{"id":641326,"date":"2023-04-25T10:06:05","date_gmt":"2023-04-25T15:06:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sellorbuyhomefast.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/25\/microsoft-teams-is-about-to-become-optional-for-office-users\/"},"modified":"2023-04-25T10:06:05","modified_gmt":"2023-04-25T15:06:05","slug":"microsoft-teams-is-about-to-become-optional-for-office-users","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/25\/microsoft-teams-is-about-to-become-optional-for-office-users\/","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft Teams is about to become optional for Office users"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Following the stink raised<\/a> by competing collaboration tool Slack<\/a> to the European Union in 2020, Microsoft has agreed to stop automatically bundling Teams<\/a> with its office software.<\/p>\n

Per the Financial Times<\/a> (opens in new tab)<\/span> (paywall), the move is an attempt to escape what would be the company\u2019s first antitrust investigation in over a decade.<\/p>\n

However, Slack, now owned by CRM software<\/a> provider Salesforce, is pushing for even further action, and a ruling that Microsoft Teams and Office must be sold separately.<\/p>\n

Microsoft vs the EU<\/h2>\n

Collaboration and video conferencing<\/a> software has become a persistently lucrative business since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. While names such as Teams, Slack and Zoom were around for some time before, it\u2019s only now that they\u2019ve arguably become household names.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not surprising then that Slack feels like it\u2019s missing its share of the pie, but this already protracted legal battle with the EU\u2019s executive arm, the European Commission (EC), is set to continue, with a statement from Microsoft sent to the FT claiming that talks are still in progress.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are mindful of our responsibilities in the EU as a major technology company,\u201d said a representative for the tech giant. \u201cWe continue to engage cooperatively with the commission in its investigation and are open to pragmatic solutions that address its concerns and serve customers well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Microsoft has seen trouble like this before when, in 2008, it bundled its Internet Explorer browser<\/a> with Windows. Under scrutiny, it began offering a choice of browsers to users, but was fined \u20ac561 million by the EU for going back on its word. So, history may just be about to repeat itself.<\/p>\n