So if you're a Microsoft Office subscriber and you just got a notice that the price went up.
Know that the price didn't really go up. What is happening is that they are now charging you for Copilot.
You can opt-out by cancelling your subscription. When you do, they will offer a Office365 "classic" option which is at the previous price and doesn't include Copilot.
Awesome!
Thank you for this! I skipped my renewal in July for my home laptop and actually need to renew. But ye gods I don't want copilot.
Solutions!
@casparvdburgh @f_beaudet @lucyruthe
Microsoft making dick moves? Tell me it's not true! ;-)
Incidentally check out Firefox or one of the many browsers based on it.
Edit: TBF Mozilla also has AI by default, which can be turned off
@econads @f_beaudet @lucyruthe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Corp
Wow, I didn't realize that this was over 24 years ago. Makes me feel old.
@casparvdburgh
Oh I see what you mean. Chances of getting the same outcome if they had the case today?
@casparvdburgh @econads @f_beaudet @lucyruthe
During that browser anti-trust thing, I printed a few one-off t-shirts.
One of them had the slogan:
You can trust Micros~1
(but this is a very old t-shirt)
which was a nod to a t-shirt from the 1970s.
The others had less polite slogans.
(I used the name Micros~1 as a tribute to long filename support in w95).
@x0 @lucyruthe I’m on a family plan and my renewal was coming up.
The option was right there in the “please don’t leave” screen.
@HerrKlamauk @Quantillion @wesdym @f_beaudet
I've been using Open Office and Libre Office for decades. Nowadays it works pretty seemlessly even when reading and writing Microsoft Office formats.
Try running a blind test and see if anyone notices that you're using it.
@Quantillion @HerrKlamauk @wesdym @f_beaudet they do tell you in no uncertain terms that you have to use it, Outlook is the only way to read email and Microsoft Teams is mandatory for meetings (ugh!).
They pay for the software, and lock the machine you use, so there’s no way to use alternatives.
@BenAveling
Compatible how?
The notion that other software 'has' to be compatible with MSO is a conditioned responce that MS has deliberately imbued, because they don't want anyone to not use THEIR products, which are the only ones they profit from. But LO does all the same stuff. Just not identically, and that fact is the only 'compatibility' issue on the table. They both do the same jobs, just as well. LO handles all the same formats.
(Edited: I wrote 'combatible' before.)
@f_beaudet worth noting that this only works if you're subscribing directly with Microsoft.
If you buy an annual key through a reseller, you do not get offered the 'classic' option, so you will have to put up with Copilot. Thing is, even so these 12 month keys are often cheaper than paying Microsoft directly.
@f_beaudet Again, Word *used* to be something called a "word processor". How, exactly, do you "subscribe" to a word processor?
Everything I hear about Microsoft these days is just bizarre and I can't even parse most of it.
@nickapos @f_beaudet I'm curious when that started to happen? I've been a Linux user since 1995 and have only recently *heard* of "software subscriptions" via threads like this.
It sounds like you basically can't do anything without an internet connection.
If so, at what point is your computer no longer a computer but just a network appliance for using cloud stuff?
I'll admit I've not installed an email client in years and use gmail in a browser, but that's as close as I get to all that.
@wesdym @anne_twain
Consumer ESU for w10 was recently added. It gives 1 more year of security updates, at no cost. I don't know much more than that.
I switched my daily driver to Linux in 1999, after a few years running FreeBSD, so this is all alien to me at this stage.
@dec23k What's odd is that MS has never had a rapid forced sunset like this before -- nor ENFORCED hardware requirements for upgrade. (You cannot upgrade to Win11 unless their robots agree that your system is good enough. In the past, they only said what you SHOULD have, but you were free to take your chances.)
My guess is that they've sunk so much into AI that they have to make sure they get something back for that expenditure, and this is how they're doing that.
Thank you for this. Yes, they did that to me. (They get bonus points for what I assume is a typo: "Effective February 14, 2025"—I'm assuming they meant November 14. 🤦
@f_beaudet @RossA Or better yet, ditch Office completely.
I'd been using Office since 1990 I never thought I could switch. Copilot was the last straw. I switched to Libre Office about a year ago. I miss Microsoft Office, but I don't miss the subscription fee, features I don't need force down my throat, and the intrusion of AI. and Libre Office gets the job done.
@draken Anyone can use LibreOffice on pretty much any OS. You don't need Linux to run it.
But I would indeed encourage people to ditch MS altogether, if they can. This abusive relationship is only going to get worse for users, never better, and no one actually needs to put up with it. They're just conditioned to believe they do.
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