I had a subscriber contact me last week to ask me about Office 365. Specifically, he wanted to know which was the better deal and if there were any differences between Office 365 and Office 2013. After giving him a small overview, I told him I would write a tip about it this week.
Last year, Microsoft announced two new versions of Office. Customers could purchase the traditional Office 2013 or they could purchase a new subscription-based Office 365.
Office 365 costs $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year. It includes all the programs included in the Office 2013 Professional version, which sells at Amazon for $267.99. If you need fewer programs, you can purchase the Home and Business or Home and Student editions, costing $219.00 and $139.00, respectively. If we have to assume that Office will be released on Microsoft's usual 3-4 year schedule, then purchasing Office 2013 once seems to be the better deal.
However, Office 365 gives you the ability to install Office on up to five computers and up to five additional Windows tables or iPads. These installations can also be shared with up to four other members of your household. If you have three laptops, a desktop, and two tablets in your household, your monthly or annual subscription would allow you to install Office on all six devices. Plus, each user gets up to 1 TB of cloud storage included. You also get the latest features automatically (there is no additional upgrade cost) and you can get free technical support from Microsoft.
If you have multiple devices and usually upgrade to the latest edition as soon as it is available, then Office 365 might be a great deal for you. If you like to stick with the version you have, even after later versions are available, then Office 2013 will probably be the best deal for you, especially if you only have one device.
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