Many of us are going to have to get used to using “Microsoft 365” instead of “Office 365” due to a big rebranding that Microsoft just did at the end of April.
For personal, home, and business plan users of Office 365, the name of the platform has been changed. You’ll now only see Office 365 being used for enterprise plans.
Many people rely on Office 365 daily for home and business support in the Lake Okeechobee area and around the world, and they’re wondering things like:
- What does this name change mean for users?
- What’s happening to Office (i.e. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook)?
- Do I have to pay more?
We’ve got all the answers below for both business and persona/home users to help you understand how the transition is going to impact your 365 subscription.
Office 365 is Now Microsoft 365: Here’s What It Means
Office 365 has more than 200 million monthly active users as of last fall, and it’s safe to say that number has increased significantly due to the pandemic and need to connect people quarantined at home.
So, this rebranding impacts a significant portion of the population and has been in the works for a while.
The reasoning Microsoft gave for dropping Office from the name and replacing it with Microsoft is to have the platform better reflect the wide scope of the apps included, rather than just the main four Office suite applications.
Here is a rundown of what this rebranding means for home and business users.
The Office Suite is Not Going Anywhere
The name change is not an indicator that Office is being removed from the platform. Quite the opposite.
Microsoft knows that Word/Excel/PowerPoint/Outlook are at the heart of the cloud platform. They will remain a big part of it and are also being updated with new AI-based features to further enhance them.
Your Price is Not Changing
Prices for the renamed plans are not changing, so personal, home, and business users can breathe a sigh of relief.
The only price difference we’ve seen is for Microsoft 365 enterprise plans, but these have not replaced the Office 365 enterprise plans (whose names did not change). Enterprise users can now choose between Office 365 or Microsoft 365 plans.
Here is What Your Plan is Called Now
The names of the plans have changed. So, you’ll want to note the following old to new transitions.
Home Users:
- Office 365 Personal is now Microsoft 365 Personal
- Office 365 Home is now Microsoft 365 Family
Business Users:
- Office 365 Business Essentials is now Microsoft 365 Business Basic
- Office 365 Business Premium is now Microsoft 365 Business Standard
- Office 365 Business and Office 365 ProPlus are both now Microsoft 365 Apps (Where needed, “for business” and “for enterprise” will be added distinguish between the two.)
- Microsoft 365 Business is now Microsoft 365 Business Premium
Do I Have to Do Anything to Activate the New Plan?
The rebranding has already been done as of April 21, 2020, so there is nothing that users have to do to activate it.
Plan Features Remain the Same, But You Will Get Enhancements
While Microsoft states that the features of each plan will remain the same, just like the price, there are many new enhancements.
Here are just a few of the new enhancements in Microsoft 365. If you’re not seeing these in your platform, then you may need to check for an update.
- Microsoft Editor: The Editor feature in Word and Outlook.com is also being extended as a browser extension for Microsoft Edge and Chrome. It offers advanced editing capabilities like basic grammar and style suggestions.
- PowerPoint Presenter Coach: This is an AI-powered feature exclusive to Microsoft 365 subscribers. The coach can listen to your presentation and tell you if you’re too monotone, saying “umm” too much, or talking too fast.
- Money in Excel: Get a better handle on your finances by easily tracking them all in Excel using the new Money feature. You’re able to connect securely to bank and credit card accounts to import transactions and see account balances.
- New Excel Data Types: This feature allows you to dig deeper into data that you may want to track in Excel, such as the nutritional value of certain types of food or the population of geographical regions. Converting data to one of 100 new data types can save hours of research by providing you more detail instantly.
- More Document Assets: Microsoft is giving users a lot more assets to work with to create stunning content. They’re adding thousands of new document templates, fonts, icons, stock images, and videos to the Office programs for users.
Other upcoming features planned include:
- Microsoft Family Safety app
- New features in Microsoft Teams
- Password Monitor in the Edge browser
Learn More About Getting the Most from Your Microsoft 365 Subscription
Many subscribers only use a small portion of their Microsoft 365 subscription simply because they either don’t know about new features or how to use them. Cris’s Tech Repair can help you explore the full benefits of your cloud subscription.
Contact us to today for a Microsoft consultation at 561-985-4961 or through our website.