Microsoft 365 Apps SHOULD NOT overwrite Office 2019/2021 one-time retail installs
I want to raise a serious concern about Microsoft 365 Apps being imposed over existing Office 2019/2021 installations that were activated with legitimate one-time installation retail keys. In our case, these are not Microsoft 365 subscriptions and they are not licenses we can simply deactivate and reactivate freely. They are one-time installation retail keys. Once the product has been installed and activated, removing Office and reinstalling it later can make the original key unusable or trigger “already used” activation problems. That is precisely why the current behavior is so damaging. We have PCs with legitimate Office 2019/2021 installations. These machines did not request a migration to Microsoft 365 Apps. However, after internet connection, Office update activity, or Microsoft account interaction, Office appears to silently update, convert, or replace the existing retail installation with the Microsoft 365 Apps version. This is not a minor inconvenience. It creates a serious licensing and operational problem: -A valid one-time Office 2019/2021 installation is replaced by Microsoft 365 Apps without clear, explicit consent. -The original retail installation is no longer cleanly usable. -Fixing the issue requires uninstalling Office, removing Click-to-Run/licensing/account leftovers, and reinstalling the previous Office 2019/2021 version. -But because these keys are one-time installation keys, that reinstall process can render the original key unusable or create activation failures. -In practice, a forced Microsoft 365 conversion can destroy the value of a legitimate one-time Office license. From a user’s perspective, this looks less like a normal software update and more like an exploitative commercial strategy: using Microsoft’s control over Office updates, account sign-ins, Click-to-Run, and activation systems to push already-paid retail users toward Microsoft 365 subscriptions. Even if Microsoft does not intend that result, the practical effect is that users who already paid for Office 2019/2021 can lose practical access to their licensed product and are then nudged toward paying again through a subscription. This should not happen. A perpetual or one-time installation Office license and Microsoft 365 Apps are different products with different licensing models. Microsoft should not silently replace or convert one into the other because a Microsoft 365 account exists on the PC, because the user signs into Office, because OneDrive is present, or because Office updates are enabled. At minimum, Microsoft should provide: -A clear opt-in confirmation before replacing, converting, upgrading, or rebranding Office 2019/2021 retail installations as Microsoft 365 Apps. -A supported way to block Microsoft 365 Apps from taking over one-time installation Office versions. -A clean removal tool that fully removes Microsoft 365 Apps, Click-to-Run leftovers, licensing remnants, and account-based activation conflicts. -A reliable way to restore the original Office 2019/2021 retail installation without invalidating or losing the original one-time key. -Clear separation between Windows account sign-in, OneDrive sign-in, Microsoft 365 entitlement, and local Office retail activation. Users who purchased legitimate one-time installation Office licenses should not be forced into Microsoft 365 Apps by unclear update behavior. If Microsoft wants users to move to Microsoft 365, that should be a deliberate, informed choice — not a silent process that leaves the user cleaning up the installation and losing access to a paid retail license. I am not asking how to install Microsoft 365. I am asking Microsoft to stop Microsoft 365 Apps from taking over valid one-time Office 2019/2021 installations without explicit consent.
Question about Team/Group Calendar
I’m curious if anyone has any answers or suggestions for the following scenario: Within my organization, I’d like to create a single M365 team containing all departments. Within MS Teams, each department would have its own Channel under that one all-encompassing team, where they could schedule meetings, communicate, share files, etc. Each department has roughly 5 team members and there are 8 departments, so let’s say this all-encompassing team will contain 40-45 members total. Each department schedules weekly status meetings. My vision is to have a single shared calendar containing weekly status meetings of all departments, and I’d like for all team members across all departments to be able to see that shared calendar, but here’s the challenge: I don’t want each team member to have all department meetings display on their own work calendar, so they’re not confused as to what meetings they actually need to join versus just be aware of, but only display meetings they are individually invited to. I would however like if they had the ability to see all team meetings if they are looking at the greater Team/Group calendar in Outlook. I also don’t want all team members to be notified about other department/channel meetings, for example if it’s cancelled or rescheduled. I only want them notified about meetings they as an individual are invited to. Is there functionality or workarounds that support this scenario? Thanks in advance!Can we detach Viva Connections from teams ?
