Dear Commissioner,

I wish to complain about the decision taken by Microsoft Corporation to discontinue support for their program called 'Wordpad', and by using their automated update of the operating system I am using, 'Windows 11', to remove 'Wordpad' from my computer, without consultation, asking for my permission or offering financial compensation.

'Wordpad' has always been an application that was included in the purchase of the 'Windows' operating system and allowed a user to produce documents in what is called 'rich text format', (.rtf). This format has many of the features found in thr 'Microsoft Word' word but did not require the purchase of the 'Microsoft Word' software.

The simple text editing program remaining on my 'Windows 11' installation is 'Notepad' which is a functional, though simple, text editor, but it can neither open nor edit .rtf files. So the only option for me is to open such files using 'Microsoft Word' which is a software I must purchase via a monthly or annual subscription for 'Microsoft Office 360.'

There was much online anger expressed when in January 2025 Microsoft increased the annual subscription for 'Microsoft 365' from $109 AUD to $159 AUD. Microsoft justified the increase by claiming the new 'Microsoft 365' included new AI features.
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The deletion of the 'Notepad' program seems to be designed to force users of the Windows operating system to subscribe to 'Microsoft 365', at great expense, because any files they produced previously in the .rtf format they now cannot open or edit without having a copy of 'Microsoft Word' installed.

Note: there are many text editors available for free download via online app stores, but finding one and installing it requires a degree of computer literacy and acumen and involves a fair amount of effort.

When a person purchases a new personal computer, it comes with an operating system installed, which includes a host of small utility programs such as 'Wordpad' and 'Notepad.' It may appear to the user that the operating system comes free with the computer, but this is not the case: the computer manufacturer pays the software company that produced the operating system program to be able to install it on their products and this cost is passed on to the purchaser.

So we have a situation where a product, say 'Windows 11', has been purchased with a set of standard features along with continuous maintenance and updates, and one of those features, which is essential for most users, has been removed without any explanation or compensation being offered to the purchaser.

Background

Prior to the early 2000s most software was sold under a proprietary license model: the customer purchased the software as a one-time purchase; the customer owned the software and had the right to use it indefinitely (and receive support and updates).

In the early 2000s, software as a service (SaaS) emerged: customers must pay a recurring fee (usually on a monthly or annual basis) to continue using the software and receive support, updates and security patches.
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My personal experience with two major software companies (described below) indicate a tendency, after the 'software as a service licence model' has been introduced, to take steps to downgrade the serviceability of software purchased previously under the proprietary license model, so as to force those customers to pay again, and continue paying, under the new software as a service licence model.

My experience with Adobe

In 2013 I purchased Creative Suite CS6 from the Adobe Systems Incorporated under the proprietary license model for $1,174 AUD. This suite of programs includes such titans as 'Dreamweaver', 'Photoshop', 'Acrobat', 'Illustrator' and 'InDesign'.

Although Adobe enforced a strict licence verification process, (at every installation on a new computer the original licence code needed to be entered on line with Adobe to activate the installation), the software continued to be supported (and updated) by Adobe at no extra charge. Then in 2013-14 Adobe renamed the package 'Creative Cloud' and started to licence it under the software as a service model at a cost of $29.99 per month.

I stupidly paid this rental for a year before I realised I owned an open licence on the software and could install my own copy off the original DVD disc and not pay the rental. Unfortunately it was difficult to disengage from the rental process, but I did so after some weeks of trying and installed my own copy and ceased paying rental.

The next hurdle I encountered was that after any major operating system upgrade, my Adobe software ceased working, and even reinstalling it from the disc didn't work.

It took me some time to find a support phone number for Adobe. However I eventually did and I spoke to a support person in an office in Sydney, who agreed that I had a continuing licence for the software and he instructed me in a process that I needed to carry out to make the software functional again. This involved accessing the Adobe directories on my computer and renaming or deleting an obscure file.

I continued for some years going through this procedure, though still having to go through the online verification process.

A year or so ago back the re-activating process became unnecessary after an operating system update. I presume it was due to public backlash. But as I haven't bought a new computer since then I don't know whether there will be problems installing Creative Suite 6 on a new machine.

My experience with Microsoft

I first bought a home computer (a PC) in 1996. It came with a Windows operating system, (can't remember the name), and at the time I purchased a licence to 'Microsoft Office', the software package which is now called 'Microsoft 365'. It was under $100 and over the course of a couple of computer replacements I purchased this software twice more, the last time for a computer running Windows XP.

I have the 'Microsoft Office' package on a CD and installed it on my computers until November 2021 when I purchased a Dell home computer with 'Windows 10' pre-installed. The operating system came with an embedded software that kept coming up on the screen offering me an introductory offer for subscribing to 'Microsoft Office 360.' The presence of this software also had the function of preventing me from installing my copy of 'Microsoft Office.'

I complained to Dell but was told that they could do nothing about the situation, I would have to subscribe to 'Microsoft Office 360.'

In desperation I purchased a copy of 'Windows 10' on CD for something like $110 AUD and went through a complex process of removing the pre-installed version of 'Windows 10' and installing it from my freshly purchased CD/DVD.

This worked, and I was then able to install my old version of 'Microsoft Office.'

My version of 'Microsoft Word' handles files with the '.rtf' and '.doc' format but it can't open '.docx' files which are produced by later versions of 'Word.' This doesn't present a problem for me as 'Word' documents have ceased to be a standard format for exchanging files. Most people save their document as an 'Adobe .pdf' before passing them to someone else. This I can easily deal with using Adobe Acrobat which is part of the 'CS6' Adobe suit.

The essence of my complaint

I have purchased a product, ('Windows 10', now automatically upgraded to 'Windows 11'), that included a text editing program called 'Wordpad', but Microsoft have now deleted this program from my computer with no warning, explanation or financial compensation.

The deletion of this program has significantly affected the functionality of my computer, as the rich text format files this program produced cannot be opened by the remaining text editor supplied with Windows. If I didn't have access to 'Microsoft Word', data I had stored in my '.rtf' files would be effectively lost.

I believe the deletion of 'Wordpad' is part of a deliberate strategy to force people to purchase a subscription to the expensive package 'Microsoft 365', and although I am unfamiliar with the details of Australian consumer law, I believe a vendor who sells a product with absolute ownership at one time, then at a later time takes that product back without any expressed justification, is in effect stealing, and I think this is a breach of Australian consumer law. (And if it isn't, Australian consumer law should be altered to include it as an offence.)

A further observation

Companies such as Microsoft and Adobe are software giants who have software products that have become the go-to standard in their respective areas. This position has made their products indispensable, and over many years have squeezed competitive products out of the market. Only after their products have achieved dominance and total market saturation do these companies embrace the 'software as a service' licencing model.

Microsoft and Adobe made their software products cheap and accessible for years: Microsoft with its Office Suite and Adobe giving away for free its pdf reader software. Now that they have achieved market dominance (dare I say monopoly), and cancelled any opposition products, they seem to be trying to extract as much money as possible from their customers.

I believe this to be a type of monopolistic behaviour that is in contravention of Australian consumer laws.

 

Yours Faithfully,

Ian Bruce

Monday 17th March 2025

 

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