A few weeks ago, Microsoft officially revealed that Office 2013 licenses would be locked to just a single computer, so users whose computers broke down had no other option than to purchase a new license unless their systems were still under warranty.
Following intense criticism, the company has decided to change the new Office 2013 licensing terms to allow users to transfer the software from one computer to another under certain conditions.
The change is effective immediately and applies only to Office Home and Student 2013, Office Home and Business 2013, Office Professional 2013 and the standalone
Office 2013 applications.
“You may transfer the software to another computer that belongs to you, but not more than one time every 90 days (except due to hardware failure, in which case you may transfer sooner). If you transfer the software to another computer, that other computer becomes the ‘licensed computer,’” the new licensing terms
read.
“You may also transfer the software (together with the license) to a computer owned by someone else if a) you are the first licensed user of the software and b) the new user agrees to the terms of this agreement before the transfer. Any time you transfer the software to a new computer, you must remove the software from the prior computer and you may not retain any copies.”
Of course, Microsoft says that this change is based on customer feedback because “we’re listening to our customers and we’re grateful for the feedback behind this change.”
The good news is that Office 2013 licenses can now be transferred under the same terms as Office 2010, so consumers are allowed to move the license to another system once every 90 days.
In case you experience some sort of hardware issue and your computer is still under warranty, you can always contact Microsoft and move the license to a newly purchased system sooner.
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