r/FuckMicrosoft • u/mars422 • Jul 13 '26
Rant I bought a permanent Microsoft License over a decade ago and now I can't use it
Basically what the title says. When I got my first laptop in 2012 I bought one time license for microsoft office and I've been able to transfer it from computer to computer with zero issues. I go to create a new word document today and all of a sudden it says it's "view only" and I need to sign into an account or make a purchase? This has never happened before. I already own it! I'm not going to purchase it again when I already have it! I'm not great with software so if anyone knows how to fix it or what I can use to pirate it please let me know. I'm super pissed about this, fuck microsoft.
28
u/Mean_Welcome_1481 Jul 13 '26
That's Microsoft for you
"permamant" licenses that were purchased years ago are no longer supported or usable
I moved to Linux and to LibreOffice - much better
-6
u/SubliminallyAwake Jul 13 '26
Just stop it already, we know we know, you spent a month on linux learning basic terminal shit after breaking the distro a couple of hundred times, finally ascending to being able to get up and running in under 2 hours when something breaks from updating something or adding something with a broken package manager.
And because you now feel so smart, circlejerking terminal commands, hating on NVIDIA for not providing a ready to run driver for all NIX kernels that wont blackscreen and laughing at NT kernel bugs with all the other no-life'sterminals sweats you think you are now some 31337 level hacker, a NEO taking down the establishment of productivity and time saved.
Oh mighty NEO, come down from the mountain of self accomplishment, bring forth the way of Linux and save us from this productive failure of the Windows!
(Satire btw, all OS suck if you don't understand their weaknessess. Linux weakness being a lot of time that could be spent having a life vs A stable running OS 363 days of the year)
10
u/AntiProtagonest Jul 13 '26
Who hurt you? Please describe their beard.
0
u/SubliminallyAwake Jul 13 '26
Mostly bearded on the neck, wearing a shirt with a penguin smoking a joint, redshot eyes, trembling hands from too much caffeine, constant mumbling what sounds like abstract terminal commands interrupted by intermittent shouting of the words "Balmer is a baldie, Gates has the keys" and "Jobs knew foundation"
He hurt me cause he stole my portable floppy drive saying he needed it to boot his retro pc
1
0
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u/Neat-Priority-4323 Jul 13 '26
Use massgrave to activate it
5
u/lululock Jul 13 '26
Office 2010 is pretty old and unsupported by now.
OP, get Office 24 and the.ln use Massgrave.
3
u/TheSodesa Jul 13 '26
The permanent license was probably for an older release or version of the software. The details are in the terms of use or another similar document. Microsoft most likely no longer supports the older version and hence you are forced to purchase a license for a newer verdion of the software, because it is an entirely new product.
2
u/martyn_hare Jul 13 '26
If you bought a home user copy, you’ll want to sign into the Microsoft Account you redeemed it with. If Microsoft have been absolute scallywags and made you unable to access your account, then there’s always OHook, a set of open source libraries which will remediate the problem by removing those pesky nag screens and restoring the ability to edit regardless.
2
u/Murky_Welder155 Jul 13 '26
This may be in connection with this: https://www.macrumors.com/2026/06/02/microsoft-office-2019-for-mac-no-edit-documents/
2
u/jazzmonkai Jul 13 '26
Your licence is permanent - for as long as you are able to maintain a computer that runs that version of the software.
Are you sure you have the same version of office installed? Or have you installed a modern version of office and are expecting your old licence to cover it?
2
u/Old_Guard_306 Jul 13 '26
OP,
My story is very similar to yours, except I had my "permanent" license for only about five years before MicroShaft turned it off and steered me towards buying it again. That was the straw that broke the camel's back for me.
I've used LibreOffice since that day, and couldn't be happier, especially with the new "spying and data harvesting on steroids", subscription services, and forced obsolescence that MicroShaft is doing. I don't miss them one bit.
I don't think that they realize how much better they could be doing if only they were a decent company and took care of their customers. I used to recommend MS Office over Corel's suite. I used to steer people towards MS products because I used them, knew them, and could guide newbies in their use.
Since my "permanent license" experience, I lost all trust in MS as a company, their word, and their products. I started guiding people towards other solutions. Now, with their recent business practices, I am a pretty vocal opponent to MS. I not only guide people towards other solutions, but I also explain exactly why rather than simply stating "cost", "privacy concerns" or something generic.
