The Sad News: End of Support for Standalone Office Versions. Microsoft has been consistent in reminding the community that if they’re using a legacy Office perpetual license, then the desktop applications (Outlook, OneDrive for Business, and Skype for Business) will stop connecting to Office 365 servers after October 13 th 2020.

One of the keys to Microsoft’s success in recent years has been the steadily rising adoption of its Office 365 subscription service – Under the leadership of Satya Nadella, Microsoft is choosing to remake Office apps into a subscription company where customers rent rather than buy the software. Today, one out of every five corporate employees uses a version of Office cloud service and Office 365 is the most widely used cloud service by user count and market share on Windows and Mac.

1. Mar 30, 2020 Microsoft is rebranding its Office suite, now dubbing it Microsoft 365 Personal and Family plans, adding some new features to its subscription software. These combine the Office 365 suite with new.
2. Thexyz also offers business Office 365 plans, email migration services to and from Office 365, and additional email security services that can be used to strengthen the security of Office 365. It is also possible to purchase the Office suite ( including Word, Excel Powerpoint) outright, without the recurring costs.

It is now the preferred offering by Microsoft, not only for business but for Office 365 personal users looking to install office apps (Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint). Its plan also includes a generous amount of cloud storage through OneDrive. The Office mobile apps allow for editing of Office documents on a mobile device. Download any mobile Office app for free.

Office 365 Download

• Small businesses (less than 50 employees)61%61%
• Medium businesses (51 to 999 employees)24%24%
• Large businesses (more than 1000 employees)15%15%

In 2019, On-Premises Microsoft Exchange Server deployments represent 52% of worldwide exchange team mailboxes, whereas Hosted Exchange mailboxes represent 48% of worldwide Exchange online mailboxes. This means that most organizations are still hosting their company email addresses on-premise.

Microsoft 365 2020 Update

More and more companies have been working online with many people working from home during the COVID-19 outbreak, connecting in real time through video conferencing apps. Microsoft has announced that Microsoft Teams now has 75 million daily active users. The company has seen an increase of 70% in its daily active users since March 2020 where it had around 44 million daily users. Teams has only been available for a few years to replace the Skype for Business application and can be easily added to an existing Office 365 license or Microsoft account.

Searches for Microsoft Teams increased by 379 percent between January and March 2020

Microsoft Teams user activity skyrocketed during the lockdown, reaching 44 million active users by March 2020 and by April had amounted 75 million users, surpassing Zoom from February to June.

Whether those new users stayed is unknown, as Microsoft hasn’t provided Teams revenue statistics. Since April, Teams has been silent on user statistics, indicating that April may have been the peak month for usage data.

Microsoft has also been sheepish about how many of those new users – the majority of which may have been on the Office 365 home free version or using a free trial – have turned into paying subscribers.

Teams saw a 2.1 billion monthly user level rise in the number of meetings per day in March

Microsoft states that SharePoint has 190 million users across 200,000 customer organizations.

On-premises SharePoint environments remain strong, more organizations are starting to move to Office 365 to bundle SharePoint Online with Office 2019.

• Hybrid34%34%
• On-Premise35%35%
• Office 36530%30%
• Hosted1%1%

References

• https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/28/synergy-research-finds-enterprise-saas-revenue-hits-100b-run-rate-led-by-microsoft-salesforce/
• https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/19/teams-microsofts-slack-competitor-says-its-signed-up-over-500k-organizations-adds-whiteboard-and-live-events-support/
• https://blog.goptg.com/microsoft-office-365-statistics
• https://enlyft.com/tech/products/microsoft-office-365
• https://www.zdnet.com/article/whats-next-for-teams-microsofts-fastest-growing-business-app-in-company-history/
• https://sharegate.com/global-sharepoint-industry-study
• https://www.statista.com/statistics/986367/worldwide-microsoft-exchange-server-mailbox-deployment/
• https://office365itpros.com/2019/04/25/office-365-reaches-180-million-users/

How can Thexyz help with Office 365 from Microsoft?

Thexyz has a unique offering with its own private email hosting service which can be included with Hosted Exchange mailboxes on the same domain. This allows organizations who need Exchange-based email included with Office plans to realize significant savings. Not all users may require the more expensive Exchange functionality for email so having the ability to mix and match as needed can really help organizations save on IT expenses. Thexyz also offers business Office 365 plans, email migration services to and from Office 365, and additional email security services that can be used to strengthen the security of Office 365. It is also possible to purchase the Office suite (including Word, Excel Powerpoint) outright, without the recurring costs. Contact us for more information on office applications without Microsoft 365 subscriptions.

