Me: *Wants to install Office trial to use a key to activate it*
Microshit: You're almost ready to use office. But we we need you to provide payment information to use the trial.
Me: This is one more reason to why a metric fuckton of ppl despise you, Microsoft!

if you need payment info, what's the fucking point of a trial!?

If that's even legal under GDPR, given that this is collecting unnecessary data.

MS uses bank info to identify you. So you would only use trial once.

Bastards

they are applying this method to various ms products now

bastards!

@netikras they are far from the first and since Microsoft’s products are second only to games when it comes to being pirated I fo understand them.

But, if you have a key, why do you need to install a trial?

At least as far as I know you get access to a download portal for versions that offer you to supply the key when you buy the key.

@Voxera I don't have a key. And some products do not have 'keys'. Like Azure.

And I've used my trial for work purposes. I didn't occur to me that I will no longer have a trial if I need to try smth out for myself

@FrodoSwaggins I have already explained why :) it was stated in Azure registration form very clearly. And the same pattern is now seen in other ms products

Turns out there is a setting hidden somwhere in the settings of ones microsoft account where you can enter the key and download the damn thing. Nice job for not pointing this out at all mf @ ms!!!

@netikras the thing here is probably a difference between what you put in the word try and what ms puts in it.

Ms sees it as you trying out the software, whether it was personal or professional does not really matter, if you like it they want you to buy it to continue using it.

They do not consider it as a free time for each use case.

You have tried it period.

And that can be a drag, especially if you liked to try it in s very different context.

But another thing to consider is that many of their trials for personal use are sometimes not legal to use in a company setting.

Licensing is a hard problem, how to get payed while still offer easy ways in without giving away easily exploited software.