The changed the name of some stupid as shit “app” that only exists to open links to the Office programs on the web as webapps, which was apparently called “Microsoft Office App”. They did not change the name of Microsoft Office.
Simultaneously not as bad, but even dumber.
Edit: Since there’s nothing that goes together quite like Linux enthusiasts and pedanticness, here’s a correction-
Microsoft split off a subscription based version of their Office suite of programs a number of years ago, calling it Microsoft Office 365. They maintained more standard non-subscription versions for a few years alongside 365, while very clearly trying to push people to the subscription model.
After that, they stopped releasing new standard versions, leaving Microsoft Office 365 (the subscription) as the only option for ongoing support.
After that after that, they renamed Microsoft Office 365 to just Microsoft 365, although the Office branding/tagline/wording is still present in a number of places (just not on office.com itself, apparently).
One of the 365 license options allows for access to only the webapp versions of the suite instead of the native program versions. Apparently they offered a “Microsoft Office App” specifically for users on this license that would simply link to the webapp versions of the suite.
This “Microsoft Office App” that served as a link to the webapps is what has been renamed to Copilot whatever the fuck, not the suite of webapps and native programs themselves. That remains named Microsoft (Office) 365.
You’re right: strange how they keep shoving things nobody wants in the name of their product - first “Office” became “Microsoft 365” (subscription-only), then “with Copilot” (opt-out upsell) and now the mandatory Copilot upsell.
The silver lining is, small and medium-sized companies are increasingly ditching the pricey offering for employees who don’t have document editing a major part of their duties, making them realize LibreOffice is now good enough for their personal needs.
I sure hope that’s true, but I’ve seen more companies switch to lower cost licenses with restrictions like only being able to use the webapp than I have seen switch to LibreOffice.
As long as Microsoft keeps offering ways to easily disable the shit nobody asked for in corporare environments/deployments I’m afraid the stranglehold will persist.
“Office” is completely removed from https://www.office.com/
The only place “Office” can still be found is in the urls. It’s called “Microsoft 365” now.
Edit: My mistake, “Office Home 2024” is still a thing you can buy apparently, but it’s not the full package and isn’t being updated. I’m pretty sure Libreoffice is a full replacement for “Office Home”
The change to “Microsoft 365” has been the case for years now. I had hoped the context made it clear that this was regarding the claim they had changed the name to Copilot.
Edit: Since there’s nothing that goes together quite like Linux enthusiasts and pedanticness, here’s a correction-
Microsoft split off a subscription based version of their Office suite of programs a number of years ago, calling it Microsoft Office 365. They maintained more standard non-subscription versions for a few years alongside 365, while very clearly trying to push people to the subscription model.
After that, they stopped releasing new standard versions, leaving Microsoft Office 365 (the subscription) as the only option for ongoing support.
After that after that, they renamed Microsoft Office 365 to just Microsoft 365, although the Office branding/tagline/wording is still present in a number of places (just not on office.com itself, apparently).
One of the 365 license options allows for access to only the webapp versions of the suite instead of the native program versions. Apparently they offered a “Microsoft Office App” specifically for users on this license that would simply link to the webapp versions of the suite.
This “Microsoft Office App” that served as a link to the webapps is what has been renamed to Copilot whatever the fuck, not the suite of webapps and native programs themselves. That remains named Microsoft (Office) 365.
That was horrendously misleading clickbait.
The changed the name of some stupid as shit “app” that only exists to open links to the Office programs on the web as webapps, which was apparently called “Microsoft Office App”. They did not change the name of Microsoft Office.
Simultaneously not as bad, but even dumber.
Edit: Since there’s nothing that goes together quite like Linux enthusiasts and pedanticness, here’s a correction-
Microsoft split off a subscription based version of their Office suite of programs a number of years ago, calling it Microsoft Office 365. They maintained more standard non-subscription versions for a few years alongside 365, while very clearly trying to push people to the subscription model.
After that, they stopped releasing new standard versions, leaving Microsoft Office 365 (the subscription) as the only option for ongoing support.
After that after that, they renamed Microsoft Office 365 to just Microsoft 365, although the Office branding/tagline/wording is still present in a number of places (just not on office.com itself, apparently).
One of the 365 license options allows for access to only the webapp versions of the suite instead of the native program versions. Apparently they offered a “Microsoft Office App” specifically for users on this license that would simply link to the webapp versions of the suite.
This “Microsoft Office App” that served as a link to the webapps is what has been renamed to Copilot whatever the fuck, not the suite of webapps and native programs themselves. That remains named Microsoft (Office) 365.
Microsoft’s original and horribly misleading blog post that started this shit here.
The Verge’s article laying things out more clearly and featuring direct statements from an M$ exec to The Verge trying to clarify things here.
You’re right: strange how they keep shoving things nobody wants in the name of their product - first “Office” became “Microsoft 365” (subscription-only), then “with Copilot” (opt-out upsell) and now the mandatory Copilot upsell.
The silver lining is, small and medium-sized companies are increasingly ditching the pricey offering for employees who don’t have document editing a major part of their duties, making them realize LibreOffice is now good enough for their personal needs.
I sure hope that’s true, but I’ve seen more companies switch to lower cost licenses with restrictions like only being able to use the webapp than I have seen switch to LibreOffice.
As long as Microsoft keeps offering ways to easily disable the shit nobody asked for in corporare environments/deployments I’m afraid the stranglehold will persist.
“Office” is completely removed from https://www.office.com/ The only place “Office” can still be found is in the urls. It’s called “Microsoft 365” now.
Edit: My mistake, “Office Home 2024” is still a thing you can buy apparently, but it’s not the full package and isn’t being updated. I’m pretty sure Libreoffice is a full replacement for “Office Home”
The change to “Microsoft 365” has been the case for years now. I had hoped the context made it clear that this was regarding the claim they had changed the name to Copilot.
Edit: Since there’s nothing that goes together quite like Linux enthusiasts and pedanticness, here’s a correction-
Microsoft split off a subscription based version of their Office suite of programs a number of years ago, calling it Microsoft Office 365. They maintained more standard non-subscription versions for a few years alongside 365, while very clearly trying to push people to the subscription model.
After that, they stopped releasing new standard versions, leaving Microsoft Office 365 (the subscription) as the only option for ongoing support.
After that after that, they renamed Microsoft Office 365 to just Microsoft 365, although the Office branding/tagline/wording is still present in a number of places (just not on office.com itself, apparently).
One of the 365 license options allows for access to only the webapp versions of the suite instead of the native program versions. Apparently they offered a “Microsoft Office App” specifically for users on this license that would simply link to the webapp versions of the suite.
This “Microsoft Office App” that served as a link to the webapps is what has been renamed to Copilot whatever the fuck, not the suite of webapps and native programs themselves. That remains named Microsoft (Office) 365.
Microsoft’s original and horribly misleading blog post that started this shit here.
The Verge’s article laying things out more clearly and featuring direct statements from an M$ exec to The Verge trying to clarify things here.