can find codes for Office 2016 Home & Student 2016 (I don't deal with subscription models).

I bought Outlook 2016 for $70 Canadian ($50 USD?) by shopping around for legit codes. I only need the e-mail application. I use the free LibreOffice for word processing.

 

[why_wolf]

nope. I'm using an old 2010 office on mine right now. Microsoft is just pushing the subscription based Office 365 hard (its the one they offer for free in the Surface bundles). As Phontonboy said you can find the Home&Student 2016 version in a standalone packaging still, often on sale too. So that will get you the most up to date version of Office with better DPI adjustment than older Office has (my 2010 has a small UI on my Pro4).

That all said the standalone 2016 package is likely to be the last standalone Office package they will sell. So if you don't need full outlook it would probably be a good idea to just buy it anyways so you're not half a decade behind.

Oh also the stand alone package is one computer only. While the 365 package is 5 computers at once.

 

[Alabalcho]

If memory serves me correct, Office up until version 2013 allow for primary plus secondary installation by same user (that is, primary installation onto desktop, secondary onto a laptop), using same product key (that's the way I am using my 2010 version).

This policy got abandoned in 2016 version, so if this is the version OP is using, he/she must acquire separate license (whether 2016 or 365) for the Surface.

 

[Ralston18]

I also use Office 365 and have it installed on 5 systems throughout the family.

Full disclosure: Overall I am not real happy with "leasing" software per se but the end results have been good for everyone here.

And economically, to date, the ROI (Return on Investment) is acceptable.

If MS raises the costs or otherwise tinkers with the plan, I may reconsider my subscription and try some other option.