Microsoft has quietly tested Microsoft 365 apps with ads and some features removed. For a limited time, users could use Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for Windows 11 for free, Beeboom reports.
Microsoft allowed users to work in core applications with built-in advertising – an advertising banner was displayed on the right, and a silent commercial was launched every few hours.
Microsoft also introduced a number of restrictions: users were prohibited from saving files locally, they were automatically uploaded to OneDrive. In addition, the free versions were significantly cut down - in Word you could not change line spacing or borders, in Excel all data analysis tools, recommended charts and macros were removed, and in PowerPoint many features were also lost.
Overall, the free versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint were very limited versions of what the company offers through subscription. However, in a comment to PCWorld, a company spokesperson said that the ad-supported apps were part of a limited test and that there are no plans to fully launch a free version of Microsoft 365 yet.
Microsoft planned to launch a free, ad-supported Office suite back in 2009, but abandoned the idea. The growing number of free alternatives to 365 is likely forcing the company to return to this format, but such a stripped-down feature is unlikely to gain widespread support among users.