Just to be clear, this isn’t cloud-based rentware: this is software
where users thought they were paying a one-time price for lifetime
ownership. You know, how software used to be sold in the old days.
But no. Microsoft is disabling the software that these users
supposedly own. They won’t be able to use it any more.
<https://www.theverge.com/news/947518/microsoft-office-2019-for-mac-end-of-support-no-edit>
Just to be clear, this isn’t cloud-based rentware: this is software
where users thought they were paying a one-time price for lifetime
ownership. You know, how software used to be sold in the old days.
But no. Microsoft is disabling the software that these users
supposedly own. They won’t be able to use it any more.
<https://www.theverge.com/news/947518/microsoft-office-2019-for-mac-end-of-support-no-edit>
On 6/10/26 11:16 PM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:
Just to be clear, this isn’t cloud-based rentware: this is software
where users thought they were paying a one-time price for lifetime
ownership. You know, how software used to be sold in the old days.
But no. Microsoft is disabling the software that these users
supposedly own. They won’t be able to use it any more.
<https://www.theverge.com/news/947518/microsoft-office-2019-for-mac-end-of-support-no-edit>
It has never been the case that standalone Office versions were
perpetually functional. At some point older version file formats
became unreadable to new versions and updates ceased.
On Fri, 12 Jun 2026 08:13:03 -0400, Tom Elam wrote:
On 6/10/26 11:16 PM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:
Just to be clear, this isn’t cloud-based rentware: this is software
where users thought they were paying a one-time price for lifetime
ownership. You know, how software used to be sold in the old days.
But no. Microsoft is disabling the software that these users
supposedly own. They won’t be able to use it any more.
<https://www.theverge.com/news/947518/microsoft-office-2019-for-mac-end-of-support-no-edit>
It has never been the case that standalone Office versions were
perpetually functional. At some point older version file formats
became unreadable to new versions and updates ceased.
But you never lost the ability to use your old version to continue
working with your old documents, did you?
Well, now it’s happened.
On Fri, 12 Jun 2026 08:13:03 -0400, Tom Elam wrote:
On 6/10/26 11:16 PM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:
Just to be clear, this isn’t cloud-based rentware: this is software
where users thought they were paying a one-time price for lifetime
ownership. You know, how software used to be sold in the old days.
But no. Microsoft is disabling the software that these users
supposedly own. They won’t be able to use it any more.
<https://www.theverge.com/news/947518/microsoft-office-2019-for-mac-end-of-support-no-edit>
It has never been the case that standalone Office versions were
perpetually functional. At some point older version file formats
became unreadable to new versions and updates ceased.
But you never lost the ability to use your old version to continue
working with your old documents, did you?
Well, now it’s happened.
On 6/12/26 8:16 PM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:
On Fri, 12 Jun 2026 08:13:03 -0400, Tom Elam wrote:
On 6/10/26 11:16 PM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:
Just to be clear, this isn’t cloud-based rentware: this is software
where users thought they were paying a one-time price for lifetime
ownership. You know, how software used to be sold in the old days.
But no. Microsoft is disabling the software that these users
supposedly own. They won’t be able to use it any more.
<https://www.theverge.com/news/947518/microsoft-office-2019-for-mac-
end-of-support-no-edit>
It has never been the case that standalone Office versions were
perpetually functional. At some point older version file formats
became unreadable to new versions and updates ceased.
But you never lost the ability to use your old version to continue
working with your old documents, did you?
Well, now it’s happened.
No, but they could not open all documents (think *.xlx) from much later versions. Important if you collaborate with others.
On 6/12/26 8:16 PM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:
On Fri, 12 Jun 2026 08:13:03 -0400, Tom Elam wrote:
On 6/10/26 11:16 PM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:
Just to be clear, this isn’t cloud-based rentware: this is
software where users thought they were paying a one-time price
for lifetime ownership. You know, how software used to be sold in
the old days.
But no. Microsoft is disabling the software that these users
supposedly own. They won’t be able to use it any more.
