Solved Confused about Office 365

[Liam2349]

I currently use Office 2013 and I'm confused about what Office 365 actually provides. I know about the storage and the license for Office 2013.

Do you get better versions of the web apps when you subscribe? Word online is a bit unusable to me without an equation editor, as nice as it is to collaborate online. I'd like to be able to access the full power of Office 2013 on whatever device I'm using - is this possible with Office 365?

 

[spinachpie]

They are the full Office programs/apps which you can use on two or three devices (PC/tablet/phone)

 

[jnjroach]

Office 365 is "Office Productivity as a Service", depending on the level your purchase it can be installed on multiple computers or tablets (between 2 and 10). You also receive the OneDrive Subscription and Skype. The version is the same as its equivalent SKU in the Shrink wrapped version, i.e. Office 365 Home Premium is the same version as Office 2013 Professional....the biggest benefit is you will get all upgrades during the life of your subscription so you'll get Office 2015 with out needed to purchase the upgrade. It runs locally just the same as the traditional version.

http://products.office.com/en-us/buy/compare-microsoft-office-products

 

[Liam2349]

Office 365 is "Office Productivity as a Service", depending on the level your purchase it can be installed on multiple computers or tablets (between 2 and 10). You also receive the OneDrive Subscription and Skype. The version is the same as its equivalent SKU in the Shrink wrapped version, i.e. Office 365 Home Premium is the same version as Office 2013 Professional....the biggest benefit is you will get all upgrades during the life of your subscription so you'll get Office 2015 with out needed to purchase the upgrade. It runs locally just the same as the traditional version.

http://products.office.com/en-us/buy/compare-microsoft-office-products

So there is no improved cloud-based version then?

 

[Nys299]

Office 2013 comes in various versions but is a one time lump sum payment depending on which version you buy.

Office 365 is the full suite of office applications and is SUBSCRIPTION BASED, i.e. you have to pay an annual subscription fee to continue to use Office. MS throws in some sweeteners like 1TB One Drive storage if you choose to subscribe.

 

[InspectHerGadget]

If you need multiple installations of office then it is a good deal. A poor deal though for one computer. We use all five of our activations and one of those is Office for Mac. It is so easy to activate and deactivate installations and to install. Highly recommended.

 

[enthuz]

I'm presently using Office 365 E3 level. It runs very nice and the integration is great. I have it installed locally also to allow offline work. This is easily done via the web console. My only gripe is that for non-students, I can't find a multi-year plan for personal use.

 

[GreyFox7]

Liam, any other issues besides the lack of the Equation Editor that you have noticed?

Have you tried this http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...3-office/b99e54d7-2897-4139-9fe4-39a54597c8b0

Anyone else find any missing features and were they documented?

 

[leeshor]

Here is something to consider. I have quite a few customer/users still using Office 2007. If you would typically keep your copy of Office that long then Office 365 (as a yearly subscriptions) can get (more) expensive than purchasing 2013. If you tend to upgrade more often, then getting the subscription to Office 365 will keep you up-to-date so long as you maintain the subscription.

 

[jnjroach]

So there is no improved cloud-based version then?

No, Office Online is Office Online across the board. It is identical to buying the shrink-wrapped version except the licensing is different as it is purchased as a subscription, stop the subscription and you lose your license.

 

[Liam2349]

Liam, any other issues besides the lack of the Equation Editor that you have noticed?

Have you tried this http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...3-office/b99e54d7-2897-4139-9fe4-39a54597c8b0

Anyone else find any missing features and were they documented?

This link looks like it's talking about the equation editor in Word 2013 right? I use that a fair bit, but I would like that functionality in the web app too, at least for people who subscribe to 365.

No, Office Online is Office Online across the board. It is identical to buying the shrink-wrapped version except the licensing is different as it is purchased as a subscription, stop the subscription and you lose your license.

What do you mean by Office Online? Are you referring to the apps you get when you go to onedrive.com? The cut-back versions of Office 2013?

 

[jnjroach]

This link looks like it's talking about the equation editor in Word 2013 right? I use that a fair bit, but I would like that functionality in the web app too, at least for people who subscribe to 365.



What do you mean by Office Online? Are you referring to the apps you get when you go to onedrive.com? The cut-back versions of Office 2013?

The confusion is coming from you thinking Office 365 runs in "The Cloud", only the backend runs in the Cloud, the application installs and runs locally. There is not a special Online Version it is the same as the one from the OneDrive Web interface which is a simplified version that allows the most simple of editing.