This is not your father’s Microsoft Office.
Microsoft is changing the way people work with their flagship productivity suite. Office 365 is the latest version of Microsoft Office and the first version of Office to be subscription based. While you can still install the software traditionally on your computer as Microsoft Office 2013, the Office 365 offering gives some intriguing benefits – especially for faculty, staff and students in higher education institutions.
The benefits
- At $79.99 for a f-year subscription, Microsoft Office 365 University offers access to the same programs as Office Professional at a considerably cheaper price. Microsoft Office Professional is priced at $399.99 and can only be installed on one PC
- It can be installed on two Macs or PCs
- Access to all the programs that come with Office Professional
- 60 Skype world minutes
- 20 gigabytes of SkyDrive storage
- Office on demand via Web Apps
- Includes ongoing access to version upgrades, multiple device installs, and Office on Demand services
- Run Web Apps on supported tablets and on Mac OS X, in addition to Windows
Disadvantages
- After four years you will have to renew your subscription. If you are no longer a student or university employee you will have to pay the full retail price for Office 365 which, right now, is $99 a year
- It is unclear if all Office features, and documents, are available offline.
- High-speed Internet is required, and there are still areas of the world that do not have fast network speeds
The bottom line is that this is still Microsoft Office and it still does all the same things you expect from an office productivity suite. If Web Apps and cloud access to your files is not important to you and you are happy with Office 2010, or Office 2007 for that matter, then save your money. According to Microsoft:
Office 365 creates experiences that help students easily connect with each other, with faculty and with experts to inspire, research and form new ideas. Students learn anywhere on virtually any device, and build 21 century skills for their future.
However, if you are a student, faculty or staff member at a higher education institution that needs to purchase Microsoft Office, the Office 365 University is a compelling option. And more so if you have a supported tablet.
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