publisher phased out

Microsoft decided to discontinue Publisher because of declining usage. The number of Publisher users had been steadily declining over the years. That's according to Microsoft - I don't have the numbers to prove it myself. Publisher had become a niche product.

Even without access to Microsoft's internal data, it isn't hard to see why the decline was inevitable:

1- Publisher makes paper-based projects, and the world is moving away from paper.

2- Many of Publisher's features were migrated to Word and PowerPoint. Not all features, and maybe not certain features that you rely on. But many features were migrated.

3- It costs Microsoft to maintain Publisher. Think of the costs to develop the software, to update it, to add new features and fix bugs. When faced with a declining user base, it becomes harder to justify the expense.

Publisher is hardly the only Microsoft product that faced declining use over the years. Among these are WordPad, Windows Media Player and Paint 3D. Left with an intensely loyal, but small user base and increasing costs, Microsoft chose, rightly or wrongly, to pull the plug.

The official Microsoft statement regarding this is available at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/microsoft-publisher-will-no-longer-be-supported-after-october-2026-ee6302a2-4bc7-4841-babf-8e9be3acbfd7

"At Microsoft, we are dedicated to providing our customers with the tools they need to achieve what matters, in their work and life. In order to focus on new benefits, we occasionally remove features and products.  

Many common Publisher scenarios—including creating professionally branded templates, printing envelopes and labels, and producing customized calendars, business cards, and programs—are already available in other Microsoft 365 apps such as Word and PowerPoint. For recommendations on where to start common Publisher scenarios, see below. You can also find a wide array of customizable templates at Microsoft Create. "

We can speculate on our regarding the reasons - but ultimately we have to rely on the official statements from Microsoft - which I gather take into account a number of factors not fully known to us and represent a business decision. Like any other, such decision must take into account profitability/cost and the need to allocate internal resources to products/services of the highest priority.

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hth

Marcin