Do you want to help improve the product? These and similar questions have been part of everyday life for every PC user for three decades. So it’s normal for developers and vendors to want to gain more insight into how users use their applications. But if Microsoft now wants to do this quietly and secretly, that’s a breach of trust.
Moritz Förster has been writing for iX and heise online since 2012. In addition to the iX-Channel, he is responsible for the workplace and server areas.
In the best case: bad customer communication
Assuming the best of intentions, the group simply wants to find out how many companies still use a good old office. After all, there is now rarely a reason to immediately upgrade to a new version. For many users, Office is simply feature complete. But: No support and many security gaps are just not a profitable situation.
In this case, most users would still like to be asked for their consent before the PC house tour – as is also usual. And the complete lack of clarity about which data Microsoft is querying exactly – and whether it has a personal reference, that’s something one would also like to know. Information on the anonymization of the information? none.
But is the best scenario likely? No, because too often Microsoft customers have been misused as cash beef cattle. And in recent years, such nagware incidents have not only increased, Microsoft is no longer even ashamed of them. The best example: Users should be forced to switch to Windows 10 with push-button methods – and version 11 is forcing cloud accounts to be used.
Only buy once is so 1999
Office is a thorn in Microsoft’s side anyway: Customers only buy the classic package once, which is no longer acceptable in the age of software subscriptions! At least annually, but better monthly, users should shell out for the favor of being allowed to use the programs. And Microsoft has prepared particularly great premium features for companies in particular.
Office isn’t even supposed to be called that anymore, Microsoft 365 is clearly the future. Accordingly, version 2021 was released quietly and secretly – the last of its kind. Does anyone really expect that users of Office 2013 or older will be offered a free upgrade to 2021 from April? That would at least get over the lousy communication.
But the gut feeling is rarely wrong when it comes to Microsoft: once it has been determined, the presumably high number of unsupported users sparkles golden in the eyes of the sales department – whoever has already bought Office surely has little objection to a subscription? There is no better time to bind the masses of IT-lazy SMEs forever.
(fo)
