What is Office 365?

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.

Learn to Use Windows and Office

Upgrading new software can sometimes be a complicated process.  Recently, when I upgraded the financial management software for my business to the latest version, I ran into problems opening my files in the software.  After several phone calls to their technical support team, we finally isolated the problem and were able to solve it.  However, even if the new software runs perfectly, locating the features you want can be a problem.

When Microsoft released Office 2007, it came with a completely different look from earlier versions.  The toolbars that graced the top of your screen were now replaced with ribbons.  When I first upgraded from Office 2003 to Office 2010 (I skipped the 2007 version), I had trouble finding all the features I wanted.  However, after using it for almost two years now, I now know exactly where the features I use the most are located.

The same problem happened when Microsoft released Windows 8.  Microsoft made so many changes to Windows that it became more difficult to find the features you need.  One of the biggest complaints I hear about Windows 8 is that it has become more difficult to accomplish the same tasks.  While I actually like Windows 8 overall (especially since the Windows 8.1 upgrade was released), I can understand the frustrations of others.

Fortunately, Microsoft has released guides to help learn its new software.  Below, I have linked to guides to Office 2013, Windows 7, and Windows 8.  While Microsoft has only released its guides for Office 2013, many of the features will work on Office 2007 and 2010.  The Office guides are in PDF format.  The Windows guides are web-based, but the Windows 7 offers a PDF option in addition to the videos.

Office 2013

Windows 7

Windows 8