Office 365 is a subscription-based version of the Microsoft Office Suite, and you have a few options when purchasing an account. One is Office 365 Personal, which gives a single user full access to every Office application.
Contents
- 1 Is Office 365 the same as Excel?
- 2 Is Excel 365 the same as Excel 2019?
- 3 Do I need Office 365 to use Excel?
- 4 What exactly is Office 365?
- 5 Is Microsoft 365 free?
- 6 What is Excel used for?
- 7 What is the difference between Microsoft 365 and Office 365?
- 8 Is Excel 365 the same as Excel 2016?
- 9 What is the difference between MS Office and Office 365?
- 10 Why do I have to pay for Microsoft 365?
- 11 Is there a free version of Excel?
- 12 Is it worth subscribing to Office 365?
- 13 Do I need Office 365 to use Outlook?
- 14 Does Windows 10 come with Microsoft 365?
- 15 How can I use Excel for free?
- 16 Is Excel online free?
- 17 Why is Excel so important?
- 18 What are the 3 common uses for Excel?
- 19 What are the benefits of Excel?
- 20 Do new computers come with Excel?
Is Office 365 the same as Excel?
Tip: Office 365 is now Microsoft 365.Microsoft 365 plans for home and personal include the robust Office desktop apps that you’re familiar with, like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. You also get extra online storage and cloud-connected features that let you collaborate on files in real time.
Is Excel 365 the same as Excel 2019?
There’s not much difference between them right now in terms of functionality; it’s just a different licensing arrangement. Excel 2019 is the perpetual, bought-outright, stand-alone version of Excel and Excel 365 is the subscription-based version of the software.
Do I need Office 365 to use Excel?
The good news is if you don’t need the full suite of Microsoft 365 tools, you can access a number of its apps online for free — including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive, Outlook, Calendar and Skype.
What exactly is Office 365?
“Office 365” refers to subscription plans that include access to Office applications plus other productivity services that are enabled over the Internet (cloud services), such as Lync web conferencing and Exchange Online hosted email for business, and additional online storage with OneDrive and Skype world minutes for
Is Microsoft 365 free?
Get started with Office 365 for free
Students and educators at eligible institutions can sign up for Office 365 Education for free, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and now Microsoft Teams, plus additional classroom tools. Use your valid school email address to get started today.
What is Excel used for?
What is Excel used for? Excel is typically used to organize data and perform financial analysis. It is used across all business functions and at companies from small to large.
What is the difference between Microsoft 365 and Office 365?
The Short Version
Office 365 is a cloud-based suite of productivity apps like Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, and more. Microsoft 365 is a bundle of services including Office 365, plus several other services including Windows 10 Enterprise.
Is Excel 365 the same as Excel 2016?
The short version: Office 2016 is a version of the Office productivity suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc), typically accessed via the desktop.Office 365 is a cloud-based subscription to a suite of programs including Office 2016.
What is the difference between MS Office and Office 365?
Does Microsoft 365 include Microsoft Office? Microsoft Office is a package of some Microsoft apps, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. On the other hand, Microsoft 365 package offers all those apps alongside some others. Therefore, you could say that Microsoft 365 includes Microsoft Office.
Why do I have to pay for Microsoft 365?
Microsoft, like many other software vendors, has turned to a subscription method of licensing. This started with Office 365. Previously, one purchased a license to a specific version of the software. If the software was updated, one had to pay for an upgrade or continue to use the older version.
Is there a free version of Excel?
Perhaps again in response to Google, Microsoft’s Office mobile applications are completely free and available across modern mobile devices. You can download the Microsoft Excel app for Android and iOS.
Is it worth subscribing to Office 365?
Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) is the best option for anyone who wants all the Office apps and everything the service provides. It’s possible to share the account with up to six people. The offering is also the only option that provides a continuity of updates at a low cost of ownership.
Do I need Office 365 to use Outlook?
A Microsoft account is required to install and activate Office versions 2013 or later, and Microsoft 365 for home products. You might already have a Microsoft account if you use a service like Outlook.com, OneDrive, Xbox Live, or Skype; or if you purchased Office from the online Microsoft Store.
Does Windows 10 come with Microsoft 365?
Yes, Microsoft Office 365 is included in Windows 10.
How can I use Excel for free?
To start using Office for free, all you’ve got to do is open your browser, go to Office.com, and select the app you want to use. There’s online copies of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote you can choose from, as well as contacts and calendar apps and the OneDrive online storage.
Is Excel online free?
