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| Microsoft is trying to turn hackers into paying customers |
Microsoft is trying to turn pirated software into paying customers by giving some pirated users a 50% discount on Office suites.
Office is probably one of the most popular pirated software, just like Windows. If you have a pirated copy of Office but would like to purchase a license, this might be useful.
The company offers discounts on Microsoft 365 subscriptions to users who use pirated Office.
A message will appear near the command bar saying: Up to 50% off for a limited time. Save up to 50% with an original Microsoft 365 subscription.
Clicking on the message will open this page in your default browser. The landing page explains to users the risks of using pirated content, such as security threats, data loss, lack of update support, etc.
This page also contains discounts for Microsoft Office 365. You need to sign in to your Microsoft account to see if you qualify for the discount.
After confirming the price difference, you can proceed with the purchase. The discount reduces the price of a Microsoft 365 Home subscription for the first year to $49.99 or the annual Microsoft 365 Personal price to $34.99.
The discount is related to cloud-based services, not the offline office suites that users prefer.
Microsoft tempts hackers with a 50% discount
Microsoft's attempt to turn hackers into legitimate customers is a good thing as the company seeks to grow its subscribers to more than 50 million. Depending on your purchasing power, however, Office 365 for a year can be an unaffordable luxury, even with a 50% discount.
Usually people don't break things because they don't want to pay for it. But mostly because they can't afford the asking price.
However, if you can't pay for an Office suite, there's no need to break it. You can still use almost the same functionality for free with Office Online in your web browser. You can also use free and open source alternatives such as LibreOffice.
Microsoft has used the Get Original Office logo in its productivity suite for many years. But it's rare for software makers to offer huge discounts to convert hackers into paying customers.