How is Office 365 different from Microsoft Office?
"Office 365" refers to subscription plans that include
access to Office applications plus other productivity services that are enabled
over the Internet (cloud services), such as Skype for Business web conferencing
and Exchange Online hosted email for business, and additional online storage
with OneDrive for Business.
Many Office 365 plans also include the desktop version of
the latest Office applications, which users can install across multiple
computers and devices. The full, installed applications include: Word, Excel,
PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher, and Access. (Publisher and Access are
available on PC only.) And you can install them across multiple devices,
including PCs, Macs, Android tablets, Android phones, iPad, and iPhone. When
you have an active Office 365 subscription that includes the desktop version of
Office, you always have the most up-to-date version of the applications.
The Office 365 plans that are online-only are a great choice
for certain business needs, and they are compatible with desktop versions of
Office 2013, Office 2010, Office 2007 (with slightly limited functionality),
Office 2016 for Mac, Office 2011 for Mac, and Office 2008 for Mac. This does
not include the Exchange Online Kiosk or Office 365 Enterprise K1 plans.
All Office 365 plans are paid for on a subscription basis,
monthly or annually.
Microsoft Office. "Microsoft Office” is the name we
still use for our familiar productivity software. Office suites are available
as a one-time purchase and include applications such as Word, Excel, and
PowerPoint, which can be installed on only one PC or Mac. The applications are
not automatically updated; to get the latest version, you can purchase the
product again when the new version becomes available. The latest versions
currently available for one-time purchase are Office 2016 for Windows and
Office 2016 for Mac. These suites do not come with any of the cloud-based
services included in Office 365.
Will Office 365 work with my copy of Office?
Office 365 works best with the latest version of Office,
Office 2013, Office 2010, Office 2016 for Mac, and Office 2011 for Mac. Office
365 works with slightly limited functionality with Office 2007. If you have an
earlier edition of Office, you will need to update to a newer version of Office
in order to use Office 365; or you can subscribe to one of the many Office 365
plans that include the latest version of Office. In addition to getting the
latest version of Office as part of your subscription, you will also get
automatic updates, so your Office will always be up to date. Compare plans.
Is Internet access required for Office 365?
Internet access is required to install and activate all
Office 365 plans and to manage your subscription account. Internet connectivity
is also required to access Office 365 cloud productivity services, including
email, conferencing, IT management, and other services.
Many Office 365 plans also include the desktop version of
Office, for example, Office 365 Business Premium and Office 365 Enterprise E3.
One of the benefits of having the desktop version of Office applications is
that you can work offline and have the confidence that the next time you
connect to the Internet all your work will automatically sync, so you never
have to worry about your documents being up to date. Your desktop version of
Office is also automatically kept up to date and upgraded when you connect to
the Internet, so you always have the latest tools to help you work. Compare
Office 365 plans.
What is the cloud?
“The cloud" is a friendly way of describing web-based
computing services that are hosted outside of your organization. When you use
cloud-based services, your IT infrastructure resides off your property
(off-premises), and is maintained by a third party (hosted), instead of
residing on a server at your home or business (on-premises) that you maintain.
With Office 365, for example, information storage, computation, and software
are located and managed remotely on servers owned by Microsoft. Many services
you use every day are a part of the cloud—everything from web-based email to
mobile banking and online photo storage. Because this infrastructure is located
online or “in the cloud,” you can access it virtually anywhere, from a PC,
tablet, smartphone, or other device with an Internet connection.
How many users does Office 365 support?
Office 365 is highly scalable and can support everything
from a one-person business to companies with tens of thousands of users:
·
Office 365 Business plans are best for companies
with one to 300 users.
·
Office 365 Enterprise plans fit organizations
ranging in size from a single employee to 50,000-plus users.