Office is the office suite par excellence. All of us who have used a computer have at some time used Word, Excel or PowerPoint (among other programs) either for personal use or at work. Despite the existence of many alternatives, these programs are the most widespread both at home and in professional settings.
This suite has always been linked to a specific version, such as 2019, 2019 or 2021. However, lately a specific version of the suite has been gaining a lot of popularity that, in the future, will end all other versions: Office 365.
What is Office 365?
Microsoft 365, or Office 365, is Microsoft's plan to offer us its office suite as a service. That is, instead of having to pay for a full license, which is quite expensive, to be able to use their programs, we can save money by paying a subscription. In this way, while we pay we can make unlimited use of the suite, while, if we stop paying (something we can do at any time), we simply cannot use the programs.
One of the advantages of using Office 365 is that we will always have the latest version of the programs. No more thinking about the version 2016, 2019, 2021 ... Word, Excel and other applications in the suite will appear with the suffix "365", they will be updated to the latest version and will always have the latest improvements and new features implemented by Microsoft. In addition, we will be able to use these programs from mobile phones or tablets, something that we cannot with the normal edition. And, to all that, we must add the additional services included in the suite (especially OneDrive storage)
The main drawback is that the suite never becomes ours. If we pay for the normal license, although we do not have the right to update to newer versions, the license is ours, and we can always use it without paying anything else. The moment we stop paying for 365, we will no longer be able to use the programs. Another drawback is that we will probably be paying for services that we do not use. Most likely, we will not make Skype calls, nor will we use Access or Publisher. And, by paying the subscription, we are paying for all of it.
Programs and services included in Microsoft 365
When we pay for this subscription, the suite includes by default the main Office programs: Word, Excel and PowerPoint. These programs are always updated to the latest version (we can forget about versions like 2019 or 2021), and it even gives us access to the Insider development branch, from which we can test the new features before anyone else. In addition to the standard programs, we will also be able to make use of other tools, such as OneNote and Outlook, to manage our mail, take notes and be more productive. If we use databases, the subscription also allows us to use Access. And if ours are layouts, from Microsoft Publisher.
Another service included in the Office 365 subscription is 1 TB of storage (per user) on OneDrive, the company's cloud. In this way, we can use this cloud to share files with other people or save backup copies of our most important files. The subscription also gives us access to the personal store, a protected space, with double encryption, where we store our most sensitive data. It also gives us 60 minutes a month to make calls on Skype.
Microsoft 365 allows us to use its programs and services on both Windows and macOS. In addition, it is the only version that allows us to use Word, Excel and PowerPoint on Android and iOS
Price: where to buy Office cheaper?
Instead of having to pay 150 euros for a specific version, which is only valid for a PC, Office 365 has much more affordable prices. We can choose between two different types of subscription. The first one is the personal edition. For a price of 69 euros per year (or 7 euros per month) we will be able to enjoy all the advantages of this license for a single user. And, on the other hand, for 99 euros a year, or 10 a month, we can buy the Family edition. This allows us to share the subscription with 5 other people (6 in total) so that each one can use the Office programs, and have 1 TB of storage for them, without paying anything else.
Although 69 and 99 are the official prices for Microsoft editions, there are ways you can buy Office 365 much cheaper. On Amazon, for example, we can often find offers (Prime Day, Black Friday, etc.) that allow us to buy the personal edition for 52 euros, and the Family one for less than 50 euros. The saving, in this way, is more than considerable.
In addition, we can use key resale websites that allow us to get Office 365 (although in its modality for companies) for about 10 euros. The problem with these types of keys is that we do not have control over the account, or over the cloud, and it can give us problems
Date update on 2021-06-24. Date published on 2021-06-24. Category: Computer class Author: Oscar olg Fuente: softzone