Microsoft Excel Online is the free version of Excel that works in your browser.You can use all of Excel Online’s features for free, as long as you don’t have more than 5GB of files in OneDrive, Microsoft’s online file storage.
Why is Excel so important?
Among the computer programs which exist, Microsoft Excel is one of the most important because of the key role it plays in many sectors.Many businesses, personal and institutional enterprises have embraced the use of Excel because of its utility and the ability to serve as a visual basic for different applications.
What are the 3 common uses for Excel?
The three most common general uses for spreadsheet software are to create budgets, produce graphs and charts, and for storing and sorting data. Within business spreadsheet software is used to forecast future performance, calculate tax, completing basic payroll, producing charts and calculating revenues.
What are the benefits of Excel?
10 Benefits of Microsoft Excel
- Best way to store data.
- You can perform calculations.
- All the tools for data analysis.
- Easy to data visualizations with charts.
- You can print reports easily.
- So many free templates to use.
- You can code to automate.
- Transform and clean data.
Do new computers come with Excel?
On all new commercial computers today, manufacturers install a trial version of Microsoft Office AND a copy of Microsoft Office Starter Edition. Microsoft Office Starter Edition does NOT expire and is every bit as functional as its costly brethren. The Starter editions includes only Word and Excel.
What is Office 365 Cloud?
Office 365 is a cloud-based product suite containing Microsoft programs for office use that can be run locally and synchronized to cloud storage. With the help of Office 365, you can work from anywhere and share the work documents with your colleagues worldwide. It helps individuals as well as businesses to easily work on different documents.
Devices supported by Office 365:
- Desktop Computers – installed as Microsoft Office 365
- Web – Office online allows you to create and edit documents using lightweight versions of Office applications.
- Mobile Devices – smartphones and tablets
Excel is also part of the programs that are shipped with Office 365. You can use the powerful features found in desktop versions of Office 365 Excel in the cloud based version too.
Microsoft Office 365 Product Suite
- Improved user productivity
- Ability to access documents from multiple devices and locations
- Easily share documents with colleagues
- 1 TB storage with OneDrive
- Easily recover data from the cloud if you lose your computer or it crashes etc.
Disadvantages of Office 365
- Since this is a cloud based service, there is a possibility of outages if something happens with the cloud services for Office 365
- Ease of access from multiple devices/locations may also pose security risks if the users do not follow security best practices
How to subscribe to Office 365
If you would like to try out Office 365 or get more details, you can visit this link. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/business/all-business or https://products.office.com/en-us/try. Since this is a subscription based service, you will be required to pay for it every month. You can try it for free for 30 days.
Devices supported by Office 365?
- Android powered devices
- iOS phones and iOS powered tablets
- Windows powered devices (Smartphones and tablets)
- Windows operating system(s)
- OS X operating system(s)
Summary
The computing world is moving more towards cloud and mobile computing. Most users have access to mobile devices i.e. smartphones & tablets, and high speed internet. Most software companies have taken advantage of this powerful cloud and Mobile computing technology to develop mobile apps that enhance users’ productivity.
Office 365 is a powerful cloud based version of Microsoft office that includes cloud based Excel as well. Microsoft 365 cloud gives you the ability to access, create and edit Excel cloud documents from multiple devices and locations. This greatly enhances your productivity as you can work from anywhere in the world.
Technically Excel 2019 is not yet available, however, many of the new features are accessible to subscribers to the Office 365 version. Microsoft has been moving toward a subscription-based model in recent years in order to make incremental changes rather than big changes to file types that posed all sorts of difficulties for Excel users. Right now, there is not much difference between Excel 365 and the new 2019 version in terms of functionality, rather it just involves a different licensing agreement.
The Difference Between an Excel Perpetual and a Subscription-Based License
Excel 365 is the subscription-based version of Excel and Excel 2019 is the perpetual, stand-alone, bought-outright version. A perpetual license has always been made available by Microsoft for outright purchase and outright ownership. The user will not receive any updates until the next version of the software is released. Understandably this has caused users to become impatient when they find out about new features included in a newer model.
Subscription-based Office 365 is designed to regularly release updates which means that changes are gradual and users have time to get used to the changes. Organizations are able to choose their update channel on the subscription model to occur monthly or semi-annually.
While Excel 2019 licenses are available for purchase, Microsoft strongly recommends organizations and individual users to use the subscription option. To support this preference Microsoft announced in 2017 that users using Office 2016 on a perpetual license will not be able to connect to their cloud-based services after 2020. It is expected that the 2019 version will have similar limitations and it seems likely that this will be the last version that will be offered on a perpetual license.
