Checking style in proofing in Word 2016

I'll add there are also yearly licenses to O365, at a discounted rate. Given you have a license purchase, do you know for a fact that the feature will not be provided once it is available beyond Insiders? I would have to guess it will be... but then, that does require an internet connection sooner or later.

This thread was based on the disappearance of the feature. It is now trickling back into the programme. To get it, you are going to need that internet connection denounced as an unworkable option for some.

Yes, "most" people do have internet connections.  But even in the US, let alone the rest of the world, there are significant geographic regions where there is NO internet connection, or only slow connections that are not adequate to support 365.

I have seen questions / complaints here on this forum from users who cannot make 365 work for them.  The 2 specific examples I remember are one from a guy in the military who is deployed to remote locations for months at a time with no internet connections at all. The other was just this week, where a business user complained that his 365 subscription was disabled (multiple times) when he was trying to do presentations to customers!

You have made the informed decision to switch to 365. Great, it works for you. When the terms are favorable, I have recommended that people by 365 too. However, I, and others choose to use the 1-time payment license for various reasons, beyond simple internet connections.

No I do not "expect" MS to send me an "upgrade" disk.  Long ago I did order an installation disk from MS, for which I paid and paid for the shipping too.  I would like to continue to be able to buy Office the same way I have in the past, with a one time payment. Personally, I have a philosophical objection to buying products on "time payments".  Especially when a company expects to keep my payment information to use on a monthly, or even yearly basis. Companies get hacked, even MS, leaking my personal information.

When it comes to who gets the "windows update" (not upgrade) that includes the missing grammer checking code there is an issue of semantics.  MS has said that it will only provide "new features" to Office 365 subscribers.  That is their option, one that I disagree with because it is fragmenting who has specific features, making support more difficult.  But, grammar checking is not a NEW FEATURE.  They are recreating exactly the same feature that was in 2013 and earlier. They made a mistake, a bug, during development, and were not able to include that program code in the release of 2016.  Now that development has finally caught up, I believe that that missing program code should be freely distributed to all users of Office 2016, one-time payment and subscriptions users.

MS said that the missing grammar features were due to problems during development. The missing grammar features are an accident.  Fine, I have no problem accepting that. They had a problem, now they should fix it, for free. They should not force users to PAY MORE to switch to the subscription license to get the fixed feature.  And, if there do happen to be a few new grammar checks, so what! That is just part of the normal new features that should have been included when 2016 was first released.  

On the other hand.  If this was an intentional tactic, intentionally delaying the release of all of the existing grammar checking to force more people to switch to subscriptions. Well, that would be pretty despicable, wouldn't it.  MS wouldn't do something like that, would they ....

Nelle:

There is a problem with your argument.  MS eliminated the discounted "upgrade" license with the release of 2010.  2010 did NOT have a discounted upgrade. Neither do 2013 or 2016.  The point is, frankly in the last several versions there have not been enough new features for the average new user to spend the money on the new version.  For "the average user", what features are there in 2016 that are not in 2007 that justify the upgrade price?  What is driving new sales is new computers that require a new license, and corporate sales where the company forces periodic version upgrades.

Frankly, I would not be surprised in the least (massively disappointed but not surprised) if in the next version of Office MS completely eliminates the one-time payment license, or announces that it will be the last release of one-time payment licenses.  Once that "last" version of Office is announced, Office versions will be dead and there will only be the eternal now of "Office 365" with its rolling "upgrades". Office as a "service" which you can only rent, not buy. Which would make MS's life easier. But it would be a problem for people with poor or no internet connections.

My point is you were aware at the time of purchase these were the options. I made a choice to end use of Office 2010 and signed on to Office 365 two or three years ago, at the time to Office 2013. I did so in order to avoid the significant up front cost of the full Office suite, with the added advantage I'd get the newest as it became available.

Most people have internet connections. This isn't 2000. ****, you can even have hotspots via your smartphone. If you are looking for upgrades to what you have, how would you propose those upgrades be delivered? Do you expect MS to send you new DVDs?

Since you rolled back to 2013, I guess you won't be able to check if updates are available... MS releases them on a regular schedule each month, and clicking 'update now' under the Account tab gets it done.