Microsoft Bundling Copilot With Increased Microsoft 365 Subscription
engine
11:18 am on Jan 17, 2025 (gmt 0)
Microsoft is now bundling Copilot with an Microsoft 365 subscription, at a slightly higher cost of an additional $3 USD per month from subscription renewal. Pricing for other regions is available from a users' account page.
Perhaps they can bundle it with Apache Open Office :) that's my personal favourite.
graeme_p
12:33 pm on Jan 17, 2025 (gmt 0)
Google are doing something similar.
I though competition (anti-trust) law limited bundling? Is it different for software? Google are doing the same.
@Mark_A wondering why you prefer it to Libre Office.
thecoalman
5:00 pm on Jan 18, 2025 (gmt 0)
The anti-trust case against MS over bundling IE wasn't the about the bundling. It was all the other stuff they doing like requiring the PC manufacturer to leave it and other MS software as default. There was other allegations among them making it difficult to install third party software and make it default.
graeme_p
6:29 pm on Jan 18, 2025 (gmt 0)
@thecoalman I was not thinking of the previous case against them, but that bundling is regarded as anti-competitive in general.
The fact that they are charging more is pretty good evidence that it is bundling.
engine
9:31 am on Jan 19, 2025 (gmt 0)
It really looks like a good move by MS, bringing Copilot to a wider audience, imho. Whether regulators will look at this, and then take action, is way ahead in time.
Mark_A
8:06 am on Jan 20, 2025 (gmt 0)
@Mark_A wondering why you prefer it to Libre Office.
Hi graeme_p I never tried Libre Office, Apache was the first of the open source office products I tried. It seemed to do everything I wanted so I stuck with it.
ronin
11:59 pm on Jan 26, 2025 (gmt 0)
Alternatively, if you don't need or want Copilot, don't pay for it:
@Mark_A Thanks for the answer/ LibreOffice is a fork of Open Office and has been developed a lot more and just about everyone who uses Linux has switched to it so I tend to think of LibreOffice as the default version.
Of course its probably a bit lighter because it is older.
engine
4:36 pm on Jan 27, 2025 (gmt 0)
I suspect the regulators will be looking at the bundling aspect of Copilot, especially as the option most will be offered automatically includes it with Microsoft 365 subscription: ie, the higher price subscription. It'll probably take the regulator too long to catch on and the damage will be done. It's as if some big companies cannot help themselves but to abuse their power.
