- Reports have surfaced of a revamp of Microsoft Office, but all is not what it seems
- Microsoft’s central app is for files, scanning, editing and interaction with AI
- Customers are not happy about AI being pushed on them
There’s a whole lot of confusion surrounding Microsoft’s supposed rebrand of Microsoft Office — with some users noticing a new message on the Office.com website.
This message says; “The Microsoft 365 Copilot app (formerly Office) lets you create, share and collaborate in one place with your favorite apps now including Copilot.”
This is a change from the previous name, ‘Microsoft Office’, but this change happened in 2022. The change was implemented to push consumers to use the Microsoft 365 Copilot app, which for the past year has been used as an access point to Office apps alongside Copilot.
Microsoft wants you to think ‘Copilot’, not ‘Office’
It’s likely that these changes have created confusion due to Microsoft’s expanded efforts to push Copilot to its customers, whether they like it or not.
The change (whenever it happened) has raised concerns among users and critics, who worry that this could not only cause some confusion, but also end the Office name, which has become an industry-agnostic icon (as evidenced by its $30+ billion quarterly revenue).
This means that apps such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint will be accessed via the M365 Copilot app. But – it also marks an even bigger push for generative AI tools.
For example, Office.com now redirects to a new M365 page, which offers subscriptions to Redmond’s popular Office apps, with Copilot subscriptions included by default.
The confusion over the rebranding has also coincided with recent price hikes, adding to customer frustration.
Microsoft’s core M365 Copilot app is marketed as an all-in-one productivity suite that can be used to access files, scan documents, edit work and interact with Copilot.
Markets that do not currently have access to Copilot will do without the Copilot tab in the app, but the Microsoft 365 Copilot name and icon will remain for consistent branding. Non-paying customers will also be restricted from accessing Copilot’s AI features.
The app is different from the Copilot app, which is the original way to interact with Redmond’s AI chatbot.
Office’s rebrand also served as the perfect opportunity for Microsoft to start using its new domains – pages previously under the domains office.com and microoft365.com are now redirected to m365.cloud.microsoft.
Following CEO Satya Nadella’s recent call for people to stop worrying about AI slop and focus on the technology’s significant impacts, the term ‘Microslop’ was coined. One that has also been used in response to the rebranded app being pushed on users regardless of their AI needs.
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