The subscription model is where utility software is going. It's a recurring charge, but everything is automatic, updates, bug fixes, etc. I fought it for a long time, but because I am still working, and collaborating with hundreds of people, I have to have the latest version. Nothing worse than receiving a file in an updated version and you cannot open it. I don't think a 3 year old program will be of much use anymore. On the other hand, if you don't mind "tinkering" with your devices and software to keep them compatible, you can save a few bucks.

Microsoft 365 is worth the cost to me because I have 400GB of music files that use almost half of the allowable 1TB storage, and they are accessible from anywhere. The OneDrive cloud storage backs up everything I do automatically. Also, I have a smart phone, a tablet, a laptop, and a desktop, where I can use the latest versions of the MS Office software.

Wait till you try to print it? Maybe new can of worms ������?

Generally, when you buy software, it is for one flavor of an OS. e.g. Linux, Windows, iOS, etc. You bought a license for the Windows version of Office, so my guess is you'll need to buy an iOS license.

Agreed. Not to mention it’s inexpensive. I get mine from Costco (15 months for $89) and it can be shared with family members. Can’t beat the price.

Try Apple Help
 

Try calling Apple Help at 800-275-2273. They should be able to help you.

office
 

search for a cheap office 2016

Will numbers properly convert and run fairly sophisticated excel spreadsheets that have lots of formulas, data table lookups, and macros embedded in the spreadsheet?

Unless something has changed, you cannot transfer a product key from Windows to Mac (Apple iOS), other than 365, but that’s not really a “transfer”.

Redirecting

I had ms excel app on my ipad … but it was really not nearly as capable as excel on windows. And some excel spreadsheets would not fully load on the ipad. But that was a couple of years ago. I do not know the present state.

I now use Apples “numbers” app on my ipad (free and comes installed). It is very capable, but there is a learning curve if you are coming from excel. The way you accomplish tasks in “numbers” is just different. It can not open existing excel docs.

I also use Apples “pages” app as a word processor on my ipad (free & already installed). Again very capable, but has a learning curve.

There are lots of tutorials on youtube for the apple apps. I rarely use my windows desktop now, because I have slowly learned how to accomplish everything i need on my ipads.

On my Windows desktop, I have been using “open office” for years. Its free. It is able to open/manipulate microsoft office documents without problem. It is a very solid program and can handle any of my complex excel spreadsheets that i have from my previous worklife. It can also save documents in native microsoft format, so MS Office can continue to be used if desired.

ALL,

Thank you for the replies, it turns out my wife already knows about many of these options, so I am going to let her determine what she wants to do, but this was great discussion, and I have learned a lot.

First I have to tell you that I am very ignorant about this stuff. Do you ever get to the Marion Market? If you walk in the front door and turn left immediately, walk down a few vendors, on your left you will see a two computer guys there. They are very honest. We once bought a laptop plus the extended warranty from an office supply box store. A few months later the lap top had issues. To make a long story short they didn't honor the warranty and wanted $200 to run diagnostics to find out what was wrong. My husband and I took the laptop to the computer folks at the Marion Market and for $20 and five or ten minutes we were happily on our way.