Microsoft 365 gets a new logo, a new name, and a higher price.
You’d think that Microsoft’s marketing team would have learned something after last year’s shambolic rollout of the Recall feature. Maybe, before trying another rollout, they might talk to a few customers, do some focus groups, even ask a few members of the press and analyst community for their advice.
They botched the price increase
Let me bend over backward to Microsoft here. They launched Office 365 (which later became Microsoft 365 and is now Microsoft 365 Copilot) more than a dozen years ago, and in that time they have not raised the price once. In case you haven’t noticed, we are living through some inflationary times right now.
So, there was plenty of room for Microsoft to roll out a gentle price increase. "Hey y’all, we know this isn’t welcome news, but we need to bump up the Microsoft 365 subscription price by two bucks a month. It’s still a great deal!" Netflix does that every year or two and no one shows up at Netflix HQ with pitchforks and torches.
No one wants to pay for AI
There’s a ton of potential in AI, and it has some solid use cases today, for tasks like writing code and finding patterns in large databases.
The announcement was bungled, too
I pay annually for my Microsoft 365 Family subscription. The price went up more than a week ago, but I haven’t received an email telling me about it. As the account manager, I should see that notice before I see the new price in my dashboard.
Well, surely you can just turn it off. Right?
The smartest thing Microsoft could have done was to make this initial release of Copilot an opt-in feature for a few months. They could have said, "We’re excited to let everyone try this! Just click OK here!"
How long will the Classic option last?
If you try to cancel Microsoft 365 to avoid the price increase (or just to say no to the AI features), Microsoft’s subscription management page offers the option to downgrade to a Classic plan, which turns out to be exactly what you signed up for not that long ago, minus the price increase.
Why is Microsoft doing this?
I have yet to see a single person praising the implementation of Copilot in Microsoft 365 or telling Satya Nadella they’ve gotten their money’s worth out of this unexpected upgrade.
Conclusion
Microsoft’s Copilot rollout has been met with widespread criticism, and it’s easy to understand why. The price increase was too steep, the AI features are still rough around the edges, and the announcement was poorly executed. It’s clear that Microsoft is trying to boost revenue, but this approach is unlikely to win over customers.
FAQs
Q: Why did Microsoft raise the price of Microsoft 365?
A: Microsoft raised the price to compensate for inflation and to take advantage of the growing demand for AI features.
Q: Will I still be able to use the Classic plan?
A: Yes, you can downgrade to the Classic plan, but it’s only a temporary solution, and Microsoft will likely discontinue it in the near future.
Q: Can I opt out of Copilot?
A: Yes, you can disable Copilot in the Office apps, but be aware that this may have unintended consequences on your Office experience.
Q: Why did Microsoft launch Copilot without an opt-in option?
A: Microsoft launched Copilot without an opt-in option to force users to adopt the new features and increase revenue.
