The Microsoft 365 storage downgrade shows the perils of cloud services

For quite some time, Microsoft 365 Family has been one of the best value software subscriptions: the full Office suite of desktop apps, plus the cloud apps and 1TB of OneDrive storage per user (up to six users) for just £79.99 a year. It was remarkable value.

Of course, Microsoft whacked the price up to £104.99 a year for the ‘benefit’ of having slightly rubbish AI with Co-pilot, but most existing users could ‘downgrade’ to the cheaper Classic package without Co-pilot and, even if you didn’t, that price was still very good for all you got.

Yesterday, Microsoft sent out an email, labelled “Upcoming changes to your Microsoft 365 subscription”. The first bullet point was titled “More flexible cloud storage”. I skim-read what it said, and my first thought was that the 1TB per user was being replaced by 2TB per user. That’s generous, I thought. Then, I read it again: “Your cloud storage allowance will change from 1 TB per person to 2 TB of shared storage so everyone on the plan can use the free space while keeping their own accounts and files private. This change will apply after your first renewal after May 2nd, 2027.”

So, rather than everyone getting 1TB of cloud storage, everyone now has to share everything. That’s fine if you’ve got a lot of light users, but if you’ve got a busy household, 2TB isn’t going to cut it.

In reality, Microsoft has turned 6TB of cloud storage into 2TB, while charging the same price. It’s not about flexibility; it’s about cost-saving. It’s shrinkflation. No doubt, the high cost of AI, which has pushed up the prices of storage and memory, has something to do with this, but it’s a rubbish move all round.

www.trustedreviews.com

Reading for today: We are the Church - the Body of Christ

No Christian and, indeed, no historian could accept the epigram which defines religion as “what a man does with his solitude.” 

It was one of the Wesleys, I think, who said that the New Testament knows nothing of solitary religion. We are forbidden to neglect the assembling of our- selves together. 

Christianity is already institutional in the earliest of its documents. The Church is the Bride of Christ. We are members of one another.

By C.S. Lewis
From The Weight of Glory

Child of Hope Uganda - Farm Life!

Take a wander round the Child of Hope farm with Moses, one of our Directors in Uganda. In this video, he shows off the tractor and irrigation system bought through grant funding, and introduces some of the pupils who volunteer their time to help out on the farm. Keep an eye out for a few rabbits, chicks and pigs along the way too!

The farm plays a big part in life at Child of Hope. It feeds pupils, teaches practical skills that will stay with them well beyond the classroom, and brings in income that goes straight back into the schools.

Want to help make more of this happen? You can support Child of Hope's work by making a donation, or by sponsoring a child from just £15 a month — covering education, healthcare and welfare for your sponsored child, and every child at Child of Hope.

www.childofhopeuganda.org

Supermarket giant Tesco weighs takeover bid for Majestic Wine

Tesco is exploring a surprise move to buy Majestic Wine Group, Britain's biggest specialist wine chain - a deal which would further expand the supermarket giant's retail footprint.

Sky News has learnt that Tesco is among the bidders participating in an auction of Majestic Wine.

A formal sale process kicked off several weeks ago, roughly six months after Majestic's owner, Fortress Investment Group, appointed bankers to explore its options for the business.

The value of a prospective deal was unclear this weekend, although analysts said that Majestic's recent performance meant a sale would generate hundreds of millions of pounds for its owners.

A number of other bidders are also involved in the process, although their identities were unclear on Saturday.

I really hope that things work out here - Majestic is my favourite place to buy wine. The Petersfield store is a real treat - bright & airy, well stocked, helpful staff, great deals - highly recommended if you're after stocking up the the vino! 

news.sky.com

BT agrees rescue deal to buy broadband operator TalkTalk

The UK's biggest broadband provider, BT, has agreed to buy rival operator TalkTalk to save the company from collapse.

The takeover would end of months of speculation over the future of TalkTalk and mean services for its millions of customers will continue as normal.

BT chief executive Alison Kirkby said it provided "a safety net" for those who rely on TalkTalk. The administrator said it also provided certainty for TalkTalk's 900 staff.

However, Virgin Media called the deal a "stitch up" which allows BT to "tighten its grip" over the market. The government has given itself the power to have the final say on the takeover, citing its importance to critical public services.

TalkTalk has 1.5 million retail customers and one million wholesale customers across the UK.

BT's Kirkby told the BBC's Today programme: "Two and a half million customers, including vulnerable households, and key emergency services might have lost their services if Talk Talk had failed, which it was on track to do.

Fed up of poor service from your Internet Service Provider? 
Contact Donline to find out about a better way.

www.bbc.co.uk

Apple says it’s tightening macOS ‘Full Disk Access’ controls due to new risks from AI agents

Days after a journalist claimed that Meta’s Muse app on Mac read their private messages — a claim that Meta disputed — Apple announced that it’s introducing additional controls around a setting called “Full Disk Access” on macOS. The feature was designed to allow backups to function properly, but AI agents have now increased “the risks associated with this level of access,” Apple said.

Apple’s statement comes shortly after Inc. columnist Jason Aten reported that Muse knew the content of his private messages — even though he claimed to have not given the AI agent permission. The report raised questions about the level of security and trust users have in desktop-based Artificial Intelligence, which can control things on their systems and read their files and messages.

The decision to limit the Mac feature also comes after a Wired report cited that a flaw in ChatGPT’s Mac app could have allowed hackers to access sensitive data.

AI agents that run on the desktop allow users to provide their respective apps with greater access to the files, messages, and other personal content on their computers by adjusting macOS settings.

www.techcrunch.com

Nadella has lost the plot calling Copilot an OS again - it’s a web app on Windows 11!

Satya Nadella has once again called Copilot a “new OS for work” when it is clearly an app, and that too a web app. As spotted by Windows Latest, this time the analogy comes in a leadership update, less than a week after Microsoft unveiled the latest Copilot, which was when the CEO first called Copilot an OS, at least on X.

"We’re building Copilot as a new OS for work that spans every model, every form factor, and every task. Today, we’re announcing our biggest update to Copilot to date"

I already have the “new” Copilot app on my PC, albeit without Home, Code, or Autopilot, because they are still not out yet. This app, however, is the replacement for the terribly named Microsoft 365 Copilot app, and you can get it too if you update it in the Microsoft Store.

Well, the thing Nadella keeps calling an OS is a regular Windows app, and when I went through the installation folder of build 154.0.4258.37, I found that copilotapp.exe is a rebranded Microsoft Edge launcher with a complete Chromium build behind it.

Microsoft is talking about a new operating system for work, but it’s actually an app on Windows 11 that runs in a browser. This is some Inception-level stuff! READ MORE...

www.windowslatest.com