What’s New in Excel 2019 and Excel 365 Subscription Version?
The following features have been introduced in the new Excel 2019 version which is already available to those with an Office 365 subscription:
– Custom Visuals: Visuals such as bullet charts, speedometers, and word clouds previously available only in Power B1.
– Full SVG Graphics: The new version will have full SVG graphics support. In addition, the Excel application features 500 built-in icons which look great on infographics and dashboards.
– Expanded Insights Feature: By clicking on a table with data and selecting ‘Insights’ from the Insert tab, several charts on the right-hand side of the page gives insight into the data. This is rather handy as a data analysis tool.
– 3-D Models
– Custom Functions: You will be able to create custom functions by using JavaScript which allows for greater interconnection.
– Excel Connection to Flow: Excel’s connects to Flow that allows the creation of automated workflows to collect data automatically or to synchronize data sources. This is a particularly useful feature for models that need constant updating such as currency exchange rates or stock prices.
– Excel Connection to Forms: Excel connects to Forms which means a form user interface that is very easy to use and can be shared through a link.
– New Functions such a SWITCH, IFS, MAXIFS, MINIFS, and TEXTJOIN.
– Map and Funnel Charts: Map charts allow data to be displayed on a map using provinces, states, countries, and even zip and postcodes. Numbers can be color-coded or displayed as a heat map.
– Power Query Data Cleansing New Features: New features include parameters, conditional columns, and new transformations.
– Co-Authoring Feature: When a file is stored on OneDrive or Sharepoint users can edit simultaneously using the co-authoring feature.
– Default Behavior for Pivot Tables: For those who regularly change their preferences for Pivot Tables, a default behavior can now be assigned.
– Online Data Types: The first two online data types supported are Stocks and Geography with more promised to come. Using the all-new A1-powered Online Data Types feature, a cell containing a country or region value, for example, can extract more details such as capital city, area, population, etc.
Note that to use these tools you have to have either Excel 365 or Excel 2019 as the formula will not work if opened in a non-compatible version which may undermine the functionality of the model unless viewed online.
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Have you ever used Word? Or Excel? How about PowerPoint? If the answer is yes, you’re familiar with Microsoft Office.
Learn more about the Office suite
Download your printable guide to Microsoft Office
In recent years, Microsoft has been steadily growing its subscriber count for their cloud-based product, Office 365. In April 2020, Microsoft rebranded its Office 365 subscription plans as Microsoft 365, so now both their home and business offerings fall under the same branding.
You might be wondering what this means for you. What’s the difference between Microsoft 365 vs Office 365? And can you still access Microsoft Office programs without a subscription?
In this article, we’ll dive into the differences and which plan would work best for you.
What is Microsoft 365?
Microsoft 365 is a cloud-based subscription service for home and business users, that includes Office applications, cloud storage, and other features dependent on your plan. Whether you’re an individual, a small or midsize business, large enterprise, school or not-for-profit, there’s a plan for you.
Microsoft 365 vs Office 365
Previously Microsoft 365 was a business product from Microsoft, which included Office applications. Microsoft 365 Business was the highest tier of their business plans, with Office 365 Business Essentials and Premium plans underneath.
From April 2020, Office 365 Home and Personal plans and Office 365 Business plans now all fall under the banner of Microsoft 365. Microsoft says the name change is designed in part to help business customers better understand which plan is best for them, promoting the rebranding as “new name, same great value, same price.”
If you already were an Office 365 subscriber for business or personal use, you don’t have to do anything, your subscription will have automatically rolled over to Microsoft 365. If you’re unfamiliar with the plans available, or want to know which option is best for you, keep reading as we break this down below.
What are the different plans and what’s included?
The usual Office apps that you know from Microsoft, such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, Access, and Publisher come with all Microsoft 365 plans for home and personal use. You’ll also get cloud-based features that let you collaborate on documents with others in real-time, plus extra online storage via OneDrive. The Microsoft 365 Family plan is handy for groups of up to six people, who can all share one subscription and access it on multiple devices with their own personal login details.
In comparison with Office 2021, which is sold as a one-time purchase, Microsoft 365 is a subscription, which means you’ll always have the latest features, fixes, and security updates at no extra cost. If you buy the one-off Office 2021 option, you’ll get all the Office apps to download onto one computer, but it doesn’t include any upgrades. This means that if you want to upgrade in the future, you’d need to pay another full license fee.
