Q. I just got an email saying that support for Microsoft Publisher in my Microsoft 365 account will be ending on October 1. But I can still open my Publisher files in the old version, right?

A. No. Microsoft 365 subscribers will no longer be able to open or edit Publisher files in Publisher.

Q. Then what can I do?

A. Many common Publisher scenarios are already available in other Microsoft 365 apps such as Word and PowerPoint.

Q. So I can open my Publisher files in Word or PowerPoint?

A. No. That won’t work.

Q. So there’s no way to open my Publisher files after October 1?

A. You can export them as PDFs before the October 1 deadline, and then open them in Word.

Q. I have more than thirty years’ worth of documents created in Publisher. Exporting them all would take weeks, and even then the formatting wouldn’t be preserved if I opened them in Word. There must be hundreds of thousands of users in the same boat. Aren’t you going to provide some way forward for people like us?

A. At a recent meeting of the Leadership Team of the Marketing Department, it was decided that we don’t care.

Q. I’m through with Microsoft. I’m canceling my subscription, I’m installing Ubuntu, and Microsoft will never get another dime from me again.

A. Good news! At that same meeting, we calculated exactly how many subscribers we can alienate and still make obscene profits. Bye.