The Blog
Guides, analysis and licensing advice for Windows, Office, Visual Studio and more — from the Software Supplies team.
Lifecycle · UK Buyer’s Guide Microsoft is retiring more products on 13 October 2026 than on any other single day this decade. Office 2021 in every language and edition. Windows 10’s final security updates. Windows 11 24H2. The last of Publisher. Here is every deadline in one place — and what each one actually costs […]
Office Licensing · Buyer Comparison Microsoft 365 Family is sold as a subscription for six people. Read Microsoft’s own product page carefully and you’ll find a line most buyers miss: AI for subscription owner only. Five of the six people you share the plan with get no Copilot at all — and the plan now […]
Windows LicensingAugust 20269 min read Licensing Windows 11 for a small business is simpler — and cheaper — than most owners expect. You don’t need a volume agreement, a KMS server, or an IT department. This guide covers what to buy for a team of two to twenty-five, how to deploy it without specialist help, […]
Microsoft OfficeAugust 20269 min read Office Professional Plus 2024 doesn’t activate through office.com/setup — and that catches people out. It installs through Microsoft’s own Office Deployment Tool and activates directly with your product key, no Microsoft account required. This guide walks through the whole process on Windows, including a paste-ready configuration file. One-time purchase · […]
Most businesses using AI are using it as a better search box. The ones getting real time back have done something different: they worked out which parts of the week were never worth a human brain in the first place, and handed those over deliberately. Before you add another subscription Every AI tool below is […]
Microsoft has quietly added a new app called OneDrive Photos to Windows 11 PCs. It appeared without warning, it can scan your photos for faces, and most people have no idea it is there. Here is what it does, what the privacy implications are, and how to control it. Running Windows 11? Windows 11 — […]
Visual Studio 2026 ships with .NET 10, C# 14, and AI-native tooling built into the core IDE. For .NET developers in the UK, the tooling has never been stronger — but the licensing picture hasn’t got simpler. This guide covers what .NET professionals actually get in VS 2026, where the Community licence stops being an […]