MS Book Store Closing!

[Adventurer64]

Anyone receive this message pop up under books in Edge?

"The books category is closing

Thanks for buying or downloading an ebook from Microsoft Store. Starting April 2, 2019, the books category will be closing. Unfortunately, this means you’ll no longer have access to your current ebooks as of July 2019, but you’ll get a full refund if you paid for your ebook download. See refund details below.
Excerpt from The books category is closing."

Is there a way to convert ebooks from MS Book Store to .pdf format? Heck, I paid for the darn books why can't I generate a .pdf? If I buy a paper back, I can easily share that book with others.

I guess I'm one of the few actually purchasing books from the book store considering how abruptly MS is closing the book category. Now I can't read ebooks on my 950xl! Funny thing, I'm not angry or surprised... Just another reason to move on.

 

[spicypadthai]

You should receive an email, too, if you haven't already. I got it yesterday. The statement doesn't say there's a way to save as a pdf, only that you'll get a refund for all purchases.

UPDATE Part 1: I found the location books are saved locally but I don't know if the files can be opened/converted. Will try a couple things a little later. The path for me is:

C:\Users\%UserName%\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\library_books_00030000802AB590

UPDATE Part 2: The local copies in the folder above are .msepub file type which can be opened with a web browser. Change the extension to .epub and it will be associated by default with Edge on Windows 10, if you want to double-click to open. Not sure if there's anything embedded that will prevent it from opening in early July which is when MS says books will no longer be available. I'm trying a free online epub-to-pdf converter right now to see if it works.

UPDATE Part 3: No luck converting to pdf. I tried a few sites, one couldn't even convert it and the others created files but they were garbage. They're definitely not standard .epub files which is classic MS. Not sure why they are treating books differently than purchased music when they killed that off but I'm guessing we'll never get a straight answer. Anyway, gave it my best shot, I only have a couple books and nothing I can't live without so chalk it up as the latest, and probably not the last, abandonment of the people who invested in the MS ecosystem. I'm sure the next step will be MS and all the apologists, i.e., Windows Central writers like Dan and Zac, telling us how this makes perfect sense and it's really a benefit for us.

 

[Ryujingt3]

This is sad, but not unexpected. Being MS and all.

 

[Adventurer64]

Thanks for checking spicypadthai! Looks like I'll be repurchasing on competitive platform. Before I do that Ill try Barnes and Noble again. Maybe Ill dust off the Nook.

 

[sd4f]

You probably can't convert due to DRM, but at least you're getting a refund. If anything, it probably suggests how few people actually bought stuff on there, that they're able to completely refund the money.

 

[Adventurer64]

You probably can't convert due to DRM, but at least you're getting a refund. If anything, it probably suggests how few people actually bought stuff on there, that they're able to completely refund the money.

Yes, making sure my credit card is up to date on my account. I'm amazed at how little discussion there is on this subject which leads me to believe Movies and TV is next. It's like a big yawn from the internet. Oh, MS sold books, really, never knew that.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Yes, making sure my credit card is up to date on my account. I'm amazed at how little discussion there is on this subject which leads me to believe Movies and TV is next. It's like a big yawn from the internet. Oh, MS sold books, really, never knew that.

Honestly, I never knew of Microsoft Books. I've always used Amazon to purchase ebooks.

 

[sd4f]

Yes, making sure my credit card is up to date on my account. I'm amazed at how little discussion there is on this subject which leads me to believe Movies and TV is next. It's like a big yawn from the internet. Oh, MS sold books, really, never knew that.

I don't think they'll rush for movies and tv. Maybe, can never really tell, but I think with the xbox, it has a fairly good reason to exist, and also probably makes money. On the podcast, it's been mentioned that movies and tv is making money.

Since there are no plans for an e-reader in the chrome based edge, it probably makes sense to just kill it.

 

[Adventurer64]

Yah, good point, Xbox may keep Movies and TV alive.

 

[Adventurer64]

I just received full refunds for several books, but still have books I can read that haven't been refunded yet. I guess MS is taking their time. Considering I received the recent Band 2 refund of $175 and now books, I'm hoping for a refund for my 950 xl when MS finally decides to kill W10M for good.

 

[naddy6969]

"Funny thing, I'm not angry or surprised... Just another reason to move on."

I hit this point 3 years ago. Just move on. When you do, the first question you will ask is "Why did I wait so long to move on?"

Wherever you go, the grass is MUCH greener.

 

[Adventurer64]

There appears to be a catch with the refunds... They expire within a month!!

 

[Adventurer64]

Why does Edge still show Books under favorites along with a link to book store that doesn't exist? I'm on 1903. Strange.