Microsoft Vista isn’t the best operating system, but it still works and there is still life in it. Most computers running Vista have 1 GB of RAM or more, which is still more than enough to do what needs to be done in most cases. Yet the 2013 version of Office only supports Windows 7 and above. There are a few alternatives; Office 365, which requires internet connectivity, can be rented from Microsoft for $99 a year and ran through any modern web browser, or Internet Explorer 8 and above. Open Office is still available for any computer with 256 MB of RAM or more, and runs on Linux kernel 2.6 or higher, Mac OS X 10.4 or higher, or Windows XP or higher; extremely low requirements in comparison to Microsoft Office. There are also other Office alternatives such as LibreOffice which ships with Ubuntu.
The Mac OS X requirements are a bit higher, 512 MB of RAM in comparison to 256 MB, but you are hard pressed to find a Mac user with less than 512 MB in this day and age anyway. There is no definitive release date of Office 365 to Linux at all, though it is rumored to be available in 2014. There seems to be a lot of confusion because the web apps available through SkyDrive are accessible on Linux, including OneNote and Excel surveys.
If Microsoft is serious about getting people to pay for subscriptions to Office 365, they need to differentiate between the free Office Web Apps, and the features available through the paid subscription. Microsoft is hoping that they can use Office 2013 to push hardware sales of Windows 7 and Windows 8, but a lot of us are burnt out on paying Microsoft money. I paid for Windows Vista when I bought my hardware, I used a student version of 2007 to get Office onto my computer, but as I understand it, even if I had paid $200 for a legit copy of Office 2007, I would have been stuck with it as I am not interested in upgrading to Windows 7 or Windows 8. Do I pay another $200 for a Windows 8 computer, and then $200 on top of that for Office 2013?
Office 365 includes Publisher and Outlook, which aren’t available through Office Web Apps. This means that you can rent Office 365, create a document in Publisher, and access that document on up to five different computers with your Microsoft ID. Microsoft is also throwing in 20 GB of online storage, which should be enough for most people. An additional 20 GB of storage is only $10 per year anyway.
To make a long story, Vista users that rely on Office may find that Office 365 is their only way to enjoy the latest and greatest Microsoft Office has to offer. Why would you want to continue using Office 2010 when Office 2013 is out? Publisher online sounds great, but are you willing to pay $99 a year for it?
