Product test

Office 365 - What is that?

23.8.2016

Translation: machine translated

I was actually of the opinion that everyone knows what Office 365 is by now. I was recently proved wrong. However, I understand it very well. Let's be honest, Office is boring, monotonous and reminds us of work - who wants that? Still, there are some important and useful things to know about it. It saves money and time... and suddenly the topic might become exciting after all.

What is Office 365?

Office 365 is Microsoft's subscription plan. As you can probably already guess from the number 365, it is valid for one year, i.e. 365 days. You can use all the functions that come with Office 365 for one year, after which you have to renew your plan. This does not happen automatically by default. You will receive a rather unsympathetic message from Microsoft telling you to renew your plan. Simply buy a standard Office 365 Home or Personal from us again. Unfortunately, there are no renewal versions.

What does it include?

There are two versions for us private users. Office 365 Home and Office 365 Personal. The range of functions is identical. The same programmes are available in both versions. The difference lies in the number of licences.

Office 365 Personal

It only allows one user and can be used on a PC/Mac, a tablet and a smartphone.

Office 365 Home

The version allows up to 5 users. It can also be used on five PCs/Macs, five tablets and five smartphones.

What can I do with it

? Both versions contain the following applications:

Word
Excel
PowerPoint
Outlook
OneNote
Access
Publisher

In addition, there is one terabyte of OneDrive cloud storage per user and a credit of 60 Skype call minutes to landlines and mobiles per month. Sounds good, doesn't it? What is only mentioned on closer inspection are the Skype restrictions. You can find them here under the section "Information on Skype call minutes".

Advantages

It can be installed on all your mobile devices - the benefits of this are often underestimated
You always benefit from the latest features and don't have to worry about updates
You get one terabyte of cloud storage - this is not included with the purchase version (Office 2016 Home & Business or Home & Student)
If you assume an Office 2016 lifespan of three years, you would make an investment of CHF 249 over these three years at the current market price of CHF 83 (Home version). This amount slightly exceeds the cost of the comparable Office Home & Business 2016, although the purchase version only includes one licence. Office 365 Home therefore offers better value for money. Unless you expect Office 2016 to last longer

Disadvantages

It's a plan
Skype minutes sound better than they really are

Conclusion

I can recommend Office 365 with a clear conscience. If you really only have one PC, you can go for the Personal version. However, if you have at least two devices in your household, go for the Home version.

Office 365 has extensive functions and is generously equipped with various applications. OneDrive is very useful and can also be easily integrated on your PC as a network drive. This means I can write a document on the go and then simply continue working at home without having to transfer data manually.

Microsoft's slogan for Office 365 is: "Become a high-flyer!" Even if this slogan reminds me of the saying "Off into the blue" - yes, that's a reference to the blue screen - I can comment on the slogan with "minimal risk of crashing".