Hello Everyone , Is there a way that we can create Viva Connections as a separate application (Detached from MS Teams) ? It would be helpful because we need it to be a standalone not to be linked in MS teams. Also Please enlighten me if we can create a Sharepoint Site as a windows/mac desktop application. It would be great to know thanks.
How to exclude none Entra registered devices from 365 app update
Hi, Looking for some advice if possible, we have been using the 365 app update for all of our devices and the inventory has imported our Citrix virtual machines, the knowledge base articles suggest to exclude these through an Entra AD group, We are unable to do this as these machines are not Entra registered, they just have 365 apps installed on them. These VM's are none persistent and the updates have been causing issue to users during the day when working so we have paused the update on all devices for now. Thanks in advance!Need Suggestions in implementing Employee Experience using MSOffice 365 tools
Hey Everyone, I'm eager to develop a universal portal for certain users, resembling a webpage with a more intuitive user interface and a more robust user experience. What pre-built solutions within the Microsoft Office 365 suite could facilitate this? I want to host it as a Desktop application as well as a website. As per my analysis: 1) Sharepoint Online - A better handy solution - But I need to customise a lot. Not a ready made solution. 2) Power Pages - I dont have much knowledge on this one. 3) Viva Connections - It does solves those problems. But it mainly depends on MS Teams. I need it to be detached from Teams. Thanks in advance !Need some help in deciding the office 365 tool
Hey Everyone, I'm eager to develop a universal portal for certain users, resembling a webpage with a more intuitive user interface and a more robust user experience. What pre-built solutions within the Microsoft Office 365 suite could facilitate this? As per my analysis - Sharepoint Online and Power pages seem to be some of the solutions. Just want to hear about all the tools so that I can arrive at a solution. Thanks 🙂
User Authentication Bandwith
We have proposed M365 Apps for enterprise for one of the BFSI Customer. They currently use Proxy server for Connecting across internet. They have doubts if their Current setup would be able to match the authentication bandwidth requirement for M365 Apps. Do we have any idea on how much bandwidth is consumed when the user is authenticated in M365 Apps??
onenote
Hey, I have used OneNote for more than 4 years, though this time I have lost lots of my notebooks, and in frustration went forth and back between OneNote and pen and paper. OneNote is a great tool, but I don’t feel secure using it, I would like to get that feeling of security. Right now, my notebooks are shattered over different notebook versions and different accounts due to OneNote's shift from OneNote 2016 to OneNote 10 and back and the natural shift from primary school to high school. I need a way to combine all my OneNote, so they are synchronized and saved both on my OneNote desktop and on my OneNote profile on the internet. I need to be able to make a backup of my OneNote as a PDF or word file that is readable, and I can save on my computer, so I will always have my notes even If problems, deletion of a version, or changes of a version happens to OneNote. I also need the ability to give a copy of my notes away, in such a way that when the receiver gets the notes the copy of the note will be theirs and they can change the notes as much as they want without affecting my version of the note. The receiver should still have the notebook even If my version expires or I lose access. I really hope you can help me achieve these things so I Can have use of the powerful tools of OneNote in the future without stress or fear of losing my notes. I hope I can help others in my generation with this problem when I have learned how to deal with it from you.Excel Windows Client co-authoring
Hey everyone - I have read a few other posts on this topic, but none of them seem to be a smoking gun for me. I am trying to co-author an excel document with other members of my team. We are all running version 16.0.8431.2242. Here is how we are attempting: 1. We have an excel document that is part of an Office 365 Group. 2. The O365 group is synced to our machine using OneDrive for Business. 3. The excel file has been shared with the members of the team. 4. Whenever we attempt to get more than 1 person in the file, the additional authors receive a message that the file is locked for editing. According to what I have been reading, the version we are running should support co-authoring in the windows client app, correct? I haven't seen many mentions of attempting this via groups / OFB - but if that is what is causing the issue - how should we be doing this? Thanks Steve
