An Introduction to Office 365 — Should You Buy Into the New Office Business Model?

www.office.com/setup Blogs: Office 365 is a subscription based package that buys you time limited access to a number of Microsoft services and software packages, including the latest desktop Office suite, an online version of Office, cloud storage, and premium mobile apps.Stop Bashing Microsoft: 5 Ways In Which They're Awesome Stop Bashing Microsoft: 5 Ways In Which They're AwesomeMicrosoft doesn't always get fair treatment. When it comes down to it, they're a pretty awesome company. There's been enough Microsoft bashing, now it's time for some love.READ MORE

Office 365 follows a business model known as Software as a Service (SaaS), which has commonly been used for deploying enterprise software. With subscription-based services like Spotify, Napster, or Amazon Prime, it has found its way into the consumer software market some time ago.

Does Office 365 provide enough value to be worth the money?

Can You Still Use It on Your Desktop?

Yes, absolutely! Microsoft isn’t moving Office entirely into the cloud just yet. While you can access Office Online via the browser and store your documents on OneDrive, Office 365 offers many other ways to access and edit your documents. The current package of Office 365 includes the Office 2013 desktop suite (Office 2011 for Mac users). In the summer or fall of this year, you will be able to upgrade to Office 2016.Don't Pay For Word! 5 Reasons You Should Use Office Online Don't Pay For Word! 5 Reasons You Should Use Office OnlineOffice Online is the free and cloud-connected version of Microsoft Office. Limitations are compensated by features, useful even to users of desktop Office. Best of all is itsREAD MORE

What Is Included & What Is the Price Tag?

The exact composition of the package depends on the Office flavor you choose.

Office 365 Home, Office 365 Personal, and Office 365 University include the following software:

• Word
• Excel
• PowerPoint
• OneNote (now free for everyone)
• Outlook
• Publisher
• Access

All Office 365 packages include 1TB of cloud storage, 60 Skype world minutes per month, and free chat or phone based tech support. With your Microsoft account, you also have access to Office Online, which can work with your files stored on OneDrive and Dropbox (see Office Online Dropbox integration).5 Security Tips To Consider When Using a Microsoft Account 5 Security Tips To Consider When Using a Microsoft AccountYou can't use much of the new Windows 8 user interface without a Microsoft account. The account you for logging into into your computer is now an online account. This raises security concerns.READ MORE

Subscriptions for Office 365 Personal start at $7 per month or $70 per year. With $10 per month or $100 per year, Office 365 Home is slightly more expensive because you can use it on up to 5 PCs or Macs, 5 tablets, and 5 phones. You can share the subscription with members of your household, slashing the price to around 20 bucks per person a year. Even if you shared the cost with one person, you pay much less than with Office 365 Personal. Each user also gets 1TB OneDrive storage free. That’s a fair deal!

Office 365 University, which is available to students and other users in academia, is only available as a 4-year subscription and will cost you $80 per 4-year cycle. While you can run it on 2 PCs, Macs, or tablets, and 2 phones, you can not share this license, meaning the price is equal to a maximum shared version of Office 365 Home, minus the hassle. To me, this makes it a much better deal. Of course you’ll have to prove your eligibility, but an academic email address does the trick.

Students and teachers, could get an even better deal. If your school is enrolled in the Office in education program, you could get Office 365 Education for free. The plan is similar to Office 365 Home, except that the license is free and cannot be shared. In addition, it comes with access to Yammer and SharePoint. Again, your email address will reveal whether or not you’re eligible.Students Can Get Microsoft Office 365 for Free Students Can Get Microsoft Office 365 for FreeStarting on December 1st, Universities that license Office Education for their faculty and staff can offer students Office 365 ProPlus for free.READ MORE

Likewise, qualified nonprofits can also get Office 365 Nonprofit for free.

All versions of Office 365 are available on both Mac and Windows. In addition, a subscription unlocks premium features in the free mobile Office apps available for Android, iPad, and Windows Phone.

Disadvantages of Office 365 & Better Alternatives

On the downside, it’s a subscription model, meaning you have to pay a monthly or yearly fee. For someone who hardly ever uses Office and has no need for 1TB of OneDrive storage, this expense may not be worth it. If you don’t want to spend that kind of money, you can choose from several free alternatives to Microsoft Office or you could use the free Office Online and mobile apps instead.Save on Microsoft Office! Get Cheap or Free Office Products Save on Microsoft Office! Get Cheap or Free Office ProductsReluctant to spend a few hundred bucks on a glorified word processor? You can get Microsoft Office for cheap and alternatives for free. You've got many options and we offer a summary.READ MORE

Even with the free solutions, you’ll need a Microsoft account. While this is becoming a standard for logging into Windows, it can be annoying if you have to log into Microsoft Office on your desktop before you can save a file. If you use the same accounts for Windows and Office, however, this shouldn’t be an issue.

If you don’t want to subscribe to Office 365 or deal with a Microsoft account, but need the full Office suite, you can still buy standalone Office applications or a standalone version of Office Home & Student 2013 for Windows or Mac. Whether the standalone purchases will be available for Office 2016 isn’t clear, yet.Microsoft Office 2013: Unofficial Guide Microsoft Office 2013: Unofficial GuideIf you're considering an upgrade to Office 2013, or you've just paid for the package and want to make the best of it, this Microsoft Office 2013 Guide is for you.READ MORE

Advantages of Office 365

The key advantage of Office 365 is that it receives regular updates. In 2015, Microsoft will release Office 2016, a new suite for both Windows and Mac users. Office 365 subscribers will be able to upgrade to Office 2016 at no additional cost. If you are a power Office user who wants to be ahead of the curve and always work with the latest features, an Office 365 subscription is a must-have.

But even casual users can benefit from the subscription. 1TB of online storage for as low as $20 per year by itself is amazing. And if you frequently call people abroad, for example while traveling, an hour of free worldwide Skype calls (to 60+ countries) can come in handy, too.

As mentioned above, Office 365 grants you access to the entire Office suite — online, on your desktop, and on your mobile devices. If you store your files in the cloud, you’ll always be able to access and work with your documents, regardless of location. And should you ever have an issue with the product, free Microsoft tech support is only a chat or a phone call away.

Most importantly, you don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars up front for a huge software package that you don’t use much in the end. Microsoft offers a free 1 month Office 365 trial, you can then pick a cheap monthly subscription plan, and cancel it anytime, in case you don’t like or use it after all.

Do You Subscribe to Office 365?

Microsoft is slowly changing its revenue model. Some products will become cheaper, such as free Windows 10, while others may appear to get more pricey. You can either take advantage of the added benefits and buy into the new business model, or stick with cheaper third-party alternatives. Any queries? Microsoft answers them in this FAQ page.Subscribe to Windows 10? Microsoft Evaluates Alternative Payment Models For Their Products Subscribe to Windows 10? Microsoft Evaluates Alternative Payment Models For Their ProductsIn the summer, it was rumored that Windows 10 might be free. Recently, Microsoft's Kevin Turner made comments about monetising Windows differently and that services would be involved. Microsoft is changing its business model.READ MORE

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