Source: Six Colors
Microsoft is moving toward deliberately disabling Office 2019 through backend authentication changes, forcing users off a stable product into cloud-dependent subscriptions. This isn't technical obsolescence but engineered dependence: the company controls the infrastructure that decides whether your locally-installed software continues to function, setting a precedent that could expand across Microsoft's entire product line. For enterprises still using 2019, this creates both a compliance problem (forced upgrades) and a historical one (legacy documents tethered to subscription services disappear when those services vanish).