Teams app is being forced out of the Microsoft Office bundle. It’s a compulsory divorce with a side-benefit for anyone who doesn’t use Teams or doesn’t use it often.
Microsoft has now decided (under duress) to stop selling their Teams app as part of Microsoft Office / Microsoft 365 bundles throughout the world.
That’s an extension of the October 2023 decision to separate Teams from Office products in the EU.
It means Microsoft can have consistent product lines globally instead of separate SKU’s for Europe. (Why did it take Microsoft six months to realise that different EU products wasn’t a great idea?)
The European Commission has been investigating Microsoft over a possible antitrust breach so their ‘conscious uncoupling’ of the products is a preemptive move to prevent a fine.
This could be good news for anyone who doesn’t use Teams or only occasionally. Microsoft tries to ram Teams down their customers throats by installing the app and making it start automatically in Windows. Grrrrr.
If Teams is out of the Office bundle, maybe this nuisance will be reduced? We can only hope.
Teams Free (classic) is shutting down – what’s next?
Teams standard gets fewer features in a sneaky Microsoft move