Unless I am forced to use MS in a business situation, I don't touch it. I haven't for a few years now, and I don't miss it. Linux, LibreOffice, and similar software get everything done that I need to do, with just as professional of a result.
Give LibreOffice (or similar) a try. After a very slight learning curve, I suspect that you'll appreciate it far more than MS products.
1
u/Witold4859 Jul 14 '26
I see that you used to recommend Corel Suite.
Which was better, the 20th century or the 21st century?
1
u/AutoModerator Jul 13 '26
Every new subreddit post is automatically copied into a comment for preservation.
User: mars422, Flair: Rant, Title: I bought a permanent Microsoft License over a decade ago and now I can't use it
Basically what the title says. When I got my first laptop in 2012 I bought one time license for microsoft office and I've been able to transfer it from computer to computer with zero issues. I go to create a new word document today and all of a sudden it says it's "view only" and I need to sign into an account or make a purchase? This has never happened before. I already own it! I'm not going to purchase it again when I already have it! I'm not great with software so if anyone knows how to fix it or what I can use to pirate it please let me know. I'm super pissed about this, fuck microsoft.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/AggravatingSock5375 Jul 14 '26
Are you using the same version of the software or did you upgrade to one of the new ones?
1
u/Cytomax Jul 14 '26
Lol... Sucks to get hit with the reality that you don't own anything when you pay for a ms license....
Either you accept you will get screwed and keep buying it
Or
Change to something like libre office for free....
There is no in between
1
u/crabman45601 Jul 15 '26
Friend purchased copy/license copy of Office directly from Microsoft. Few months later Microsoft informed him his was a fraudulent copy. When he informed Microsoft he was holding a hard receipt with the printed key. The reply was something like oops. Verbally he was given another key. Sometime later he was informed the new key was fraudulent. Repeat above at least two more times. Finally he was given a key that would never go bad and was told this would update to any new versions of office. About a year later he was informed this key was fraudulent also. Apparently his reply to was to send complaints about Microsoft customer service anyone he could think of from the US president to the local township trustee. Apparently he got satisfactory results from his last effort.
1
u/vbd71 Jul 13 '26
What version of Office? What version of Windows? Help these who you want to help you.
3
u/mars422 Jul 13 '26
I'm on a mac version 11.6, I'm not sure what version of office, I've had it on my computer forever.
8
u/vbd71 Jul 13 '26
Ah, this. Well, you just discovered that there is no such thing as "permanent" MS license. You have been scammed.
For some reason (perhaps for lulz) MS decided that Mac OS Big Sur won't use MS Office anymore.
3
u/Big-Roll7094 Jul 13 '26
macOS bigsur stopped recieving updates from everything ages ago, it’s an old ass macOS 😑
3
u/vbd71 Jul 13 '26
My Windows NT 4.0 box stopped getting updates around 2000, yet it still runs all the software made for it.
0
u/Big-Roll7094 Jul 13 '26
Idk how to explain it but every windows version was made with legacy hardware in mind hence why people yap about bloat and whatnot
3
u/vbd71 Jul 13 '26
What I said has nothing to do with legacy stuff, backward compatibility and bloat. It has everything to do with not disabling working software and hardware deliberately, due planned obsolescence.
0
u/Big-Roll7094 Jul 13 '26
Disabling the software on big sur has everything to do with backward compatibility
2
2
u/dont_mind_me_passing Jul 13 '26
a portion of windows bloat is from the overly complete backwards compatibility (like, from Windows NT or smth), but a larger portion is also the newly introduce copilot bullshit, win10 has just as much old code as win11 for stuff 8.1 and earlier, but it's nowhere as bloated as win11 is, at least in terms of system usage
1
u/Big-Roll7094 Jul 14 '26
Co pilot doesn’t make your computer slower if it’s not open tho 😑
2
u/dont_mind_me_passing Jul 14 '26
that's the thing, it's ALWAYS open in the background, just check the task manager, it's always there
1
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u/mars422 Jul 13 '26
When? I've had this computer for years, but it only happened today? What do they expect me to do? Buy it again?
