For everyone who has been using Microsoft Office 365 for around a decade, a new subscription service from Microsoft is coming soon and will bring the Office 365 experience and a lot more for a monthly fee.
Upgrading to Microsoft 365
According to CNET, the subscription service is called Microsoft 365 and is dubbed as the "subscription service for your life," and will start on Apr. 21 and will cost you $9.99 for a family plan, which is suitable for six people, or an individual plan, which is cheaper at $6.99.
The pricing is the same as before, and for those with existing accounts, they will automatically switch to the new Microsoft 365 subscription once it goes live.
The basic features of Microsoft Office 365 are still there, so anyone can still access Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and everything else.
Additional Benefits
However, there are a few additional features, including cloud-powered experiences, as per Windows Central.
The additional benefits are the following:
- Includes desktop apps for both Windows 10 and macOS with offline editing.
- Provides advanced grammar and style for the Microsoft Editor.
- Includes advanced layout recommendations with premium content for PowerPoint Designer.
- PowerPoint Presenter Coach helps fix monotone pitch, speech refinement, and originality.
- Addition of 300 new templates, 300 fonts, 8000 images, 2800 icons, and 175 looping videos.
- Money in Excel is now available.
Additionally, Microsoft 365 users can now get 1TB of OneDrive storage compared to the previous 5GB capacity. Plus, they can also have unlimited personal vault up until they reach their storage quota, unlike the earlier version that only provides up to three files.
Meanwhile, outlook.com storage is also bigger at 50GB compared to the initial 15GB
Microsoft 365 also offers better online security as it now provides ransomware detection and recovery. Shared links can now expire and can be protected with a password.
They are also providing mobile phone and landline calling with Skype of up to 60 minutes per month. There are also partner benefits programs, custom email domain, and ongoing technical support for all of the Microsoft 365 apps and Windows 10.
More Important Features
According to The Verge, two new important features will be rolled out in the coming months: the new Microsoft Family Safety app, which allows family members to share their location, as well as the Microsoft Team for consumers.
Microsoft Family Safety app also includes a driving report feature for parents to help them keep an eye out for their teens who have just learned how to drive. Plus, parents can also manage the screen time of their kids throughout different devices, including their phones, computers, and Xbox consoles.
Meanwhile, the Microsoft Team is perfect for keeping up with friends through group chats, video calls, sharing photos, and even to-do lists.
Based on the report, these features will be available for preview in the summer and will generally be out for the public later this year.
Microsoft is reportedly working with companies like Adobe, Binklist, Experian, and Bark to provide users with limited-time access to these premium consumer subscription services.
