The ACCC’s case against Microsoft raises questions about market power and consumer transparency – but it also highlights how dependence on bundled software limits real choice for users.

The ACCC recently lodged proceedings in the Federal Court against Microsoft, alleging that it misled 2.7 million consumers into signing up for more expensive Office 365 subscriptions, featuring integration with Microsoft’s Copilot AI.

The ACCC says Microsoft informed existing 365 users of the 30 per cent price hike without making them aware of the option to retain their current subscription – without Copilot features – at existing price levels.

Only during the process of cancelling a subscription was the option to retain the existing ‘Classic’ tier revealed.

Chair of the ACCC, Gina Cass-Gottlieb, remarked that Microsoft “deliberately hid this third option…in order to increase the uptake of Copilot and the increased revenue from the Copilot integrated plans.”

Cass-Gottlieb is to be praised for drawing attention to this. But Microsoft appears to have shrugged at the impending legal proceedings as the cost of doing business.

This is mirrored by Microsoft Australia’s carefully choreographed response: “Consumer trust and transparency are top priorities for Microsoft. We remain committed to working constructively with the regulator and ensuring our practices meet all legal and ethical standards.”

Cass-Gottlieb continued: “The Microsoft Office apps included in 365 subscriptions are essential in many people’s lives, and given there are limited substitutes to the bundled package, cancelling the subscription is a decision many would not make lightly.”

And this is where Cass-Gottlieb is incorrect. Either the ACCC Chair is aiming for rhetorical flourish, or maybe she is unaware of the other options available. Cass-Gottlieb should have pointed us in the direction of the increasingly mature alternative: Linux, and the accompanying FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) ecosystem. That would have been more threatening to Microsoft’s dominance than a slap-on-the-wrist fine.

Begun in 1991 as the project of university student Linus Torvalds, Linux has evolved from an operating system (OS) based on a command-line-interface (CLI) used only by IT professionals and institutions, to a mature OS with graphical user interface (GUI) and a vast library of FOSS, ranging from word processors and productivity suites (LibreOffice, OnlyOffice), graphic design applications (GIMP, Krita, Inkscape), and even distributions (like Bazzite) tailored for gaming.

So why aren’t more people switching? The answer lies precisely in the misconception claimed by the ACCC Chair, that “365 subscriptions are essential in many people’s lives.”

Microsoft has embedded itself in the collective consciousness as the only user-friendly desktop OS and office suite, similar to the perception that Google is the only search engine worth using.

Many still have the outdated 90s impression that using Linux requires working from the CLI and entering arcane commands like ‘sudo apt upgrade’.

If you’re one of those people, there are now Linux distributions (distros) that require no command-line configuration at all. Updates can be scheduled automatically or run manually through the GUI. Everything you rely on in windows has a seamless Linux alternative: For your email client, replace Outlook with Mozilla’s Thunderbird. Instead of Microsoft’s Edge browser, use Mozilla’s Firefox (or Google’s Chrome browser).

What motivates the open source community to contribute time, skill and expertise toward development? Software engineering is a highly specialised skill, and contributing to FOSS projects helps developers highlight their technical abilities to potential and current employers. Tech-giants themselves contribute to FOSS, sometimes building free applications and frameworks (Facebook’s JavaScript React framework; Microsoft’s VS Code editor) or through acquisitions (Microsoft with GitHub; Oracle with VirtualBox).

Powerful software companies are aware of the reach of the open source community, and will happily sacrifice a little profit for goodwill. And judging by Microsoft’s attitude towards software updates, this goodwill will be increasingly needed.

Consumers are not the only ones deciding to move on from Windows. Movement towards digital sovereignty is gaining pace in Europe: For its email client, German state Schleswig-Holstein has abandoned Microsoft Outlook for Mozilla Thunderbird; the Austrian military has switched to LibreOffice; and France’s third largest city, Lyon, is replacing Windows with Linux.

If governments concerned about digital autonomy are moving away from relying on an increasingly unpredictable US for IT infrastructure, why aren’t consumers doing the same?

The recent fiasco around Windows 11 is an own-goal by Microsoft. Zorin OS, a popular Linux distro, saw a staggering one million downloads in the weeks following end-of-life support for Windows 10.

If Microsoft doesn’t stop taking its customers for granted, its historically dominant market share could quickly become history.

If you’re considering the switch, Linux Mint or Kubuntu are solid alternatives to Windows 11 with a similar look and feel.

This article was written with the open-source word processor Abiword, on an Acer notebook running Lubuntu Linux: a flexible lightweight distro for less powerful machines.