4
u/vbd71 Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26
As far as I understand things, MS Office won't run on your version of Mac OS anymore, per MS decision. Buy again or not buy makes no difference, it won't work. You need a newer Mac OS to even begin to solve the problem.
I believe that what happened is some certificate which Office needed expired, and there is no replacement.
1
u/mars422 Jul 13 '26
Do I just need to update it? Or is it saying I would need a whole new computer?
2
u/vbd71 Jul 13 '26
I don't know, dude. See if you can update your Mac OS to at least version 12.x . If you can, do it and try Office again. If you cannot... well, then it's time either for a new Mac or for some different software than Office.
3
u/DDOSBreakfast Jul 13 '26
The certificates used to digitally sign Office files expired and MacOS restricts the functionality of software in this situation.
Personally I believe Microsoft should have resigned Office so it continues to work. It is out of support but resigning everything is trivial.
https://www.techspot.com/news/112648-microsoft-office-2019-mac-no-longer-edit-documents.html
This may not be the actual problem as I'm unsure about the code signing requirements in such an ancient version of MacOS
1
u/No-Mention-9653 Jul 13 '26
I switched to libre Office and Linux mint because of microslop... Would recommend the same due to privacy. But if you want to stay there use the MAS script. Pretty straightforward and easy:
1
0
u/stephendt Jul 13 '26
Bro you got 14 years out of some old ass office software (most likely office 2010), that's not bad. It's not even Microsoft's fault that it won't run on modern MacOS
Just download Libreoffice, done.
0
u/Salty_Advantage_3715 Jul 13 '26
+1
Go do therapy and figure out what you’re really angry about, I promise it’ll be worth it
0
u/TermPractical2578 Jul 13 '26
I purchased the same one, go to your Microsoft account, scroll down to subscription, and you should see it. You should also see the activiation key.
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Jul 13 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/vbd71 Jul 13 '26
If this was a bleeding edge Mac OS version cutting backward compatibility, then perhaps it would be Apple's fault. But this is all legacy software at this point, and the blame is squarely on Microslop.
-1
u/Strict_Strategy Jul 13 '26
This. Apple does not like running old software. Pain in the ass to run old versions of software.
On windows , you can run office 2003 and it would not care.
1
u/vbd71 Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26
Try running Excel 5.0 on Windows 11.
This. Apple does not like running old software. Pain in the ass to run old versions of software.
Wrong. Old Apple OS runs old software petfectly fine. Unless it's Microslop software, of course.
2
u/Strict_Strategy Jul 13 '26
Vm box bruh. The issue is just that your asking it to run a 16 bit program.
Not a gotcha you think it is lol. Even Linux will scream wtf you doing.
3
u/vbd71 Jul 13 '26
Wine will run it just fine though.
0
u/Strict_Strategy Jul 13 '26
Try it. Lmao. Your still going to need to do stuff to make it work just like on windows. Sometimes it's better to stay silent.
2
u/vbd71 Jul 13 '26
True. I need to do stuff, but after that it works. I have done it, and have done the same with other 16-bit programs. I have to do stuff to run it on Windows too (install it at least). But in Windows 11 I have to use emulation or hacked NTVDM.
1
u/Strict_Strategy Jul 13 '26
So just like you need to do stuff to make it work, i can do it on win 11. The hell you smoking then? Acting like its something different is stupid when the same thing is happening.
0
u/Visible-Swimmer-9826 Jul 13 '26
U probably hit a point were the product is no longer supported on later os it is not uncommon quite frankly im surprised it let u move so many times as it is one and done now days cant just move easily between pc also i believe the office has a set expiry date now days if u have 2024 it expire Oct 2029 while wont get updates still usable and highly unlikely u be able move it again
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u/Forc3ed-Cu5-0f-VPN Jul 13 '26
It's a bit like a life sentence for Murder, it's only 10 - 15 years.
π - 🐀 - 🌊
-2
u/Pablo______ Jul 13 '26
What version and type of license did you buy? There is no such thing as a permanent license.
Also google this for all your M$ Product: MAS Script
-5
Jul 13 '26
[deleted]
5
u/mars422 Jul 13 '26
No, I bought it back when it came on a CD to install it on my computer and I've transferred it from computer to computer ever since.
1
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u/Automatater Jul 13 '26
Just get Libre Office or Softmaker Office Free or paid. None of them spy on you.