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If You Use Office 365, Read This!

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andrewfi:
I use Office 365; it includes all the Microsoft Office tools and, IMHO, offers good value, even though I prefer 'ownership' of most software.

In the UK, a family subscription that allows up to 5 separate sub accounts is very handy, especially given the amount of OneDrive storage the subscription offers. For £79. I can use the subscription on all my devices, including my phones. In addition, other family members are using the suite on their devices in the same way as I do. Each subaccount is entirely separate from mine and from each other.

BUT, BUT

Microsoft is rushing toward pushing its CoPilot AI tools into every Microsoft product. They have recently done a sly trick.
If you check your subscription, you will see that the price of the next payment has gone up. In my case, from £79 to £105. This is to cover the cost of adding CoPilot to the tool set. This is done without telling the subscriber.

If you do not want it, you need to go into your account to the subscriptions management page, where you will see that your subscription has been changed to a new level that includes CoPilot. If you're OK with that, no problem, no need to make any changes, and just pay the higher price on the due date.

If you do not want all the paid CoPilot goodies, you will need to select the 'Classic' plan, which is the new name for the package you signed up for at some point in the past.

When you 'downgrade' your plan, you will retain access to the CoPilot goodies until the next subscription payment date, at which point you will pay the old price and most or all of CoPilot will go away.

My account is paid annually, and I will retain the new features until December 2025; your mileage will vary.

------

By the way, if you are not using OneDrive and you have multiple devices that use Windows or Microsoft Office, you really should do so.
My laptop and desktop PC now share the same desktop, applications, and files; they are always in synch in terms of documents and settings. My tablet and phones have the same shared access to my Office files and photos; everything works seamlessly and is invisible to me.

My OneDrive account, part of the 365 subscription, has 1 TB of space, and there is no imminent risk that I will fill it up. All my files are stored on each Windows device so I can use them without OneDrive if I choose (no Internet access) . It is great!

dorbradavid:

--- Quote from: andrewfi on February 10, 2025, 03:44:30 AM ---I use Office 365; it includes all the Microsoft Office tools and, IMHO, offers good value, even though I prefer 'ownership' of most software.

In the UK, a family subscription that allows up to 5 separate sub accounts is very handy, especially given the amount of OneDrive storage the subscription offers. For £79. I can use the subscription on all my devices, including my phones. In addition, other family members are using the suite on their devices in the same way as I do. Each subaccount is entirely separate from mine and from each other.

BUT, BUT

Microsoft is rushing toward pushing its CoPilot AI tools into every Microsoft product. They have recently done a sly trick.
If you check your subscription, you will see that the price of the next payment has gone up. In my case, from £79 to £105. This is to cover the cost of adding CoPilot to the tool set. This is done without telling the subscriber.

If you do not want it, you need to go into your account to the subscriptions management page, where you will see that your subscription has been changed to a new level that includes CoPilot. If you're OK with that, no problem, no need to make any changes, and just pay the higher price on the due date.

If you do not want all the paid CoPilot goodies, you will need to select the 'Classic' plan, which is the new name for the package you signed up for at some point in the past.

When you 'downgrade' your plan, you will retain access to the CoPilot goodies until the next subscription payment date, at which point you will pay the old price and most or all of CoPilot will go away.

My account is paid annually, and I will retain the new features until December 2025; your mileage will vary.

------

By the way, if you are not using OneDrive and you have multiple devices that use Windows or Microsoft Office, you really should do so.
My laptop and desktop PC now share the same desktop, applications, and files; they are always in synch in terms of documents and settings. My tablet and phones have the same shared access to my Office files and photos; everything works seamlessly and is invisible to me.

My OneDrive account, part of the 365 subscription, has 1 TB of space, and there is no imminent risk that I will fill it up. All my files are stored on each Windows device so I can use them without OneDrive if I choose (no Internet access) . It is great!

--- End quote ---

Plan B, install Office 2019, 2016 - 2003 on your PC. Office 365 requires a live internet connect and a subscription. The PC-installed version simply work, every day, all day :)  tiphat

andrewfi:
i have a old office licence, as you can gather from my words above I get plenty of benefit from the 365 licence on a whole raft of different devices.

I am not too paranoid about using an Internet connection. I depend on having one.

Manny:

--- Quote from: dorbradavid on February 10, 2025, 06:15:25 AM ---Plan B, install Office 2019, 2016 - 2003 on your PC. Office 365 requires a live internet connect and a subscription. The PC-installed version simply work, every day, all day :)  tiphat

--- End quote ---

I've been using a pirated copy of Word 2003 for the last 20 years on every device. It just works and does what I need it to. On my more modern operating systems at work that won't run it, I use Open Office, which is free.

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