The software business is changing, and for some people that's not good news. Instead of paying for a program once and upgrading only when needed, many companies require monthly or yearly fees with what they call "free" upgrades. Don't believe it. If you're not a serial upgrader, those "free" upgrades will cost you plenty.
I've used Microsoft Word 2007 for, well, 10 years, and it does everything I throw at it. I paid more than $100 to upgrade to the 2016 version, but none of the enhancements helped me write beyond my usual third-grade level. In fact, I'm writing this column on Word 2007, with the help of my regular stable of a dozen monkeys.
So, who benefits from subscription software? Let's put it this way: If a daily newspaper charges $50 for a license to read one edition a day for years, and that same newspaper decides to offer only daily subscriptions for $2 an issue, who comes out ahead?
The old software business model had consumers plunk down $50 for a financial-management program like Quicken. In that model, you received a license to use Quicken pretty much forever, typically on just one PC, or until you upgraded Windows, and the old version of Quicken was no longer compatible.
That upgrade to the next version of Windows is not cheap, either. But in an uncharacteristic act of magnanimity, Microsoft actually gave away the Windows 10 upgrade for a year. Now the upgrade from earlier versions of Windows costs $120. And get this: If your PC is more than three years old, you may lose some functions the newest operating system has to offer. So, tack on $500 or so for a new PC just to run an upgraded version of Windows that you might not need.
Apple updates its operating system every year for free. Apple includes word-processing and music, video and photo editing programs for free, too. Upgrades to those programs also are free. How do they make any money with that business model? I just spent more than $2,000 on the latest iMac, when I could have bought a similar Windows PC for less than half that price. Hint: They make their money from their hardware, which I think is better than the hardware on many Windows PCs.
I've compiled a list of common home and office software, and how manufacturers have their eye on your wallet.
Microsoft has a typical subscription model. You pay $100 a year to use Office 2016 for Windows on as many as five PCs. For that price you get updates as they are released. You don't actually install Office on your PC. The programs rest in the cloud, as do your documents and spreadsheets, if you choose. If your household has only one PC, you can spend as little as $8 a month. Uh, that's $96 a year for one user as compared with $100 for five. If you want to actually buy Office, plan to spend at least $150 for a basic version you actually install on your hard drive. The Professional version, which has the features of the $100 per year subscription version, costs about $350 on a DVD. But at that price, unlike the cloud version, you have to pay for upgrades. If money is tight, check out OpenOffice, an excellent (and free) office suite that can be downloaded at www.openoffice.org/download/.
Parallels, a program that lets you run Windows side-by-side with a Mac, just went to the new business model. You can either buy the software (with "free" upgrades) for $80 a year _ or you can buy the program for $80 and upgrade every year for $50. Parallels comes out with an upgrade every year. There are useful tweaks in the software such as increased speed, and last year's Parallels may not be compatible with the latest Mac operating system. I did the math: If you buy the software without upgrades, and you upgrade every year anyway, you'd spend $180 after three years. If you by the version with free upgrades, after three years, you'll have spent $240. What a deal.
Quicken, the home and small business financial software, just this year changed its fees. You used to be able to simply buy the program for a set fee of between $35 and $130. Now, you pay from $35 a year for the Starter Edition to $100 a year for the Home, Business and Rental version. Those prices include "free" upgrades as they're released.
QuickBooks, the more powerful business accounting software, charges $10 to $50 a month, depending on the complexity of your business. Add-ons, such as one that handle payrolls, cost $40 to $100 a month. The non-subscription prices of QuickBooks range from $300 to $2,500.
Adobe is a pioneer in monthly and yearly fees. Photoshop, which professional photographers and ambitious amateurs use, costs $20 a month. If you want the entire catalog of Adobe products, including Lightroom, InDesign (which some newspapers use to design their pages) and Illustrator, plan on paying $50 a month. If you're a student or teacher (and can prove it), you'll pay only $20 a month for that package. Adobe Acrobat Reader, which lets you view universal pdf files, is still free.
Norton Anti-virus programs have been around for decades. It's been many years since I bought the program alone. These days, you'll pay between $50 and $110 a year for the latest anti-virus software for both Windows and Mac computers. This is one case where I don't mind paying a yearly fee, because malicious software is something you never want on your hard drive. Norton tries be a step or two ahead of hackers, and it notifies you on your monitor when it quarantines malware and ransomware. All versions are constantly updating virus definitions in the background. The higher-priced version lets you install the software on up to 10 PCs and other devices, including Macs, and includes free tech support. The software is often on sale at deep discounts.
If you want to learn Chinese or dozens of other languages, Rosetta Stone charges $250 for a 24-month subscription.
Dashlane, my choice for password managers, has a very limited free version, but the Pro version, with unlimited password capacity, charges $29 a year for storing those passwords on their servers. Like other subscription password managers, Dashlane "learns" your passwords and fills them in automatically. The Pro version also generates complicated passwords, such as ^87&3()(ASTERISK)!?>, that are difficult, but not impossible to hack.
Backup services, such as Carbonite, SugarSync, Dropbox and Acronis, all charge yearly fees for their services, starting at $60 for Carbonite and up to the hundreds of dollars for the rest.
I've only touched the surface of subscription software, which has become a reliable revenue stream for companies that worry about people like me, who pay once to use perfectly good software for 10 years.
