Microsoft Office 365: Difference between revisions

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===Microsoft Copilot on by default===

In the current version of Office 365, Microsoft Copilot is turned on by default. It can be turned off in some of the Office applications' options (Word, ~~Excel, but not~~ PowerPoint, ~~though Microsoft say they'll add the "off" button to PowerPoint in February 2025)~~.

In the current version of Office 365, Microsoft Copilot is turned on by default. It can be turned off in some of the Office applications' options, such as Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.

===~~Forced~~ Copilot up-sell (Oct. 2024)===

===Copilot up-sell (Oct. 2024)===

Microsoft has been accused of misleading customers from around October 2024, by suggesting they had to move to higher-priced Microsoft 365 personal and family plans that included Copilot.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2025-10-27 |title=Australia sues Microsoft over AI-linked subscription price hikes |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australia-takes-microsoft-court-says-it-misled-27-million-customers-2025-10-26/ |url-status=live |access-date=2025-10-28 |website=Reuters}}</ref><ref name="video-explanation" />

Microsoft has been accused of misleading customers from around October 2024 by suggesting they had to move to higher-priced Microsoft 365 personal and family plans that included Copilot.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2025-10-27 |title=Australia sues Microsoft over AI-linked subscription price hikes |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australia-takes-microsoft-court-says-it-misled-27-million-customers-2025-10-26/ |url-status=live |access-date=2025-10-28 |website=Reuters}}</ref><ref name="video-explanation" />

In January 2025, YouTuber Atomic Shrimp reported<ref name="video-explanation">{{cite web|author=Atomic Shrimp|title=Microsoft’s Sneaky Forced-Upsell to 365 Users; If You Don’t Need/Want Copilot, Don’t Pay for It|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYVPThx7yss|website=Youtube|date=25 Jan 2025|access-date=25 Feb 2025|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250225115451/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYVPThx7yss%2A|archive-date=25 Feb 2025}}</ref> that Microsoft had enacted a "forced up-sell" of 365's new AI Copilot feature. Users with basic accounts (now called "Classic"), such as Shrimp himself, had been informed their subscription fee was going up, but that they would enjoy new features as a result, including Copilot. In his efforts to disable Copilot, Shrimp subsequently discovered that Microsoft now offered "Classic" plans, identical to the old basic plans both in features and in subscription fee. The option to downgrade to Classic, however, was only clearly visible to enterprise users, not to personal users. In essence Microsoft upgraded users' plans without their consent and hid the option to downgrade. While Atomic Shrimp's video suggested contacting support to revert to the "Classic" plan, it is possible to downgrade a personal account through the website via the cancellation process.

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===File Request===

File request, a common feature in other cloud service providers' ''free'' plans, that allows you to invite users to anonymously upload files to a designated cloud folder (e.g. group vacation photos) is only available in personal plans if every uploader is logged-in to a Microsoft account. If you want anonymous uploads, you have to upgrade to a One Drive for Business-Account. Since this is a common feature in other providers' free private plans (e.g. Dropbox), consumers subconsciously expect it to be a feature in paid personal OneDrive plans of the highest tier, but it's not offered.

File request, a common feature in other cloud service providers' ''free'' plans, that allows you to invite users to anonymously upload files to a designated cloud folder (e.g., group vacation photos) is only available in personal plans if every uploader is logged-in to a Microsoft account. If you want anonymous uploads, you have to upgrade to a One Drive for Business-Account. Since this is a common feature in other providers' free private plans (e.g. Dropbox), consumers subconsciously expect it to be a feature in paid personal OneDrive plans of the highest tier, but it's not offered.

===Obfuscation of local saving in favor of OneDrive===

~~Because of OneDrive, since~~ the introduction of Office 365, saving files locally has been ~~getting more and~~ more difficult to do. ~~Previously~~, the user would ~~get~~ the ~~expected saving~~ dialog with a pop-up to browse their computer and choose a file-storage location. This is now multiple clicks away, making it harder to avoid saving the file on OneDrive~~, Microsoft's cloud service~~.

Since the introduction of Office 365, saving files locally has been made more difficult due to Windows favoring of OneDrive, its cloud-based storage service. When saving a file previously, the user would encounter the save dialog with a pop-up to browse their computer and choose a file-storage location. This is now multiple clicks away, making it harder to avoid saving the file on OneDrive.

Files on one's computer are also automatically uploaded to OneDrive by default, causing numerous issues (such as synchronization errors and duplicate files) Turning off this automatic backup is ~~also of considerable difficulty~~, as ~~one has to~~ navigate ~~a number of~~ settings to ~~get to~~ this option.

Files on one's computer are also automatically uploaded to OneDrive by default, causing numerous issues (such as synchronization errors and duplicate files). Turning off this automatic backup is not user-friendly, as the user must navigate multiple settings to disable this option.

~~To mitigate this somewhat,~~ user can go into Options > Save > Set the check mark on "save locally as default". It still ~~takes~~ multiple clicks to save a file, but the cloud options are ~~at least a bit~~ less intrusive.

The user can go into Options > Save > Set the check mark on "save locally as default". This still requires multiple clicks to save a file, but the cloud options are marginally less intrusive.

