
There are advantages to either options.Īny Microsoft product under the ‘365’ umbrella is subscription-based, referring to the number of days in a year. Nowadays, Office is available as a download, but you can either buy it outright with a one time purchase, or as a monthly subscription. These days that would be a bit of a faff, with many laptops not even having disc drives anymore, but it was one way to ensure you had a physical backup.

In years gone by, the best (and only) way to get Office was to buy a CD-ROM for a one-off price and install it onto your PC or laptop. Microsoft 365 subscribers typically get monthly updates.įind out more about Office 2019 and how it differs from Microsoft 365 throughout this article. The big thing you're missing out on is new feature updates, as well as integration with the cloud via OneDrive. Office 2019 was the most recent version, although Microsoft has said it will release Office 2021 at some point this year. Depending on your usage, it may in fact work better to buy a one-off version of Microsoft Office. However, there are a myriad of different Microsoft 365 subscriptions to choose from, so it can be difficult to know which to choose. However, the main selling points of the service remain the same: unlimited access to Microsoft Office apps and free cloud storage via OneDrive. Office 365 was rebranded to Microsoft 365 on 21 April 2020, to reflect the growing number of features that are exclusive to its subscribers. Since then, you have been able to subscribe to all the Office apps for a regular monthly fee, as opposed to having to buy each new version when it's released. While historically these could be downloaded with a one-off purchase from the Microsoft website, the release of Office 365 in 2011 muddied the waters. The term 'Microsoft Office' has become synonymous with productivity in recent years, with the likes of Word, Excel and PowerPoint among the most successful and recognisable programs in the world. Office 365 Education - Free options for students

Will Windows 11 come with Microsoft Office? Which version of Microsoft Office do you have?