<https://www.theverge.com/news/947518/microsoft-office-2019-for-mac-end-of-support-no-edit>
It has never been the case that standalone Office versions were
perpetually functional. At some point older version file formats
became unreadable to new versions and updates ceased.
But you never lost the ability to use your old version to continue
working with your old documents, did you?
Well, now it’s happened.
No, but they could not open all documents (think *.xlx) from much
later versions. Important if you collaborate with others.
On 6/12/26 8:16 PM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:
On Fri, 12 Jun 2026 08:13:03 -0400, Tom Elam wrote:
On 6/10/26 11:16 PM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:
Just to be clear, this isn’t cloud-based rentware: this is software where users thought they were paying a one-time price for lifetime ownership. You know, how software used to be sold in the old days.
But no. Microsoft is disabling the software that these users
supposedly own. They won’t be able to use it any more.
<https://www.theverge.com/news/947518/microsoft-office-2019-for-mac-end-of
-support-no-edit>
It has never been the case that standalone Office versions were perpetually functional. At some point older version file formats
became unreadable to new versions and updates ceased.
But you never lost the ability to use your old version to continue
working with your old documents, did you?
Well, now it’s happened.
No, but they could not open all documents (think *.xlx) from much later versions. Important if you collaborate with others.
On Sun, 14 Jun 2026 13:23:27 -0400, Tom Elam wrote:
On 6/12/26 8:16 PM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:
On Fri, 12 Jun 2026 08:13:03 -0400, Tom Elam wrote:
On 6/10/26 11:16 PM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:
Just to be clear, this isn’t cloud-based rentware: this is
software where users thought they were paying a one-time price
for lifetime ownership. You know, how software used to be sold in
the old days.
But no. Microsoft is disabling the software that these users
supposedly own. They won’t be able to use it any more.
<https://www.theverge.com/news/947518/microsoft-office-2019-for-mac-end-of-support-no-edit>
It has never been the case that standalone Office versions were
perpetually functional. At some point older version file formats
became unreadable to new versions and updates ceased.
But you never lost the ability to use your old version to continue
working with your old documents, did you?
Well, now it’s happened.
No, but they could not open all documents (think *.xlx) from much
later versions. Important if you collaborate with others.
You seem to think that’s the only way, or the only important way, to
use an office suite.
On 6/14/26 8:06 PM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:
You seem to think that’s the only way, or the only important way,
to use an office suite.
In my consulting business I had to work with Excel, Word and
PowerPoint documents sent to and received from numerous client on
both Windows and Apple platforms. Compatibility was very important
to that business.
On Tue, 16 Jun 2026 14:38:53 -0400, Tom Elam wrote:
On 6/14/26 8:06 PM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:
You seem to think that’s the only way, or the only important way,
to use an office suite.
In my consulting business I had to work with Excel, Word and
PowerPoint documents sent to and received from numerous client on
both Windows and Apple platforms. Compatibility was very important
to that business.
And here I thought you were an Apple apologist, not a Microsoft
apologist. But you can’t be one without the other, can you?
On Jun 14, 2026, Tom Elam wrote
(in article <110mo2f$3pdtl$2@dont-email.me>):
On 6/12/26 8:16 PM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:
On Fri, 12 Jun 2026 08:13:03 -0400, Tom Elam wrote:
On 6/10/26 11:16 PM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:
Just to be clear, this isn’t cloud-based rentware: this is software >>>>> where users thought they were paying a one-time price for lifetime
ownership. You know, how software used to be sold in the old days.
But no. Microsoft is disabling the software that these users
supposedly own. They won’t be able to use it any more.
<https://www.theverge.com/news/947518/microsoft-office-2019-for-mac-end-of
-support-no-edit>
It has never been the case that standalone Office versions were
perpetually functional. At some point older version file formats
became unreadable to new versions and updates ceased.
But you never lost the ability to use your old version to continue
working with your old documents, did you?
Well, now it’s happened.
No, but they could not open all documents (think *.xlx) from much later
versions. Important if you collaborate with others.