Have you ever used Word? Or Excel? How about PowerPoint? If the answer is yes, you’re familiar with Microsoft Office.

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In recent years, Microsoft has been steadily growing their subscriber count for their cloud-based product, Office 365. In April 2020, Microsoft rebranded its Office 365 subscription plans as Microsoft 365, so now both their home and business offerings fall under the same branding.

You might be wondering what this means for you. What’s the difference between Microsoft 365 vs Office 365? Are there any new features? And can you still access Microsoft Office programs without a subscription?

In this article, we’ll dive into the differences and which plan would work best for you.

What is Microsoft 365?

Microsoft 365 is a cloud-based subscription service for home and business users, that includes Office applications, cloud storage, and other features dependent on your plan. Whether you’re an individual, a small or midsize business, large enterprise, school or not-for-profit, there’s a plan for you.

Microsoft 365 vs Office 365

Previously Microsoft 365 was a business product from Microsoft, which included Office applications. Microsoft 365 Business was the highest tier of their business plans, with Office 365 Business Essentials and Premium plans underneath.

From April 2020, Office 365 Home and Personal plans and Office 365 Business plans now all fall under the banner of Microsoft 365. Microsoft says the name change is designed in part to help business customers better understand which plan is best for them, promoting the rebranding as “new name, same great value, same price.”

If you already were an Office 365 subscriber for business or personal use, you don’t have to do anything, your subscription will have automatically rolled over to Microsoft 365. If you’re unfamiliar with the plans available, or want to know which option is best for you, keep reading as we break this down below.

What are the different plans and what’s included?

The usual Office apps that you know from Microsoft, such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, Access, and Publisher come with all Microsoft 365 plans for home and personal use. You’ll also get cloud-based features that let you collaborate on documents with others in real-time, plus extra online storage via OneDrive. The Microsoft 365 Family plan is handy for groups of up to six people, who can all share one subscription and access it on multiple devices with their own personal login details.

In comparison with Office 2019, which is sold as a one-time purchase, Microsoft 365 is a subscription, which means you’ll always have the latest features, fixes, and security updates at no extra cost. If you buy the one-off Office 2019 option, you’ll get all the Office apps to download onto one computer, but it doesn’t include any upgrades. This means that if you want to upgrade in the future, you’d need to pay another full license fee.

Microsoft 365 Business plans come with a selection of Office apps and extra features depending on your level of subscription, such as email with your own custom domain name, access to Microsoft Teams, and advanced security protection. Business plans can accommodate up to 300 users, and if you require more, you can opt for an Enterprise plan for an unlimited number of users.

Take a look at our comparison table below to compare the different plans available.

What new features does Microsoft 365 have?

Microsoft 365 is much the same as the former Office 365, but there are a few cool new features that go beyond the workspace. Additional features are expected in the future, such as perhaps a password manager for Microsoft 365.

Money in Excel

Microsoft is expanding its features to help with “life”, as well as school and work. Think banking features such as “Money in Excel”, which allows you to connect your bank and credit card accounts directly from Excel, download transaction details, and import them into a budget or spreadsheet.

Microsoft Editor

Another feature is “Check Your Writing with Microsoft Editor”, which is Microsoft’s version of Grammarly. It helps you check and correct your grammar and style in more than 20 languages in Word and Outlook, or in your browser with an extension for Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge.

Teams for personal use

Microsoft Teams is a chatting function similar to Slack, which allows you to connect with colleagues through group chats, video calls, and shared calendars and to-do charts. Microsoft has added new features for personal use, such as Team groups, to use it with friends and family.

Family Safety

There are also additional security features, such as Microsoft Family Safety, which is an app for iPhone and Android that manages screen time across Windows 10, Xbox and Android and also includes location-sharing options such as notifications when your family arrives at or leaves work or school and where they are on a map.

Wrapping it up

If you already are a subscriber to Office 365, you’ll have the new Microsoft 365 and all its features without having to do anything. If you were on the fence about whether or not to get a subscription to Microsoft 365, hopefully, this article would have helped you to make a decision.

If you just want the Office apps without any of the additional features on one device, and you don’t mind paying for the license fee again should there be any upgrades, then purchasing Office 2019 one-off might be a good option.

But if you’re looking for something that provides more than just the Office apps and is accessible on different devices with future upgrades and features at no extra cost, a Microsoft 365 subscription is your best bet.

Make the most of Microsoft Office

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