Microsoft quietly launched free, ad-supported desktop versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for Windows, with banner and video ads and limited functionality
In Short — Microsoft has quietly introduced a free ad-supported Office that brings access to desktop Word, Excel, and PowerPoint without any subscription.
It also creates a new entry point alongside the $150 standalone Office 2024 release, rather than making the paid purchase the only non-subscription option for desktop users.
First-order effects
Windows users can use desktop Word, Excel and PowerPoint without a subscription, accepting banner and video advertising plus reduced functionality.
Microsoft gains an ad-funded acquisition channel for desktop Office while preserving paid versions as the route to the fuller feature set.
Second-order effects
The paid Office tiers and standalone purchase must more clearly justify their value through capabilities and an ad-free experience, because the basic desktop workflow now has a free alternative.
Productivity-software rivals face a more direct price comparison on Windows: Microsoft's familiar desktop apps can now compete for entry-level users without an upfront fee.
Third-order effects
If maintained, the move would further shift desktop productivity software from a binary paid-versus-free-web choice toward freemium segmentation inside native applications.
It is a test of whether advertising can fund broad desktop distribution without eroding demand for subscriptions and perpetual licenses; the balance will determine how durable the model is.
The trend: Microsoft is increasingly using free access as a distribution layer while reserving richer functionality and ad-free use for paid Office offerings.
This is probably a key area where the @ec.europa.eu could focus efforts on techno-independence. Compatibility, but given the proliferation of viable open-source alternatives, a modest investment in improving the best and making it the de facto standard across European institutio…
We are moving to a model where tech is adopting the air travel model—make your product worse and then monetize stuff that was once part of the initial outlay. [embedded post]
“Apart from that, you can't save documents locally. You will have to use OneDrive to save files.” - and there's the kicker, they want your data to continually train their AI models. — If the product is free, you are the product. — Fuck that. [embedded post]
Microsoft is testing free Office for Windows apps with ads. The ads appear on the side of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, and are part of “some limited testing”, according to Microsoft. Full details 👇 https://www.theverge.com/...