Google could give free G Suite users a way out of paying for Workspace

G Suite users upset at Google's recent move to make them pay for their office software could be in luck thanks to a potential loophole.

The company recently announced that all G Suite legacy free edition users would been shifted over to a paid version of Google Workspace in order to keep access to tools such as Gmail, Meet and Docs.

This had upset users who may have recently signed up for the software, particularly non-business users facing having to pay for the first time – but help could be at hand.

Free G Suite

Google had said the G Suite legacy free edition itself will no longer be available from July 1, 2022, with any users found not to have started paying after 60 days being locked out.

But a loophole spotted by Ars Technica writer Ron Amadeo means that non-business users could potentially get around the change. The site spotted that a section on the FAQ for the transition included a section for users that “use G Suite legacy free edition for personal use and don’t want to upgrade to a Google Workspace subscription.”

This includes users who may have signed up to use the initial build of Workspace, known as Google Apps, when it was launched in 2006, but with a non-gmail.com email address. It may also include users who provided family or friends with Google accounts that have certain services still linked, but not the entire Workspace suite of tools.

“We understand some customers may not use their G Suite legacy free edition for business and may be interested in other options,” the company noted. 

Such non-business users with 10 or fewer users in their group are instructed to log into their administrator account to provide more information, meaning they may be able to continue with their current situation at least a little while longer.

Google had planned to automatically upgrade free users from May 1 to “an upgraded Google Workspace paid subscription” based on its analysis of the customer's usage and the features it thinks you'll need.

Google Workplace plans start at $ 6/user/month for its Business Starter option, with Business Standard ($ 12/user/month) and Business Plus ($ 18 /user/month) also on offer, providing an increasing level of services with the amount paid.

Google is offering a discount for twelve months, and won't start charging subscription fees until July 1, 2022. The company is also offering businesses who don't want to pay or upgrade the chance to export their data at no extra cost.

Google rebranded G Suite as Workspace back in October 2020 in a bid to bring more structure to its myriad of apps and services.

Initially described as “the future of work”, the new platform looked to improve the interoperability of its various productivity services, blurring the lines between each product for a more fluid feel.

Via 9to5Google

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

Read More

This Outlook email update will give your calendar a splash of color

Microsoft Outlook users will soon be able to liven up their work calendars with a bit of color thanks to a new update coming to the service.

An upcoming upgrade will soon allow Outlook web users to customize the color of the events in their calendar app, letting them not only liven up the view, but also create better distinction and visibility into their working week.

The official entry in the Microsoft 365 roadmap notes that users of the email service will be able to select custom colors for their calendar events using hexadecimal values, RBG values, or a color picker control.

Outlook update

The update is currently still in the development phase, but Microsoft has pegged it for a release in February 2022. It will only be available to web users to begin with, but may roll out elsewhere soon.

The move brings Outlook up to speed with some of its biggest rivals, with Google Calendar already allowing users to set a number of different colors for events.

Microsoft has revealed a number of useful updates for Outlook in the last few months as it looks to further assist those embracing the hybrid working lifestyle.

This includes a tool that will help users eliminate mistakes from their messages with the launch of spelling and grammar checks for its Outlook on mobile platform.

Another update will allow workers to set a notice showing where they are working, whether that be at home, in the office, or anywhere else.

Google Calendar received a similar feature in August 2021, allowing users to highlight exactly where they would be working, with the options of home, office, or a specific other location.

Users can also create a weekly working location routine if they plan on going into the office on certain days and working remotely on others, which can be updated at any time if plans change. There was no information as to whether Microsoft's Outlook update will do the same, but we're hopeful it will.

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

Read More

Microsoft Edge is about to give you an excellent new way to procrastinate

Microsoft is giving Edge users yet another way to procrastinate online by adding a new Games panel to its browser.

After releasing its Chromium-based browser last year, the software giant has continued to update it with new features like Vertical Tabs, Collections, Web Capture and more in an effort to get users to switch from Google Chrome.

Now though, it appears Microsoft is readying a new feature that will help users kill time online as opposed to being more productive while working from home. If browser-based games are your thing, then the company's new Games panel in Edge could be the perfect way to help pass the time while waiting for renders or downloads to finish.

Microsoft Edge Games Panel

(Image credit: Leo Varela)

Games panel

As reported by Windows Latest and first spotted by Leo Varela, Edge's new Games panel allows you to play classic games like Solitaire, Mahjong Arcade and others from MSN Games right in your browser.

These games can be accessed from Microsoft's new “Games” toggle in Edge's toolbar though you'll also likely be able to open the new Games panel from the browser's three-dot menu as well.

Clicking on the game controller icon in the toolbar will bring up a new panel on the right side of the browser in a similar way to how Collections work in Edge. From here, you just need to find a game you want to play and the MSN Games website will launch in your browser. Thankfully though, the Games panel will be disabled by default but you can enable it from the Appearance tab in Edge's settings.

While Microsoft's new Games panel is currently being tested out in Edge Canary, it will likely come to the browser when the next stable update for Edge arrives.

We've also highlighted the best anonymous browser, best proxy and best VPN

Via Windows Latest

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

Read More