02/10/2026
We have seen in the past few days a number of videos related to people not being aware or wondering why all of the sudden they are required to pay for the use of apps like Microsoft word.
Well the short answer to that is this. Microsoft Word, an application that resides within the Microsoft Office Suite, has always been an application that requires some form of being purchased. Whether that be within the Microsoft 365 subscription or through perpetual licensing. It has been this way since it’s inception in the late 1990s.
For individuals that possess a Microsoft account, you can use apps like Word, PowerPoint and Excel via the web interface for free with limited functionality.
Most of the videos we are seeing referance that the user was using the app with no issue whatsoever, then all of the sudden they are required to pay for a subscription. This is caused by one of two things, the user was utilizing the app on a trial basis or the user preformed an action that is not granted in the free to use portion of the application.
We have also seen that individuals are really only associating the name Microsoft as being one product when in fact, it is multiple products. The Microsoft Windows operating system, that comes on the vast majority of computers these days, represents only one segment of the Microsoft ecosystem. Just because you purchased a computer with the Windows operating system on it doesn’t grant you a license for all the other parts of the Microsoft ecosystem.
Here are a couple of examples explaining the key differences between the Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office suite. Another way to look at the differences is by thinking about it like this. Microsoft Windows is a new house you just bought, that house has all the features needed to function. Without furniture and decor this house is just a house, the Microsoft Office suite in this scenario is the furniture and decor.