Microsoft Office is something that most of us know of. We use it in schools, we use it in colleges to give presentations and we use it at work to create documents.
Did You Know: In Malaysia, Windows OS takes up 81.43% of the market share for desktop operating systems at the end of May 2020?
The Microsoft Office suites often come in as a crucial add-on along with the OS. Office 365, Microsoft’s cloud productivity solution suite, has amassed more than 38 million active users worldwide.
Fast forward to 2020, Microsoft rebranded Office 365 into Microsoft 365, offering more features and benefits to their customers, while keeping the same price point.
What’s Different Between Office 365 And Microsoft 365?
Personally, I’ve stopped using Microsoft Office Suites after I left university and that was roughly 5 years ago.
Note: Microsoft Office Suites includes products such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, and the likes.
Since Microsoft 365 is now available and comes with a free 1-month trial, I thought I’d jump back into the scene to see what new features they’ve added and what I’ve missed out on.
According to Microsoft, the major difference between Office 365 and Microsoft 365 is the addition of AI-powered assistance and a new family subscription plan.
AI Assistance On Microsoft 365
One of the newer additions to Microsoft Word is Microsoft Editor, an AI-powered service that checks for grammar and spelling mistakes as you write. Microsoft Editor boasts the capability to check over 20 languages.
Microsoft Editor can be used on Word or Outlook—but if you wish, you can download an extension for Chrome or Edge to check your writing even if you’re just sending an email or posting on social media.
As a writer, Microsoft Editor helps me cut down time spent on grammar-checking, so it’s definitely something that I would use.
They’ve also implemented some AI solutions into Microsoft PowerPoint.
If you’re not sure of your public speaking skills, you can fire up the Presenter Coach available on PowerPoint to help guide you during your rehearsal.
The AI can also detect if you’re saying “umm” too much or simply reading the text from your slides without any added info.
New Ways To Track On Excel
Most people have used Microsoft Excel in the past to track their expenditure or to key in their calories consumed for the day and so on.
But with the new addition on Microsoft 365, Excel now comes with more templates, so you can easily choose which template you’d like to use to track your habits.
For example, if you find yourself overspending when payday comes by, it is a wise idea to keep a closer eye on what you’re spending it on. You can use the new ‘Money in Excel’ template that connects to your bank and credit cards to automatically import transactions and balances.
A New Plan For Your Family
In the previous Office 365 Home, installation can be done on only 5 devices, but Microsoft 365 Family now supports up to 6 people, and works on multiple devices.
Everyone on the plan also gets 1TB of cloud storage on OneDrive and access to over 8,000 stock images to be used for free with additional content to spruce up your documents and presentations.
You can then put the images into Microsoft Publisher to design simple greeting cards or marketing materials for your company. You can also make calls to local landlines and mobile phones via Skype to up to 60 minutes per month.
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With this subscription, you don’t have to ever worry if you’re using a legit version of Microsoft Office Suites and you can access most of the features whenever and wherever you are, even on different devices.
In Malaysia, you can get Microsoft 365 and the latest Microsoft offers from their official retailers below.
- Get Microsoft 365 today from SenQ, PC Image, ALL IT, TMT, SNS Network and Harvey Norman.
- For more info on Microsoft365, click here.
