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Microsoft Office 2013 license terms changed to allow PC switching

Microsoft Office 2013 license terms changed to allow PC switching

By Anupam Saxena | Updated: 7 March 2013 19:32 IST

Microsoft has changed terms of the license agreement for the latest version of its office suite, Office 2013, allowing users to transfer licenses between different PCs. Citing consumer feedback, Microsoft has changed the license terms for the retail versions of Office 2013, including for Office Home and Student 2013, Office Home and Business 2013, and Office Professional 2013, keeping them in line with license terms for Office 2010.

Microsoft had initially mentioned that it was not possible to transfer the Office license to another computer or user. However, after protests from users, the company had clarified that the license could be transferred in cases where the users' computer failed under warranty. The same was explained by Microsoft on the Office blog, a few days ago as there was a lot of user backlash because of the ambiguity in the terms.

Now Microsoft has changed the terms altogether, stating that users will be able to install and transfer their Office 2013 license on a new device on a condition that there's a gap of 90 days between the two installations or even before that if there's a hardware failure.

Microsoft announced the new terms with a formal statement on its blog:

"Based on customer feedback we have changed the Office 2013 retail license agreement to allow customers to move the software from one computer to another. This means customers can transfer Office 2013 to a different computer if their device fails or they get a new one. Previously, customers could only transfer their Office 2013 software to a new device if their PC failed under warranty.

While the licensing agreement text accompanying Office 2013 software will be updated in future releases, this change is effective immediately and applies to Office Home and Student 2013, Office Home and Business 2013, Office Professional 2013 and the standalone Office 2013 applications. With this change, customers can move the software to another computer once every 90 days. These terms are identical to those found in the Office 2010 software."

However, it's worth noting that the subscription based version of the office suite, Office 365 allows users to install the software on 5 different devices, without any limitations.

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