I spotted this additional information about Microsoft’s consumer products. Microsoft is increasing the price of its consumer Microsoft 365 bundle by three dollars per month, marking the first price hike in twelve years. The monthly cost for Microsoft 365 Personal will rise from seven dollars to ten dollars, while the Family plan will increase from ten dollars to thirteen dollars monthly. This change will provide subscribers access to new artificial intelligence features, including the Copilot AI assistant across various applications such as Word and Excel. The price adjustment takes effect immediately for new subscribers, with existing users seeing the change upon renewal.
Microsoft has announced that it will no longer support its Office applications on Windows 10 after October 14, 2025, coinciding with the end of support for the operating system itself. Users will need to upgrade to Windows 11 to continue using Microsoft 365 applications. Although the apps will continue to function after support ends, Microsoft warns of potential performance and reliability issues over time. The company is encouraging users to refresh their Windows 10 PCs, declaring 2025 as the year for this transition. Microsoft is also offering Extended Security Updates, allowing consumers to pay thirty dollars for an extra year of updates, while businesses can purchase up to three years of extended support. The push for Windows 11 comes amid strict hardware requirements that prevent many older machines from upgrading.
According to a recent Gartner survey, only three point three percent of IT leaders reported that Microsoft Copilot has delivered significant value to their organizations.
Microsoft’s AI Red Team warns that the security of generative AI systems is an ongoing challenge, as their recent analysis of over one hundred products revealed that these models not only amplify existing security risks but also create new ones. The team, which includes Azure Chief Technology Officer Mark Russinovich, emphasizes that the task of securing AI will never be complete. They suggest that understanding the capabilities of AI systems is crucial for effective defense and highlight that simpler attack methods may often be more effective than complex gradient-based attacks. Their findings are detailed in a pre-print paper, where they outline key lessons learned, including the importance of human oversight in red teaming and the pervasive but hard-to-measure harms of responsible AI.
Microsoft is implementing a significant change to its account sign-in process starting in February, where users will be automatically kept signed in to their Microsoft accounts unless they choose to sign out or use private browsing. This new policy, which affects usage on public computers, means that users will no longer receive a prompt to stay signed in each time they access their accounts. Users are urged to remember to sign out after their session or utilize private browsing to protect their information. If a user forgets to sign out, they can still remotely sign out from all devices except Xbox consoles. This update follows Microsoft’s recent addition of passkey support for consumer accounts, allowing users to sign in using biometric data or security keys.
Why do we care?
Copilot hasn’t been an overwhelming success so far sales wise, and as any savvy sales person will tell you, bundle, bundle, bundle. I both have to compliment them on the strategy to push adoption and at the same time, question why adoption is low. There are a host of potential reasons, from product not working to lack of training to questionable ROI.
Thematically, Microsoft’s choices are pushing to drive the adoption they want. More AI and migration to Windows 11 being top priorities for the company. Your role with your customers is to ensure those align with their goals.