Microsoft had a tough week in the middle of January. The tech giant was attacked by Salesforce, controversially rebranded some of its most iconic apps, and raised the price of Microsoft 365 while forcing Copilot onto millions of paid subscribers. Even the good news surrounding Microsoft last week had a negative undertone, since a welcome addition to the Windows 11 taskbar only came after years of the same feature being available on smartphones.
To top things off, Android co-founder Rich Miner discussed how Bill Gates cost Microsoft $400 billion by losing the mobile space to Android (and iOS).
Well, they say any publicity is good publicity. It seems Microsoft decided to put that idiom to the test.
Microsoft 365 increases in price
Microsoft 365 went up in price for the first time in 12 years. While Microsoft did not blame the price increase on Copilot, the AI-powered tool is now included with Personal and Home subscriptions, though there are limits.
The price increase adds $3 per month to Microsoft 365. That means you'll have to pay $9.99 per month for Microsoft 365 Personal and $12.99 per month for Microsoft 365 Family.
Following the price hike, Microsoft will give those with a Microsoft 365 Personal or Home subscription a limited amount of Copilot credits. Getting unlimited access to Copilot still requires a separate paid plan, Copilot Pro, which costs an additional $20 per month.
If you don't want Copilot or prefer to stay on a more affordable plan, you can switch to a "classic" sub tier, but that option will only be available for a limited time.
Microsoft rebrands its Office apps
Microsoft 365 got a new name this month, sort of. The service has the same names as before but its app on iOS, Android, and Windows is now called "Microsoft 365 Copilot." That new name replaces the oddly worded "Microsoft 365 (Office)" name that indicated many still search for "Office" in app stores to find Microsoft 365 applications.
The change brings a new app icon and name rolled out on January 15, 2025. Microsoft also updated the URL for Microsoft 365. The change coincides with Microsoft giving AI credits to Microsoft 365 Personal and Home subscribers, as mentioned above.
The change drew criticisms from many, including our executive editor Jez Corden.
"Microsoft 365 itself was an absurdist idea, throwing away decades of cultural muscle memory for what feels like an ideological effort rather than one based on good sense," said Corden. "Calling it Microsoft 365 Copilot, before Copilot is even really a thing, again strikes me as completely odd."
I agree with Corden. Copilot isn't an established brand and many dislike the concept of integrating AI with everything. The move comes off as a desperate attempt to build brand recognition for Copilot by attaching it to Microsoft's most successful applications.
Salesforce CEO attacks Microsoft
Marc Benioff, the CEO of Salesforce, attacked Microsoft yet again. The executive has been outspoken regarding Microsoft's AI efforts and Benioff took another jab at Microsoft recently.
"Microsoft has disappointed everybody with how they've approached this AI world," said Benioff in a recent interview. "And today, when we look at Copilot and what they've done. They've repackaged OpenAI and dropped it into Excel."
Benioff called Copilot the new Clippy a few months ago, so the recent criticism of Microsoft's AI efforts is on brand for the Salesforce CEO. Of course, Salesforce is a major competitor to Microsoft in the AI space, so all criticisms in either direction need to be taken with a grain of salt.
An ongoing ad campaign from Salesforce that's airing during the NFL playoffs states that Agentforce is "what AI was meant to be." While those ads do not mention Microsoft or Copilot specifically, the message of the campaign echoes the thoughts of Benioff.
Windows 11 adds battery percentage to taskbar
Windows 11 will soon have a feature that I bet many people already assumed existed. The tech giant started testing the option to show a PC's battery percentage within the taskbar late last week. That feature is already available on macOS, iPadOS, iOS, and most Android devices, but it has been absent on Windows 11 up to this point.
The option to show battery percentage in the taskbar is a hidden feature in the latest Dev Channel Windows Insider build of Windows 11. Assuming the feature works as intended and lacks any major issues, it should roll out to Insiders officially in the near future. Hopefully, it doesn't take long for the option to ship to everyone.
How Microsoft made "the greatest mistake of all time"
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has gone on record saying that losing the mobile market to Android was his "greatest mistake ever." Rich Miner, an Android co-founder, has a different takeaway from the history of Microsoft, mobile devices, and Android.
"I literally helped create Android to prevent Microsoft from controlling the phone the way they did the PC - stifling innovation," said Miner. "So it's always funny for me to hear Gates whine about losing mobile to Android."
Miner went on to say, "so, sorry, Bill, you're more responsible for losing the $400B than you realize."
The statements from Gates and Miner all have merit, even if the tones vary drastically between them.
Reviews
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Capture card / charger
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Tomtoc laptop bag
⭐⭐⭐⭐HyperX Cloud MIX 2
⭐⭐⭐ 1/2 Lenovo ThinkPad X12
Each week our experts review the latest games and gadgets. The most intriguing item we've looked at lately is the AVerMedia Elite Go GC313Pro, which is a combined capture card and charging brick.
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Our team also looked at an excellent laptop bag from Tomtoc, a gaming headset with long battery life from HyperX, and Lenovo's ThinkPad X12 Detachable PC.
Deals
We love laptops, apps, and games here at Windows Central. What we dislike is paying full price for things. Thankfully, there are some great deals going on right now to help you save money on essential apps, a popular game, and a Copilot+ PC.
