The cheaper PKC copies of Office 2013 soften the sting of Microsoft's price increases for the suite: It bumped up prices of a single license as much as 17% when compared to 2010's PKC prices. But the full-priced versions, called 'Full Packaged Product,' or FPP, by the company, could be reassigned.įPP versions vanished with the debut of Office 2013. Office 2010 PKCs had the same limitations, Microsoft said in attempt to convince customers that it had not really changed the Office license with 2013. Office 2013 licenses are permanently tied to a specific PC, and cannot be reassigned to another machine unless that PC conks out during its warranty period.Ī's marketing materials, for instance, labeled the Office 2013 license as a 'one-time purchase for the life of your PC non-transferrable.' There's also no difference between the full-priced and PKC versions on the rights their licenses grant.Īs Microsoft pointed out Tuesday in a blog post, all Office 2013 versions have adopted the more restrictive rights that first showed up in Office 2010's PKCs. (No retail edition of Office 2013 comes with a DVD or other physical installation media, a Microsoft Store sales representative confirmed today.) That's the same way, more or less, that buyers acquire Office from Microsoft's online store or at Amazon, where they plunk down money and then download the suite. That still holds true: Major OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) such as Hewlett-Packard and Lenovo include Office trials on their new machines.īut PKCs can also be used to activate a copy downloaded directly from Microsoft's website. The idea was that customers would evaluate Office using the trial, then pay for - and activate - the suite with the 25-character key code purchased on a PKC. PKCs were intended to provide a way for users to obtain a working copy of Office on a new PC that had a trial version of Office pre-installed. The PKC and standard versions of each edition are identical, although the means customers acquire Office may differ. As a PKC, Professional runs $360, a $40 - and 10% savings - from the full price of $400. A PKC of Home & Business sells on Amazon for $190, or $30 off the $220 list price, for a 14% discount. There are similar savings for PKCs of Office 2013 Home & Business and Office 2013 Professional, the other, more application-packed editions sold at retail or by Microsoft.

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