Install Office 2016 OEM without Live account

The subscription model was Microsoft's announced plan when Office 2013 was released with the caution that it would be the last version available to buy outright and future versions would be subscription only.  That announcement accomplished what MS probably wanted:  Many, many users of Office 2007 and 2010 rushed to the store to buy Office 2013.  Then, contrary to the 2013 warning, 2016 came out as a buy or lease version, just like 2013.  And many people convinced that 2016 would be the last, bought it.

When Adobe announced Photoshop CC as a subscription product, users of Photoshop CS5 and earlier, rushed to upgrade to CS6.  I already had CS6 and have stuck with it even after CC was released in 2013.  My wife subscribed to CC for $10 a month.  Since then, she has paid over $500 to Adobe for several versions and subversions, and around half the updates are bug fixes of earlier versions.  Adobe went to the subscription model because people were not buying their upgraded versions.  Why? Because their new versions were not sufficiently improved to warrant the $200 upgrade price.  Some of us wondered where their motivation to improve would be when they collected money from users just for using the product.  Read the release history on Wikipedia, and you'll see that the doubters may have been right.

Will that be the case with Office, once it is a subscription-only product?  I'd bet on it.

This is the original problem:

"I manage IT services for several small businesses and periodically need to purchase new computers with Office. I just purchased a new Dell laptop with the OEM version of Office 2016 Home & Business. It will not let me activate it without adding it to a MS account.

I know this is a perennial question, beginning with Office 2013, that is a major headache for independent technical consultants that support small businesses, as I do. But I have never seen a solid answer as to how to get this installed on the computer without the MS account--just a lot of try this, try that. This is NOT Office 365, just Office H & B 2016!"

I believe that I have addressed the issue.  I have nothing to do with Microsoft.  Microsoft is on a mission move to on an online service and with in mind to make it as difficult as possible to use the perpetual version of Office and force people to use Office 365.

And so, here we are 2.5 years after the original problem was posed, and we're no closer to making Microsoft customers happy.  Along the way various solutions have been suggested.  Some would work for some people and not for others.  Meanwhile, Microsoft stands with one foot on the dock and one foot on the boat, and neither the dock nor the boat is the answer for all users.  I've just opted to retire as an IT consultant and general purpose IT person.  What I've found is that for a very small company with, say ten users or less, the necessary record keeping for ten bogus Microsoft accounts can work.  Moderate turnover of personnel is manageable.  A spreadsheet with computer info and major software info can be maintained, and all works OK.  This also works for home users.  The five user home version works nicely, and at home one does not usually have a turnover issue.

Larger company--more than ten employees and certainly more than twenty or so--it's just easier to use the Office 365 approach.  Get the cheapest mail option ($4 a month per account) and separate licenses for the programs wanted.  $8.25 a month for Office gets all but the less common (Visio, Expresssion Web, etc.).  You assign a mailbox license and a program license to each user (NOT the combined mailbox and software, which is both $.50 a month more expensive and less flexible.)  Someone quits, and maybe you keep the mailbox open for a couple months.  Add a mailbox license for the replacement and move the program license to the new employee.  It might cost a little more, if you normally wouldn't buy each new Office version, but on balance, the simplicity of that approach is worth something, too.

Note.  I'm a Microsoft Accounting "Partner" with the annual Action Pack.  Since I'm retiring, I'll not renew it this year, and I'll have to figure out what to do with my file server, two desktops and a laptop.  Office 365 was part of the Action Pack and was an excellent value until MS removed the public website from Office 365.  Now it's only an OK value.  If my licenses expire or get canceled, I may or may not keep the $4 a month mailboxes, but if I keep Office, it will be via a 5-user home version from Costco.  Or I may just use OpenOffice or LibreOffice (which several of my clients have moved to).  I really like Outlook, though, so sticking with MS Office 2016 for the rest of my life, may be the answer!

P.S. I don't know who this Ron Barker is, but clearly he still doesn't understand the original question or what's going on in the rest of this thread.  If he's a Microsoft employee, then that helps explain why Microsoft is profitable and out of touch!

PS: and yes I know that Office 2016 is slightly different in that it forces you to use a Microsoft Account, that is because people were installing Office 2013 without using a Microsoft Account and could not access their Office Account.  The same with the manufacturers, such as Dell, in the early days did not understand that the end users Microsoft Account had to be used.

DY, I do understand, but most people on this thread want to install Office without using the end users Microsoft Account and Office 2013 and 2016 is not designed for that to happen because the end user has no access their Office Account created by using the email address and password for a Microsoft Account.  See HERE

This document is intended to help Resellers understand the redemption, installation and activation experience for the new Microsoft Office for Consumers, Students and Small Businesses. This document covers Full Package Products (FPP) and DOEM Office products (excluding Office 365 Small Business Premium).

 IMPORTANT:  When activating Office, it is critical that the Microsoft Account be uniquely owned and accessible by the end customer. It will be the customer’s key to re-install Office in the future and access Office online services.  For subscription, end customers cannot use Office until they have redeemed Office with a Microsoft Account on Office.com/setup, and are signed in. It is critical to guide end customers through the process to ensure redemption, installation and activation.

PS: I only posted this reply because I saw the thread at the top of the answer forum. I am not on the mailing list so please do not respond, well you can if you wish but I will not be responding to your reply,  I have been insulted too many times.