The All-New Exciting Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365 is a cloud-powered productivity platform that includes apps like Microsoft Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneDrive, and so much more. The Office 365 brand will be phased out as part of this move and the Microsoft 365 app is where you will; go to access all your favourite tools and content in the Microsoft 365 suite.

With Microsoft 365, everything you need is in one place. From your favourite productivity apps—Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook—to new apps for creativity and expression like Loop, it’s all here. Plus, any third-party apps you choose. It’s a secure experience powered by the Microsoft Graph that brings together all your documents’ files contacts meetings and more with intelligent recommendations personalised just for you.

In other words, it’s a more productive way to work. The Microsoft 365 app will be available to all business, education, and consumer customers.

Microsoft Teams is at the heart of Microsoft 365

Microsoft Teams is the app at the centre of Microsoft 365. With more than 270 million monthly active users, it has changed how people work more than any other app in the past 20 years. Microsoft introduced more than 450 new capabilities in the past year to transform meeting culture and keep everyone in the flow of work.

The team at Microsoft 365 is committed to helping everyone have better hybrid meetings. Last year, they introduced new AI-powered intelligent cameras to Microsoft Teams Rooms in order to dissolve the barriers between an attendee’s physical and digital presence. Back in October 2022 Microsoft announced they were partnering with Yealink to bring SmartVision 60—the first 360-degree, center-of-room intelligent camera. The SmartVision 60 produces multiple video streams with active speaker tracking powered by AI—and coming soon: people recognition!

Read more about the recent Teams update here on Microsoft Blog.

Bringing the metaverse to work

According to Microsoft’s data, half of all Gen Z-ers see themselves working in the metaverse within the next two years. This is why in a recent blog post Microsoft announced their partnership with Meta where Teams plan to launch their immersive meeting experiences to Quest VR headsets very soon! This way, you’ll be able to connect and collaborate with others as if you’re actually in the same room together.

Frequently Asked Questions about Microsoft 365

What is Changing

Microsoft 365 has become the leading productivity suite over the past few years, so they want to help you get the most out of it that you can. In the upcoming months, Office.com, the Office mobile app, and the Office app for Windows will all become Microsoft 365 apps with a new icon and look, not to mention more features.

When is it Changing

The changes will start being implemented on Office.com in November 2022 and then begin to show on the Office app for Windows and the mobile app in January 2023.

Are There Any New Features?

• New types of content creation and templates: The create module allows you to rapidly start projects in any of the Microsoft 365 apps, with either blank templates or recommended templates for a jump-start. The create module is available right now on the web, Windows, and mobile devices; more template types will be coming next year for consumers.
• New Apps module: In the next month, all Microsoft 365 users will be able to discover, launch, and pin their most-used tools on the web or Windows. The mobile version will be available in the following months.
• Welcome Badging: Keep track of your Microsoft 365 subscription status and available storage all in one place. This service will be available to web and Windows users next month.
• My Content: My Content is a feature that allows you to view and access all your content in one central location, regardless of where it is stored. This feature will be available next month for web and Windows users.
• Feed: With our easy-to-use interface, you can access all the information you need in one place to streamline your workflow. With content that is tailored specifically for you based on who you work with and what projects you’re working on, we have everything you need. Our platform is available today across different devices so that regardless of where you are, or what device best fits your needs, we’ve got you covered.
• Tagging: Start grouping and organizing your content with custom tags today. Available now for commercial users on the web and Windows.

So, is Office Being Discontinued?

No, 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 via Office 2021 and Office LTSC plans.

Will the Price be Increasing?

Microsoft already announced a price increase this year from 1st March 2022 that we talked about on this blog post. We have not received any further communications that would lead us to believe there will be any additional price changes applied to the current Office 365 (and soon to be Microsoft 365) subscription plans at this time.