Computer help

[Chuck Nessa]

So, my mac died a few weeks ago and luckily my back-up drive reloaded into my new machine perfectly.
All has been working well for about 10 days. The old mac had "Office" loaded and worked ok. This morning I had an automatic Office update. The update disabled all my office files and offered me a new subscription service. i can't even edit old files. 

Question - if I delete the new "office" from my drive and import the old one from my back-up, will it work?

[lipi]

In all likelihood, no. The copy protection scheme checks what hardware it's running on. If the machine is too different from the one it was originally installed on, it does not allow the software to run.

FWIW, Google Docs will import Microsoft Office files and let you work on them. If your documents aren't too crazy complicated, it'll work just fine.

[Dave Garrett]

Microsoft, along with Adobe and other major software purveyors, has moved toward the subscription-based model in recent years, irritating many of us who don't require the latest and greatest versions every time a major update is issued and find the older one-time-purchase versions continue to work just fine. Of course they love it because it ensures an ongoing revenue stream from every licensed user. 

You might want to consider one of the open-source competitor packages available for free download, such as OpenOffice or LibreOffice, both of which are available in Mac OS X-compatible versions. Both are compatible with MS Office documents and file format, with certain caveats.

OpenOffice

LibreOffice

[Chuck Nessa]

Good idea only if Microsoft hadn't locked my old version. I can't edit Word docs or spread sheets.

[lipi]

2 hours ago, Chuck Nessa said:

Good idea only if Microsoft hadn't locked my old version. I can't edit Word docs or spread sheets.

It didn't lock your files--it just prevents you from running MS Office apps. You can still open, edit, etc. your files using the alternatives we suggested Google Docs & Sheets, OpenOffice, LibreOffice.

Or, for that matter, you can open all of them in the default Apple applications for this purpose: Pages for Word docs, Numbers for Excel docs, Keynote for PowerPoint docs.

[jlhoots]

Oy vey!!!

[ejp626]

I got so fed up with the subscription approach that I did download LibreOffice and use it from time to time. 

It also happens that we have some sweetheart deal through work to get MS Office each year for $12, so in a few weeks I'll probably buckle under and just order that.  (There's actually another legacy software that I use (MS Office Document Imaging) that doesn't play nice with LibreOffice.)

[Dave Garrett]

7 hours ago, ejp626 said:

It also happens that we have some sweetheart deal through work to get MS Office each year for $12, so in a few weeks I'll probably buckle under and just order that.  (There's actually another legacy software that I use (MS Office Document Imaging) that doesn't play nice with LibreOffice.)

That would be Microsoft's Home Use Program (HUP), and it's definitely the best deal for Office if you're eligible. Companies that have a Microsoft enterprise software license and opt in to the HUP can offer dirt-cheap copies of Office to their employees for installation onto a home computer. Technically, you're not supposed to continue using software purchased via the HUP if you leave the company, but in practice I don't think this is actually enforced (although this may have changed since the subscription model gained traction - it's been several years since I last had to deal with Microsoft enterprise licenses on a regular basis). 

I despise the subscription model, but I'm about to have to grit my teeth and get an Office 365 subscription in response to some recent business requirements. 

On 12/16/2017 at 4:04 PM, lipi said:

It didn't lock your files--it just prevents you from running MS Office apps. You can still open, edit, etc. your files using the alternatives we suggested Google Docs & Sheets, OpenOffice, LibreOffice.

Or, for that matter, you can open all of them in the default Apple applications for this purpose: Pages for Word docs, Numbers for Excel docs, Keynote for PowerPoint docs.

Chuck, I'd only add that if you do decide to try one of these alternatives, you may have to change the file associations if you want to continue being able to just double-click the file to open it, otherwise your Mac will still try to use Office to open them, putting you right back where you started. As lipi points out, you can always open the files from within the alternative application, if you don't mind going to the File > Open menu option (or something similar) instead of double-clicking the file icons. 

Here's a step-by-step guide to changing file associations in OS X:

Change File Associations in Mac OS X