Microsoft announced its final pricing and packaging for Office 2013 on September 17, and it looks as if getting the traditional licenses based on boxed copies is going to be much more expensive and perhaps inconvenient. Is it finally time to move to Office 365?

According to ZDNet’s Ed Bott, whose article I’m depending on in this post, boxed versions of Office 2013 are up at least 10% from Office 2010, and perhaps as much as 17%. In addition, Microsoft is discontinuing multi-copy discounts for traditional packaged software. No more multiple installs per license.

So, does moving to Office 365 now make sense? Bott thinks so, as he spells out in another article. We’re waiting to see, however, how these prices translate into the volume license agreements most of our customers use. But if I had to bet, I’d say that Microsoft will make it significantly cheaper to move to the cloud, because, as Bott points out, that’s where they want you to go.

The good news is that if you’re a nonprofit that is not a private foundation, you can get a big discount on Office 365, which CGNET (plug, plug) can sell you for the same price as Microsoft and with superior service. We offer the same for-profit pricing, too.

One more note: if any of you are confused about the preview of Office 2013, compared to the preview of Office 365 Professional Pro, they are both Office 2013, only Professional Pro has more features. You can sign up for it here.