Today (21 April 2020) is that day Office 365 becomes Microsoft 365. What does that mean to you and using Word 365, Excel 365, PowerPoint 365, Outlook 365 etc.
A few weeks ago, Microsoft announced that ‘Office 365’ was becoming ‘Microsoft 365’ from today. There’s NO change in the software people use and buy.
Office 365 / Microsoft 365 business plan changes are a little more complicated (more like a shell game).
On announcement day, Microsoft published an almost unreadable table of Microsoft 365 plans which we converted into some legible.
As we type this, even the Microsoft web site hasn’t made the changeover to ‘Microsoft 365’ let alone many online retailers.
People can buy ‘Office 365’ products and they’ll be accepted as ‘Microsoft 365’ equivalent. Our usual advice about Office/Microsoft 365 still applies; DON’T buy from Microsoft because that’s the most expensive option.
Office 365 Home – Microsoft 365 Family
The most popular consumer plan is now ‘Microsoft 365 Family’ but still offers the same features for up to SIX family members.
That’s Word 365, Excel 365, PowerPoint 365, Outlook 365 etc on multiple machines plus extra features on the Office Mobile apps, 1TB of OneDrive cloud storage and 60 minutes of Skype calls to regular phones.
Buy Office 365 Home, get Microsoft 365 Family
Many stores, online and physical, will continue to sell ‘Office 365 Home’ for some time as older stock is used up.
Buy a legitimate ‘Office 365 Home’ pack and apply it to your current Microsoft account to start or extend ‘Microsoft 365 Family’.
Office 365 Personal – Microsoft 365 Personal
The single person plan also remains unchanged. The word ‘Office’ is replaced with ‘Microsoft’ as in ‘Microsoft 365 Personal’.
Buying ‘Office 365 Personal’ will become ‘Microsoft 365 Personal’ when added to an Office account.
The future of Microsoft 365
The switch to Microsoft 365 does signal the future for months and years ahead.
Rebranding to Microsoft 365 shows that future annual plans will likely include more online and Windows services, in addition to the traditional Office apps.
Microsoft would love to get more income from existing Windows users by offering extras on an annual payment/subscription basis. Or making current Windows Pro features into subscription options. One possibility is offering ‘enhanced’ security options for a yearly fee. How and when that’s rolled out remains to be seen.
Microsoft 365 licences, are you paying too much and for too many?
Microsoft 365 summary that’s readable!