Word/Excel/Powerpoint still read/write DOC, RTF, XLS, and PPT. Until MS turns that off. And, oh, they explicitly only handle those formats from Office 97 forwards; older versions, same extensions (exception: RTF hasn’t changed) had different formats which are NOT supported. I alwasys found it funny that AppleWorks could read Word files that Word couldn’t. If you’re ‘collaborating’ with people using older versions of MS Office, save the file in the old format. Simple. Note that MS once provided an extension for Office 2003 which allowed it to read the Office 2007 formats. This extension has since vanished from MS’s site. Gee. I wonder why.
On 6/16/26 8:08 AM, WolfFan wrote:
On Jun 14, 2026, Tom Elam wrote
(in article <110mo2f$3pdtl$2@dont-email.me>):
On 6/12/26 8:16 PM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:
On Fri, 12 Jun 2026 08:13:03 -0400, Tom Elam wrote:
On 6/10/26 11:16 PM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:
Just to be clear, this isn’t cloud-based rentware: this is software
where users thought they were paying a one-time price for lifetime ownership. You know, how software used to be sold in the old days.
But no. Microsoft is disabling the software that these users supposedly own. They won’t be able to use it any more.
<https://www.theverge.com/news/947518/microsoft-office-2019-for-mac-end-
of
-support-no-edit>
It has never been the case that standalone Office versions were perpetually functional. At some point older version file formats became unreadable to new versions and updates ceased.
But you never lost the ability to use your old version to continue working with your old documents, did you?
Well, now it’s happened.
No, but they could not open all documents (think *.xlx) from much later versions. Important if you collaborate with others.
Word/Excel/Powerpoint still read/write DOC, RTF, XLS, and PPT. Until MS turns
that off. And, oh, they explicitly only handle those formats from Office 97 forwards; older versions, same extensions (exception: RTF hasn’t changed) had different formats which are NOT supported. I alwasys found it funny that
AppleWorks could read Word files that Word couldn’t. If you’re ‘collaborating’ with people using older versions of MS Office, save the file in the old format. Simple. Note that MS once provided an extension for Office 2003 which allowed it to read the Office 2007 formats. This extension
has since vanished from MS’s site. Gee. I wonder why.
Which is an issue when you need to access older files that are no longer compatable.
On Jun 19, 2026, Tom Elam wrote
(in article <1113akm$39v3b$2@dont-email.me>):
On 6/16/26 8:08 AM, WolfFan wrote:
On Jun 14, 2026, Tom Elam wrote
(in article <110mo2f$3pdtl$2@dont-email.me>):
On 6/12/26 8:16 PM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:
On Fri, 12 Jun 2026 08:13:03 -0400, Tom Elam wrote:
On 6/10/26 11:16 PM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:
Just to be clear, this isn’t cloud-based rentware: this is software >>>>>>> where users thought they were paying a one-time price for lifetime >>>>>>> ownership. You know, how software used to be sold in the old days. >>>>>>>
But no. Microsoft is disabling the software that these users
supposedly own. They won’t be able to use it any more.
<https://www.theverge.com/news/947518/microsoft-office-2019-for-mac-end-
of
-support-no-edit>
It has never been the case that standalone Office versions were
perpetually functional. At some point older version file formats
became unreadable to new versions and updates ceased.
But you never lost the ability to use your old version to continue
working with your old documents, did you?
Well, now it’s happened.
No, but they could not open all documents (think *.xlx) from much later >>>> versions. Important if you collaborate with others.
Word/Excel/Powerpoint still read/write DOC, RTF, XLS, and PPT. Until MS
turns
that off. And, oh, they explicitly only handle those formats from Office 97 >>> forwards; older versions, same extensions (exception: RTF hasn’t changed) >>> had different formats which are NOT supported. I alwasys found it funny that
AppleWorks could read Word files that Word couldn’t. If you’re
‘collaborating’ with people using older versions of MS Office, save the >>> file in the old format. Simple. Note that MS once provided an extension for >>> Office 2003 which allowed it to read the Office 2007 formats. This extension
has since vanished from MS’s site. Gee. I wonder why.
