Maybe it's just old age, but I'm sick and tired of Microsoft messing with MY COMPUTER and adding in subscriptions and "services" that I didn't ask for. The more they keep changing stuff, the more insecure and unstable it becomes. Earlier this year they jacked up the cost of my Microsoft 365 subscription by 33% to pay for their Copilot "service", after adding icons for the bloody thing on my taskbar, browser, office apps, etc. Nice of them to ask before doing so, and no refund either.
Then they unilaterally decided to end software updates for Windows 10. You know, "the last version of Windows" that they claimed. On my 2019 ASUS laptop, they kept telling me that I should "upgrade" to Windows 11, and told me it would work. It didn't. The new software wasted my time downloading and installing itself, only to claim that there was an error. It's still on Windows 10, and thanks for that.
My other computers are even older, and unable to "upgrade" to Windows 11 even though it is faster than Windows 10, supposedly. So I won't have to endure their dreadful interface and annoying Copilot nonsense. Finally, they will leave my computers alone. I am using 0patch to keep the software updated with vulnerability patches.
The final straw was when Microsoft decided to add Copilot to Outlook (Classic) after installing the "New Outlook" with incomplete features without asking, and putting a "try the new Outlook" button on my existing Outlook, next to the Copilot button. No option to hide it or remove the Copilot button either.
Separately, I discovered that Microsoft 365 no longer installs on Windows 7, which is running on some of my clients' workstations. And you can't update Windows 7 to Windows 10 without buying a Windows 10 license. Enough "nudging" already! My clients don't need or want to buy new hardware to run the new privacy invading Microsoft AI nonsense, and I'm not divulging all my code to OpenAI via Microsoft. Thanks, but no thanks.
So I found I could buy a cheap license for Microsoft Office 2019 Professional Plus, which no longer has any feature changes or updates, or patches for that matter. Just a bunch of known bugs and features that aren't going to change because Microsoft has stopped supporting it, even though it is still for sale. 5-PC license cost R949. And 0patch will fix any serious bugs. I also bought a single license for Visio Professional 2019 as well. R95 for a single license.
On my laptop I completely removed the Microsoft 365 software, downloaded the required CD image, and ran the install. It all worked perfectly. On my desktop PC (the one with Outlook Classic on it) I decided to try just signing out of my Microsoft account and using the "I have a license key" option. Again, it all worked well, except it kept the new icons for Office, instead of the older 2019 ones. I copied the old ones into the "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\Windows\Installer\{90160000-000F-0000-0000-0000000FF1CE}" folder, rebooted and got the correct icons back.
So in 7 months I will have saved the money I spent on the licenses. I should have thought of that before I subscribed to their nonsense. Nice revenue model, Microsoft: lock them in and force stuff on them while taking their money. I guess it backfired.
