Heads up, changes to MS365 subscription

[Brad Johnson]

Got this in my inbox this morning. MS announcement that they're nerfing Skype availability and getting rid of Publisher entirely (presumed it only affects Family subscriptions as that's what I have).

Beginning March 03, 2026, you will no longer have access to 60 minutes of monthly Skype calls to mobile phones and landlines. Learn more in these Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).

Beginning October 01, 2026, Microsoft Publisher will no longer be supported as part of Microsoft 365. Many common Publisher scenarios are available in other Microsoft 365 apps, including Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Designer.

Action Recommended: Before October 01, 2026, convert your existing Publisher files to PDF or Word format. After this date, you will no longer be able to open or edit these files with Microsoft Publisher.

Sent them a message saying I expected both a subscription rate reduction and a prorated refund for reduced functionality to the end of my current subscription period. About a 0.00000001 percent chance they'll reply, but it made me feel better.

Brad

[K Frame]

"Sent them a message saying I expected both a subscription rate reduction and a prorated refund for reduced functionality"

 


Wait... you're actually serious?

 

[lee n. field]

Ever more glad dealing with it is "not my job" now.

[Hawkmoon]

I realized that Skype would be disappearing about a week ago. Not the end of the world -- its functionality is replaced by Teams. I have been using Skype to chart with a friend in Europe. Last weekend we used Teams instead, and it worked fine. I don't regard the loss of Skype as significant.

As to Publisher: I have Publisher in stand-alone versions of Microsoft Office Pro 206, 2019, and 2021. IMHO, it's a pretty worthless desktop publishing program. It's definitely not suitable for doing books, which would be my interest. It's better suited for things like greeting cards, and it's a mystery to me why Microsoft includes it in the Professional version of Office but not the Home & Student version, when in reality its functionality is much more aligned with home use than business use.

That said, if Microsoft wants to suspend development and support of Publisher -- fine. In reality, they've already ended development, year ago. But to create a situation where users who have created documents using Publisher now have to convert their files to a different program and file format is unacceptable.

This just reminds me of why I will not subscribe to Microsoft 365.