Machete Department: Microsoft will no longer support offline maps in Win11 by the end of the year.

CTOnews.com, September 27 (Xinhua) since the beginning of this year, major technology companies have announced layoffs, and with the "sacrifice" of a large number of developers and testers, a number of services have entered Microsoft's "graveyard".

It now appears that the tech giant will soon cancel the offline mapping service in Windows 11.

When you open Windows 11 Maps, you will see a prompt: "by the end of 2023, offline maps will no longer appear in Map App. After this date, you will not be able to view offline maps in Win11 Maps app."

Nokia sold its mapping and navigation business, the Here generated by the acquisition of companies such as Navteq, to Mercedes, BMW and Audi in 2015, and has been working with Microsoft to provide mapping and location services for Windows and Bing.

Microsoft completed the necessary steps to acquire Nokia's device and services business on April 25, 2015, and Microsoft became one of Nokia's biggest customers, initially signing a four-year license agreement and then announcing an extension in 2016 to authorize Microsoft to use Here data in Bing Maps (including Bing.com, Cortana and other services) and Map API.

As a result, some people think that Microsoft's decision to stop providing offline maps may be because the agreement between Nokia, Here and Microsoft is about to expire, but Microsoft has not issued any announcement yet, and they seem to be in a state of uncertainty.