If you’re a little confused, join the club. Microsoft announced that it was dropping the Office moniker in 2020 after the company realized that its productivity suite was no longer merely useful in an office environment. However, it seems it’s taken the company two years to commit to that change. Finally, in 2023, Microsoft Office will officially be known as Microsoft 365.
Nothing else is changing, though, merely the name. As Microsoft explains: ‘As part of Microsoft 365 you will continue to get access to apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. We will also continue to offer one-time purchases of those apps to consumers and businesses via Office 2021 and Office LTSC plans. Additionally, there are no changes to Office 365 subscription plans.
There will be no impact on your existing account, profile, subscription, or files. The app will update automatically with a new icon and name, so keep an eye out for those changes in November and beyond.’ You’ve heard it straight from the tech giant’s mouth – there will be no changes to your account. All that changes is a shiny new icon and name. That’s it.
This would be incredibly exciting if Microsoft were the only player in the productivity suite industry. However, they aren’t. In fact, you can get similar functionality to the Microsoft 365 productivity suite with Google’s productivity suite. The best part of all this is that Google’s offerings are free. If you like Microsoft Word but don’t like the fact that it’s paid content, try Google Docs. If you use Microsoft Excel, try Google Sheets. In fact, there’s a free Google product for every service that Microsoft offers.
In other Microsoft news, just in case you still ride the 365 yearly subscription train, Microsoft 365 apps are now easier to update than ever. Google apps are still free, though.