Which is an issue when you need to access older files that are no longer
compatable.
WordPad could read/write Word 95 files; it’s history. AppleWorks could read/write Word files from versions in the late 1980s; it’s gone. Early versions of Pages could read/write the same file formats that AppleWorks could; that feature has been deleted.
At work we have several older machines, with older software, and yes we can read old formats and do something like export to RTF; all modern word processors, plus apps like Excel and PowerPoint and Keynote and QuarkXpress can read/write RTF. We don’t keep the old machines around just to handle old formats, but the abiity is nice to have. I personally have a beige G3 and an eMac which still run; tey have older software, byb definition. I did it hilarious that MS is breaking Office 2019 but can’t do a damn thing about Office 2004 or Office 98.
Those who really need to access old formats haven lots of ways to do so; keep WordPad, because it’s on a Win10 machine which will never go to Win11; keep an old version of AppleWorks or Pages, as they’re on older machines and can’t. run the latest versions anyway. Keep Office 2003/4 or 2007/8 on older machines. At work we MUST keep certain older systems running, to support legacy hardware; having access to older software is just gravy.
The ONLY reason why MS is killing Office 2019 is a money grab. That’s it. Everyone’s been warned. Time to do a mass update of older files into a formatb that MS doesn’t control, or to take steps to be able to read/write them for the forseeable future, or both. And to scrap MS software off your systems, MS can’t be trusted.
Early
versions of Pages could read/write the same file formats that AppleWorks could; that feature has been deleted.
What could possibly be the reason behind that, and why wouldn't this
fact prompt more people to adopt LibreOffice as their default office suite?
On 6/16/26 10:54 PM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:
On Tue, 16 Jun 2026 14:38:53 -0400, Tom Elam wrote:
On 6/14/26 8:06 PM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:
You seem to think that’s the only way, or the only important way,
to use an office suite.
In my consulting business I had to work with Excel, Word and
PowerPoint documents sent to and received from numerous client on
both Windows and Apple platforms. Compatibility was very important
to that business.
And here I thought you were an Apple apologist, not a Microsoft
apologist. But you can’t be one without the other, can you?
That is not an apology.
Which is an issue when you need to access older files that are no
longer compat[i]ble.
On Fri, 19 Jun 2026 07:53:58 -0400, Tom Elam wrote:
Which is an issue when you need to access older files that are no
longer compat[i]ble.
And what happens when the old versions of the proprietary apps, that
were compatible with those older files, no longer work?
On Jun 19, 2026, CrudeSausage wrote
(in article<6a354bc8$2$23$882e4bbb@reader.netnews.com>):
Early
versions of Pages could read/write the same file formats that AppleWorks >>> could; that feature has been deleted.
What could possibly be the reason behind that, and why wouldn't this
fact prompt more people to adopt LibreOffice as their default office suite?
Apple completely rewrote Pages. The new version used a different format, was missing several features (including styles and the ability to read/write some older MS formats) and generally was annoying; the main reason I kept the old version around at first was to use features which had been removed. Over time most features were restored and new features added. (I used to write reviews in the App Store about features which had been deleted from Pages every time a new version came out. Over time, there were fewer features on my list so I stopped.) One feature not restored was the ability to read/write older MS formats. Read/write RTF, DOC from 97 on, and DOCX, yes; earlier DOC, no. Apple figures that very few care, and those who do care have older Pages or AppleWorks or even Word. I know people who still use Office 2003, mostly because they HATE the Ribbon. I even know people who use Office 97. And some of the 2003 users have worked out that 2003 will run under Win10... but the installer won’t, so you have to pull gymnastics to get it to install. 97 is dead, dead, dead, of course, but those running 97 are mostly running Win XP where it still works.
No-one is running Office 95 or earlier; they might have it around on a NT4 machine, but no-one uses it. And if the users haven’t updated the data files to at least the 97 version of DOC after 30 years, well, that’s a them problem. Put an intern onto it over the summer.
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