Microsoft doles out Office Long Term Servicing Channel for cloud refuseniks
(2021/09/17)
- Reference: 1631908624
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/09/17/office_ltsc/
- Source link:
Microsoft has grudgingly admitted that not everyone will want to ascend to its cloud with the [1]Long Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) version of its Office cash cow.
Earlier this year, the Windows behemoth [2]announced that it was axing the length of support. No longer would customers enjoy decade-long delight. Instead, support would last for just five years, in line with Windows.
The release of this perpetual version is for commercial and government customers. The consumer version, Office 2021, will turn up on 5 October and likely be drowned out by users realising their PCs won't run Microsoft's latest version of Windows because OEMs want the gravy train to keep rolling of more stringent hardware requirements aimed at improving the user experience.
[3]
While Microsoft was not shy in banging on about the benefits of the cloud in its post, it admitted: "We also know some customers aren't ready to move to the cloud."
[4]WTF? Microsoft makes fixing deadly OMIGOD flaws on Azure your job
[5]Microsoft's Azure Virtual Desktop now works without Active Directory – but there are caveats
[6]The age of the Service Pack is over. The time of the Modern Servicing Model has come
[7]OpenSilver throws Microsoft Silverlight devs a lifeline as end of support looms – or you could forget it ever happened
Indeed they aren't. Regulated environments can't handle the frequency of Microsoft's updates and not every device can be plugged into the internet. For those scenarios, there is the "locked-in-time" version of the productivity suite.
Microsoft added that this was not to be the last in the LTSC line, although it remains keen for customers to move to Microsoft 365.
[8]
Incidentally, the Windows maker is currently [9]being sued in UK courts over its licensing practices. UK-based perpetual licence reseller ValueLicensing has alleged Microsoft has been urging customers to surrender perpetual licences in favour of Microsoft 365 subscriptions via some distinctly anticompetitive contract terms.
Still, for companies that don't give a fig about Microsoft's cloud and simply want to pay once, the LTSC edition remains an option. Even if support will not last quite as long as it once did. ®
Get our [10]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2021/09/16/office-ltsc-is-now-generally-available/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/19/office_ltsc/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YUUQGvbhkQsO3sTI7B89UwAAAEk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/17/microsoft_manual_omigod_fixes/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/16/azure_virtual_desktop_ad/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/16/final_sql_service_pack/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/16/opensilver_silverlight/
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YUUQGvbhkQsO3sTI7B89UwAAAEk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/26/microsoft_valuelicensing_hearing_date_2022/
[10] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Earlier this year, the Windows behemoth [2]announced that it was axing the length of support. No longer would customers enjoy decade-long delight. Instead, support would last for just five years, in line with Windows.
The release of this perpetual version is for commercial and government customers. The consumer version, Office 2021, will turn up on 5 October and likely be drowned out by users realising their PCs won't run Microsoft's latest version of Windows because OEMs want the gravy train to keep rolling of more stringent hardware requirements aimed at improving the user experience.
[3]
While Microsoft was not shy in banging on about the benefits of the cloud in its post, it admitted: "We also know some customers aren't ready to move to the cloud."
[4]WTF? Microsoft makes fixing deadly OMIGOD flaws on Azure your job
[5]Microsoft's Azure Virtual Desktop now works without Active Directory – but there are caveats
[6]The age of the Service Pack is over. The time of the Modern Servicing Model has come
[7]OpenSilver throws Microsoft Silverlight devs a lifeline as end of support looms – or you could forget it ever happened
Indeed they aren't. Regulated environments can't handle the frequency of Microsoft's updates and not every device can be plugged into the internet. For those scenarios, there is the "locked-in-time" version of the productivity suite.
Microsoft added that this was not to be the last in the LTSC line, although it remains keen for customers to move to Microsoft 365.
[8]
Incidentally, the Windows maker is currently [9]being sued in UK courts over its licensing practices. UK-based perpetual licence reseller ValueLicensing has alleged Microsoft has been urging customers to surrender perpetual licences in favour of Microsoft 365 subscriptions via some distinctly anticompetitive contract terms.
Still, for companies that don't give a fig about Microsoft's cloud and simply want to pay once, the LTSC edition remains an option. Even if support will not last quite as long as it once did. ®
Get our [10]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2021/09/16/office-ltsc-is-now-generally-available/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/19/office_ltsc/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YUUQGvbhkQsO3sTI7B89UwAAAEk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/17/microsoft_manual_omigod_fixes/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/16/azure_virtual_desktop_ad/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/16/final_sql_service_pack/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/16/opensilver_silverlight/
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YUUQGvbhkQsO3sTI7B89UwAAAEk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/26/microsoft_valuelicensing_hearing_date_2022/
[10] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Doctor Syntax
For those scenarios, there is the "locked-in-time" version of the productivity suite.
For those scenarios there's also LibreOffice. I wonder how much that weighed on Microsoft's decision making.
Being online isn't ubiquitous.
There are places that either can't get a stable signal, can't get any signal at all, or otherwise can't get an "always on" internet connection. How do you propose those folks get to your cloudy based offerings? Because unless you're willing to pay for an ISP to lay physical fiber to the home, you can't *guarantee* that the customer will ever get such a connection. Terrain features may prevent anything short of a satelite uplink to work worth a darn. Even if they can get a cell signal, the only data-allowing-ISP they can get may be a pay-by-the-bit price gouging company like Comcast or Verizon. You need to accept that not *everyone* can get/afford an always-on connection. For those people they *have* to have an entirely offline software package. Not one that waits for a connection then tries to ram a Tb or more of data down the pipe, but an only-if-explicitly-allowed-to-do-so trickle-feed an uplink at all. And you need to accept that not everyone appreciates the forced telemetry. Some of us have even refused to touch any recent version of the OS because of it. We're certainly not going to install a supposedly offline software package if it later turns out to try & drill a (security) hole through our firewalls so it can talk to the MS HQ.
They are *our* computers, not yours. It's *our* data, not yours. You refuse to treat us like appreciated customers & let us dictate if/when we go online, if/when to talk to MS HQ, & what/if anything to send your way. The forced updates, telemetry, & "like it or not, bend over & take it" attitude is losing you those of us that used to champion for you. We refuse to support you, refuse to reccommend you, and sure as hell try to get everyone that will listen to avoid you like the plague. And you only have yourselves to blame...