Microsoft Office 2013 raises its prices despite major open source alternatives

Microsoft this week raised prices of its Office suite by as much as 17 percent and eliminated multi-license packs, all part of a plan to push consumers and small businesses toward new subscription programs, analysts said.

Office Home & Student 2013, a single-license suite that includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, costs $140, or 17 percent more than its Office 2010 predecessor. The more feature- and application-packed Office Home & Business 2013, priced at $220, and Office Professional 2013, at $400, are 10 percent and 14 percent higher than their 2010 counterparts.

... the numbers made analysts pause. Osterman, for one. "For the average household, say with someone who does [office] work at home some of the time, this still looks like a premium model," Osterman said of Office 365's pricing. "I think Microsoft's going to be hard-pressed to sell this [to consumers]."