According to ZDNet, a wave of posts on X, Reddit, and Hacker News in early 2025 incorrectly claimed Microsoft had renamed its Office suite to “Microsoft 365 Copilot.” This confusion stemmed from a product page for the Microsoft 365 Copilot app, which stated it was “formerly Office,” but that reference was specifically to the Office.com website for free web apps, not the entire software suite. Microsoft originally rebranded Office to Microsoft 365 back in 2022 to emphasize its cloud-based subscription model, then added the Copilot AI and a price hike in 2024, before rebranding *again* to Microsoft 365 Copilot at the start of 2025. The naming is now so convoluted that even Microsoft’s own consumer subscription pages don’t consistently use the new Copilot name.
Why this is a total mess
Here’s the thing: Microsoft didn’t just make one confusing move. It made a whole series of them over several years, and now the dam has broken. The core issue is that “Office” now means at least three different things. It’s the legacy, one-time-purchase desktop software (Office 2024). It’s the old name for the office.com web portal. And in the public’s mind, it’s still the catch-all term for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
So when people see “formerly Office” on a page for “Microsoft 365 Copilot,” of course they think the whole suite got a new name. They’re not wrong to be confused! Microsoft is trying to pivot its entire brand identity from a static product (Office) to a dynamic, AI-powered service (365 Copilot), but it’s doing it while still selling the old product and using the old name in different contexts. It’s a classic case of wanting to have its cake and eat it too, and the result is a branding migraine.
The business strategy behind the chaos
Look, the strategy itself isn’t crazy. It makes perfect business sense. Microsoft wants to move everyone from one-time purchases to recurring cloud subscriptions. That’s the golden goose. The 2022 rebrand to “Microsoft 365” was all about cementing that “subscription service” idea in your head. Adding “Copilot” in 2024/2025 is the next logical step: it’s no longer just a suite of apps, but an intelligent assistant woven into them. The price increase that came with it? That’s the whole point. You’re now paying for the AI, not just the software.
But the execution is where they’ve completely fumbled. By not cleanly killing the “Office” name and by having overlapping product lines with similar names, they’ve created a narrative of chaos instead of a clear vision for the future. It dilutes the very premium message they’re trying to send. When you’re trying to convince businesses and consumers to pay more for an AI upgrade, the last thing you need is them scratching their heads wondering what product they’re even buying.
Who actually benefits from this?
In the short term, probably nobody. Confused customers don’t buy. They wait, or they get frustrated and look at alternatives. In the long term, if Microsoft can ever straighten this out, the beneficiary is obviously Microsoft’s bottom line. A successful pivot to “Microsoft 365 Copilot” as the dominant brand means they’ve fully transitioned to a higher-margin, AI-upsell subscription model. They’ve future-proofed the cash cow.
But right now, it’s a self-inflicted wound. The online chatter isn’t about how amazing Copilot is. It’s about how Microsoft can’t name its products. That’s a bad place to be when you’re in a heated AI platform war. Basically, they’ve let branding noise drown out their product signal. And in a space where clarity is key for IT departments and everyday users alike, that’s a strategic blunder. You almost have to wonder if there’s a single person in charge of naming over there, or if it’s just a free-for-all.
