In October 2026, Microsoft closes the doors on Publisher and throws away the key. No successor, no export button, no plan for you at all — just decades of your documents in a format nothing else they sell will open. There you are, up a creek without a paddle.

And what did software developers do when they smelled all those stranded files? You guessed it: for-profit “conversion solutions” with recurring subscriptions at absurd prices — a business model that only works if you’re desperate. Which was the whole idea.

Well, no more.

* From my ability, according to your need — if you catch my drift ;)