For those with a Microsoft 365 Personal subscription, there is an inflation busting increase coming up
5904Microsoft raising “Microsoft 365 Personal subscription” price by 41.67%.
An extract of an email from Microsoft:
“Wed, 19 Mar at 20:06”
“Thank you for being a valued Microsoft 365 subscriber. To reflect the value we’ve added over the past decade, address rising costs and enable us to continue delivering new innovations, we’re increasing the price of your subscription.
Effective 14 February 2025, the price for Microsoft 365 Personal subscriptions will increase from GBP 59.99* per year to GBP 84.99* per year. To continue with the new price, no action is needed—your payment method on file will be automatically charged. To make changes to your subscription plan or turn off recurring billing, visit your Microsoft account at least two days before your next billing date.“
Presumably, this price increase impacts users worldwide - note the backdating of the fee - which looks illegal to me!
I have changed my Microsoft 365 personal account subscription to “Basic” costing £19.99 per annum.
Here’s the rest of the email:
“By maintaining your subscription, you’ll enjoy secure cloud storage, advanced security for your data and devices and cutting-edge AI-powered features, along with all your other subscription benefits. Experience a whole new life for your favourite apps with Microsoft Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Outlook, plus create stunning designs and edit photos in a flash with Designer. Thank you for choosing Microsoft.
By maintaining your subscription, you’ll enjoy secure cloud storage, advanced security for your data and devices and cutting-edge AI-powered features, along with all your other subscription benefits. Experience a whole new life for your favourite apps with Microsoft Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Outlook, plus create stunning designs and edit photos in a flash with Designer. Thank you for choosing Microsoft.”
Please take a subscription to gain access to the thousands of hours of research that go into producing these SubStack articles - or make a donation of $3 bucks or more for a ko-fi here:
Onwards!!!
Why would anyone pay to "rent" Microsoft when you can own it for less?
I got this, great customer support, delivered as-ordered. Mine.
MS Office 2021 Pro & MS Windows 11 Home: $29.99
https://softwarelicenses.net/product/microsoft-windows-11-home-microsoft-office-2021-standard/
This isn't the only vendor out there who has these deals, I think I saw another one a few months after I ordered mine for a few dollars less. But this vendor had good reviews and lived up to them. Renting is silly.
And, oh, do you really want all of your info stored in the cloud? Sure it provides ease of access from multiple devices. But it also puts your most important info and original work product in the hands of other actors who don't have your best interests in mind. And maybe one day puts it all behind a paywall from you.
That whole convenience vs. privacy thing. What's it worth to you? Ownership and comparatively more privacy (nothing totally private) is worth more to me than renting convenience.
Good ole Bill Gates.