On Monday, Adobe announced that it would discontinue making future stand-alone versions of its popular Creative Suite software products in favor of its cloud-based Creative Cloud subscription software service. Today, Microsoft has given its opinion on Adobe"s move and it"s a little surprising.
In a post on the official Office blog, Microsoft stated that the company is already moving towards a cloud subscription business model for its software, including Office 365, while still providing stand-alone Office 2013 packages. On the other hand, Microsoft thinks that the cloud subscription model may not be palatable for every customer. It states:
However, unlike Adobe, we think people"s shift from packaged software to subscription services will take time. Within a decade, we think everyone will choose to subscribe because the benefits are undeniable. In the meantime, we are committed to offering choice--premier software sold as a package and powerful services sold as a subscription.
The message is that Microsoft would love for everyone to simply sign up and pay for a yearly subscription to Office 365, but it also knows that there are lots of software users who just want to buy a DVD or download code, install the software and be done with it.
Microsoft does add in its blog post that since the launch of both Office 365 Home Premium and Office 365 University in late January, it has seen over a quarter of its consumers buy the Office 365 subscription service over the stand alone Office software which it says has exceeded its expectations. The blog said. "So, perhaps the shift is happening faster than we originally thought, and Adobe is helping blaze the trail."
Source: Microsoft | Image via Adobe