Microsoft offers to sell Office without Teams to placate EU regulators

Microsoft offers to sell Office without Teams to placate EU regulators


The Microsoft Teams app on a laptop arranged in New York, US, on Tuesday, June 25, 2024.

Gabby Jones | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Microsoft offered to unbundle its Office 365 and Microsoft 365 software suites from its Teams workplace communication app to address competition concerns from European regulators.

The European Commission, which is the executive arm of the European Union, said Friday that Microsoft made commitments to address concerns over the tying of Teams to its widely-used productivity tools, such as Word and Outlook.

Under a series of proposals, Microsoft has committed to make versions of Office 365 and Microsoft 365 available without Teams at a reduced price, as well as allow customers to switch to the tools without Teams, including under existing contracts.

Microsoft also committed to offer Teams’ competitors increased interoperability with other Microsoft products and let customers move their data out of Teams to competing products.

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.



Source

High cost of goods is causing consumers to spend less for the holidays, CNBC survey finds
World

High cost of goods is causing consumers to spend less for the holidays, CNBC survey finds

Inflation looks to be sapping some of Americans’ holiday cheer as they head out to buy gifts this Christmas season, according to the CNBC All-America Economic Survey. The survey found the high cost of goods has emerged as a major factor affecting how much shoppers spend and where they spend, suggesting inflation of the past […]

Read More
India goods exports rise in November despite U.S. tariffs
World

India goods exports rise in November despite U.S. tariffs

An employee works inside a textile mill at Bhilwara in India’s Rajasthan state, on July 6, 2025. Himanshu Sharma | Afp | Getty Images India’s total goods exports for November rose 19% on year to $38.13 billion, with sharp improvement in the country’s trade with U.S. India’s merchandise goods trade deficit, which had touched a […]

Read More
European defense stocks slide as Zelenskyy ditches Ukraine NATO membership bid
World

European defense stocks slide as Zelenskyy ditches Ukraine NATO membership bid

European defense companies fell sharply on Monday as talks over a potential peace agreement to end the war in Ukraine took a new turn. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said over the weekend that Ukraine was prepared to abandon the country’s longstanding aim of joining the NATO military alliance in exchange for alternative security guarantees to protect […]

Read More