===Forced Diagnostic Data Transmission===

@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 ===Microsoft Copilot on by default===
-In the current version of Office 365, Microsoft Copilot is turned on by default. It can be turned off in some of the Office applications' options (Word, Excel, but not PowerPoint, though Microsoft say they'll add the "off" button to PowerPoint in February 2025).
+In the current version of Office 365, Microsoft Copilot is turned on by default. It can be turned off in some of the Office applications' options, such as Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.
-===Forced Copilot up-sell (Oct. 2024)===
+===Copilot up-sell (Oct. 2024)===
-Microsoft has been accused of misleading customers from around October 2024, by suggesting they had to move to higher-priced Microsoft 365 personal and family plans that included Copilot.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2025-10-27 |title=Australia sues Microsoft over AI-linked subscription price hikes |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australia-takes-microsoft-court-says-it-misled-27-million-customers-2025-10-26/ |url-status=live |access-date=2025-10-28 |website=Reuters}}</ref><ref name="video-explanation" />
+Microsoft has been accused of misleading customers from around October 2024 by suggesting they had to move to higher-priced Microsoft 365 personal and family plans that included Copilot.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2025-10-27 |title=Australia sues Microsoft over AI-linked subscription price hikes |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australia-takes-microsoft-court-says-it-misled-27-million-customers-2025-10-26/ |url-status=live |access-date=2025-10-28 |website=Reuters}}</ref><ref name="video-explanation" />
 In January 2025, YouTuber Atomic Shrimp reported<ref name="video-explanation">{{cite web|author=Atomic Shrimp|title=Microsoft’s Sneaky Forced-Upsell to 365 Users; If You Don’t Need/Want Copilot, Don’t Pay for It|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYVPThx7yss|website=Youtube|date=25 Jan 2025|access-date=25 Feb 2025|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250225115451/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYVPThx7yss%2A|archive-date=25 Feb 2025}}</ref> that Microsoft had enacted a "forced up-sell" of 365's new AI Copilot feature. Users with basic accounts (now called "Classic"), such as Shrimp himself, had been informed their subscription fee was going up, but that they would enjoy new features as a result, including Copilot. In his efforts to disable Copilot, Shrimp subsequently discovered that Microsoft now offered "Classic" plans, identical to the old basic plans both in features and in subscription fee. The option to downgrade to Classic, however, was only clearly visible to enterprise users, not to personal users. In essence Microsoft upgraded users' plans without their consent and hid the option to downgrade. While Atomic Shrimp's video suggested contacting support to revert to the "Classic" plan, it is possible to downgrade a personal account through the website via the cancellation process.
@@ Line 35: / Line 35: @@
 ===File Request===
-File request, a common feature in other cloud service providers' ''free'' plans, that allows you to invite users to anonymously upload files to a designated cloud folder (e.g. group vacation photos) is only available in personal plans if every uploader is logged-in to a Microsoft account. If you want anonymous uploads, you have to upgrade to a One Drive for Business-Account. Since this is a common feature in other providers' free private plans (e.g. Dropbox), consumers subconsciously expect it to be a feature in paid personal OneDrive plans of the highest tier, but it's not offered.
+File request, a common feature in other cloud service providers' ''free'' plans, that allows you to invite users to anonymously upload files to a designated cloud folder (e.g., group vacation photos) is only available in personal plans if every uploader is logged-in to a Microsoft account. If you want anonymous uploads, you have to upgrade to a One Drive for Business-Account. Since this is a common feature in other providers' free private plans (e.g. Dropbox), consumers subconsciously expect it to be a feature in paid personal OneDrive plans of the highest tier, but it's not offered.
 ===Obfuscation of local saving in favor of OneDrive===
-Because of OneDrive, since the introduction of Office 365, saving files locally has been getting more and more difficult to do. Previously, the user would get the expected saving dialog with a pop-up to browse their computer and choose a file-storage location. This is now multiple clicks away, making it harder to avoid saving the file on OneDrive, Microsoft's cloud service.
+Since the introduction of Office 365, saving files locally has been made more difficult due to Windows favoring of OneDrive, its cloud-based storage service. When saving a file previously, the user would encounter the save dialog with a pop-up to browse their computer and choose a file-storage location. This is now multiple clicks away, making it harder to avoid saving the file on OneDrive.
-Files on one's computer are also automatically uploaded to OneDrive by default, causing numerous issues (such as synchronization errors and duplicate files) Turning off this automatic backup is also of considerable difficulty, as one has to navigate a number of settings to get to this option.
+Files on one's computer are also automatically uploaded to OneDrive by default, causing numerous issues (such as synchronization errors and duplicate files). Turning off this automatic backup is not user-friendly, as the user must navigate multiple settings to disable this option.
-To mitigate this somewhat, user can go into Options > Save > Set the check mark on "save locally as default". It still takes multiple clicks to save a file, but the cloud options are at least a bit less intrusive.
+The user can go into Options > Save > Set the check mark on "save locally as default". This still requires multiple clicks to save a file, but the cloud options are marginally less intrusive.
 ===Forced Diagnostic Data Transmission===