Why is Publisher being phased out, and what is Microsoft replacing it with? Will Microsoft 365 be cheaper since they are phasing out the program?

I volunteer with a non-profit adult literacy ministry. We work around the world developing adult literacy materials in over 280 languages. We train leaders and teachers. We have used Publisher to input some of the literacy materials. It is not perfect but it is much better to use than MS Word, because we use a lot of graphics, tables, text boxes inside graphic boxes, so on, in our literacy materials to teach phonetics. Our methodology of teaching is easy to use for the teacher and the student. Millions of people in many countries have learned to read using our materials.

It will be almost impossible to use our methodology in MS Word with our new Pictorial Teaching Guide, which uses columns containing graphic boxes, text boxes, text and illustrations to show the teacher how to teach the lessons. This was easy to accomplish in Publisher.

We also use Publisher so that the people in many different countries, in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America, can afford the software to do the desktop publishing of the literacy materials.

Of course they can use MS Word but it is much more difficult to use. We can use Power Point to input our Pictorial Teaching Guide, then we would have to print to pdf, export as jpegs, then insert into Microsoft Word. This would mean a lot of extra training for the people overseas as we train them to do the desktop publishing of their own literacy materials.

I understand that Microsoft does not want to continue updating and doing support on Publisher. But it is such an easy program to use, quite excellent in many ways. Please reconsider phasing Publisher out.

Patricia Hickman

I went to the feedback portal and there is no category for Publisher, so I posted on Word for them to reconsider not to discontinue Publisher.

>>Ahhh, thank you! God bless you for answering me.

Getting up with microsoft is as much fun as trying to contact someone at meta!!

dee
<<

Dee,

If you already have an older version with Publisher, you can install it. However, if you don't, note that purchasing a valid license may not be an easy task; there are many scammers out there, unfortunately.

You can send feedback to Microsoft using the feedback portal at https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/. I am not sure if there is a specific category for Publisher. If there isn't, you can use the Word category.

Word and PowerPoint are absolutely NOT adequate substitutes for Publisher.

• In Publisher, when I put an element on a page, it stays where I put it. When I am trying to produce a 16-page newsletter with embedded photos and graphics, I need for the page elements to stick.
• And I need a vertical format, not an overgrown slide.
• And I need a document layout that looks like a book or magazine, not a stack of slides.

So, what are you offering that will meet my need? And why do I have to pay more, to get less?

Publisher ain't great, but it's better than nothing.

And, by the way, I've just bought a new computer, and Publisher is unavailable for download. Theoretically I have 17 months to convert my Publisher files to something else (like what, for instance?). But not if I no longer have Publisher.

Not impressed.

Betsy Ford

Diane,

Microsoft decision makers do not read the forums. You will have to make use of the feedback portal at https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/.