Microsoft increases Office 365 and Microsoft 365 license prices

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

The Hacker News discussion primarily revolves around Microsoft's recent subscription price increases, the perceived necessity and value of the Office suite (especially Excel), and the role of AI integration (Copilot) in these changes.

Here are the three most prevalent themes:

1. Price Hikes Perceived as Necessary but Poorly Received, Potentially Due to Acquisitions or AI Costs.

Users speculate the price increases are directly linked to covering massive expenditures, such as the Activision-Blizzard acquisition, or funding costly, underperforming AI initiatives like Copilot.

Supporting Quote: "Xbox spent $75 billion buying activision-blizzard, an acquisition which is very far away from making its money back, so price hikes were inevitable to cover the massive money hole that left." - "jack_tripper"
Supporting Quote: "Microsoft increasing prices on a subscription product is an admission that their AI play is failing. The project sucks up money and yields none of the promised returns." - "mrweasel"

2. Excel's Dominant, Yet Controversial, Position in Professional Settings.

There is a strong consensus that while many users could switch to alternatives for basic tasks, Excel remains indispensable for "serious financial work" and enterprise inertia, despite known issues with scalability, complexity, and auditability.

Supporting Quote: "For an org where individual users aren't technical I'd never try to get by w/o Microsoft Office. The assumption by all large orgs. that you're going to use Microsoft Office is pervasive." - "EvanAnderson"
Supporting Quote: "I hate using Excel. But I 100% understand why world runs on it." - "justapassenger"

3. Skepticism Regarding Forced AI Upgrades (Copilot) and Resistance to Subscription Models.

Many commenters expressed frustration that Microsoft is pushing features like Copilot—which they neither want nor need—as a justification for price hikes, which funnels users toward unwanted, continuous subscription dependency.

Supporting Quote: "This feels like a dangerous game they're playing. Yes, there is some lock in, but competitors exist and are better than ever. The new 'features' they're justifying this with (Copilot) isn't even something that most people want" - "acheong08"
Supporting Quote: "Can I just get the version without CoPilot for cheaper? Or at all?" - "SideburnsOfDoom"

🚀 Project Ideas

Project 1: De-Risk/Audit Excel Data Transformation Pipeline

Summary

A tool designed to automatically audit, document, and propose safer alternatives for complex data cleaning and transformation logic currently embedded solely within complex Excel Power Query/M-code or legacy VBA macros.
Core Value Proposition: Mitigates high financial risk associated with "rogue" or opaque Excel workflows, providing auditability and reproducibility sought by both technical teams and risk-averse finance departments.

Details

Key	Value
Target Audience	Finance departments, auditors, and dev teams tasked with maintaining mission-critical Excel-based financial models.
Core Feature	Decompiles/Parses Power Query M-code or VBA into a reproducible, version-controlled format (like Python scripts or declarative YAML/JSON configuration) and runs sanity checks (e.g., comparing output against known edge cases).
Tech Stack	Python (for parsing/analysis, potentially using `py_miniplumber` or similar for lightweight M-code interpretation if available, or building custom parsers), Static Analysis tools, Markdown/Git/YAML for output documentation.
Difficulty	High
Monetization	Hobby

Notes

Why HN commenters would love it (quote users if possible): Directly addresses the high-stakes errors mentioned: "My first job out of uni was developing a devops pipeline for Excel spreadsheets after one went rogue and cost the broker trader I was hired by $10m in one fun afternoon." This shows the perceived high ROI for such a tool.
Potential for discussion or practical utility: Highly debatable utility vs. manual auditing ("I hate using Excel. But I 100% understand why world runs on it."), which means the tool could spark great discussion on automation vs. human oversight in finance.

Project 2: Perpetual License Office Feature Parity Toolkit

Project Title

Perpetual License Office Feature Parity Toolkit

Summary

A lightweight, self-contained desktop application that offers modern, enhanced features (like advanced array functions, simple collaboration hooks, and improved CSV/UTF-8 import handling) for users running older, non-subscription versions of Microsoft Excel (e.g., 2016/2019/2021).
Core Value Proposition: Provides the necessary productivity lift for users who refuse to adopt M365 subscriptions but still need modern functional improvements beyond what their legacy perpetual license offers.

Details

Key	Value
Target Audience	Users deliberately avoiding M365 subscriptions ("benterix: you may notice the last edition of softwares that had perpetual licenses but moved on to subscription model tend to be very expensive today"), including those who prefer local software.
Core Feature	Provides modern Excel array function compatibility layer, superior UTF-8 text import engine (leveraging Calc/Python for parsing), and perhaps lightweight local file synchronization hooks to mimic basic collaboration (using Syncthing/Bitmessage as hinted).
Tech Stack	Cross-platform desktop framework (Electron/Tauri for accessibility, or native C++ for performance), Python for backend data utility tasks.
Difficulty	Medium
Monetization	Hobby

Notes

Why HN commenters would love it (quote users if possible): It directly targets the pain point of feeling locked into subscriptions ("Can I just get the version without CoPilot for cheaper? Or at all?"). This project delivers the useful part of the upgrade without the forced AI features or subscription cost.
Potential for discussion or practical utility: This sparks debate on the viability of perpetual software models and whether modern tooling must be cloud-based or subscription-driven.

Project 3: Spreadsheet UX Innovation Sandbox (Bifurcated UI/UX)

Project Title

Spreadsheet UX Innovation Sandbox (Bifurcated UI/UX)

Summary

A new, intentionally non-Excel-copying spreadsheet application focusing on strong separation of data, logic, and presentation, designed for power users who find current FOSS alternatives too conservative.
Core Value Proposition: Attempts to solve the UX inertia problem by offering a fundamentally superior, clean UI/UX paradigm rather than replicating the familiar but flawed ribbon interface, appealing to users tired of incremental software bloat.

Details

Key	Value
Target Audience	Technical power users dissatisfied with Excel's flaws (version control, fat-fingering) but unwilling to adopt FOSS tools that feel like poorly cloned Excel variants ("What I want is for someone to figure out a better UI and better UX, not just copy what's out there.").
Core Feature	Implement a model inspired by Quantrix/Lotus Improv: data resides in one object layer, formulas/logic in a separate layer, and visualization in a third. Heavy emphasis on first-class data structures (like true tables/views) over loose cells.
Tech Stack	Modern web stack (React/Vue with WebAssembly for calculation performance), potentially leveraging technologies familiar to developers (like declarative UI for structure).
Difficulty	High
Monetization	Hobby

Notes

Why HN commenters would love it (quote users if possible): It aims to be the "Pixelmator Excel" mentioned: "Someone really should make Pixelmator Excel. That’s a viable startup, I think..." It appeals to the desire for genuine innovation over mere compatibility.
Potential for discussion or practical utility: This challenges the assumption that Excel's WIMP/ribbon interface is the only path forward for serious modeling, directly inviting discussion on whether users truly value compatibility over correctness/usability.