Microsoft 365 Business plans come with a selection of Office apps and extra features depending on your level of subscription, such as email with your own custom domain name, access to Microsoft Teams, and advanced security protection. Business plans can accommodate up to 300 users, and if you require more, you can opt for an Enterprise plan for an unlimited number of users.
Take a look at our comparison table below to compare the different plans available.
Plan | Price | Features | Usage |
---|---|---|---|
Personal |
$59.99/year or $5.99/month |
Office apps including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access, Publisher and OneNote. 1 terabyte of cloud storage and security for all devices you use the subscription on. |
1 user, on multiple devices. |
Family |
$79.99/year or $7.99/month |
All of the Office apps the personal plan includes plus up to 6 terabytes of cloud storage (1 terabyte per person) and security for all devices you use the subscription on. |
Up to 6 users, on multiple devices. |
Office Home & Student 2021 (non-subscription) |
$119.99, one-time purchase |
Classic versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint with no updates or additional features from 365 subscription plans. |
1 user, on 1 PC or Mac. |
Business Basic |
$5 user/month (annual commitment) |
Web and mobile versions of Office apps including Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Teams, Sharepoint and OneDrive. Also includes 1 TB of cloud storage, Microsoft Teams, email and calendar, and security and compliance features. |
Up to 300 users. |
Business Standard |
$12.50 user/month (annual commitment) |
Everything in Basic, plus always up-to-date Desktop versions of Office apps. |
Up to 300 users. |
Business Premium |
$20.00 user/month (annual commitment) |
Everything in Standard, plus advanced security and device management. |
Up to 300 users. |
Apps for business |
$8.25 user/month (annual commitment) |
Office apps including Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Teams, Sharepoint and OneDrive, 1 TB of cloud storage, and no additional business features. |
Up to 300 users. |
Enterprise (E5, E3, F3) |
$10 to $57 user/month (annual commitment) |
Office apps, Power apps, content creation apps, advanced analytics. |
Unlimited users. |
What new features does Microsoft 365 have?
Microsoft 365 is much the same as the former Office 365, but there are a few cool new features that go beyond the workspace. Additional features are expected in the future, such as perhaps a password manager for Microsoft 365.
Money in Excel
Microsoft is expanding its features to help with “life”, as well as school and work. Think banking features such as “Money in Excel”, which allows you to connect your bank and credit card accounts directly from Excel, download transaction details, and import them into a budget or spreadsheet.
Microsoft Editor
Another feature is “Check Your Writing with Microsoft Editor”, which is Microsoft’s version of Grammarly. It helps you check and correct your grammar and style in more than 20 languages in Word and Outlook, or in your browser with an extension for Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge.
Teams for personal use
Microsoft Teams is a collaboration application similar to Slack, which allows you to connect with colleagues through group chats, video calls, shared calendars, and to-do charts. Microsoft has added new features for personal use, such as Team groups, to use with friends and family.
Family Safety
There are also additional security features, such as Microsoft Family Safety, which is an app for iPhone and Android that manages screen time across Windows 10, Xbox and Android and also includes location-sharing options such as notifications when your family arrives at or leaves work or school and where they are on a map.
Wrapping it up
If you are already a subscriber to Office 365, you’ll have the new Microsoft 365 and all its features without having to do anything. If you were on the fence about whether or not to get a subscription to Microsoft 365, hopefully, this article would have helped you to make a decision.
If you just want the Office apps without any of the additional features on one device, and you don’t mind paying for the license fee again should there be any upgrades, then purchasing Office 2019 one-off might be a good option.
But if you’re looking for something that provides more than just the Office apps and is accessible on different devices with future upgrades and features at no extra cost, a Microsoft 365 subscription is your best bet.
Make the most of Microsoft Office
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Ever wondered what is the difference between Excel 2019 and Office 365? Look no further as we will give you a detailed comparison on Excel 2019 VS Office 365!
We will be using Excel 2019 and Office 2019 interchangeably as they pertain to the entire package 🙂
First things first, what is the main difference between the two?
- If you purchase Office 2019, this is a perpetual license wherein you pay once and you own it forever.
- Office 365 on the other hand is subscription-based, you either pay a monthly fee or annual fee to keep on using it.
On paper, the own-it-forever sounds better right? But there is more than meets the eye, keep on reading!
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Cost Comparison
Let us have a look first from a cost standpoint, here’s a table that compares the subscription based Office 365 versus the perpetual Office 2019:
Office 365 has two offerings:
- Office 365 Home allows you to have 6 users maximum just for $99.99 a year
- Office 365 Personal allows for 1 user for $69.99 a year
Which means if you have at least 2 users, then Office 365 Home becomes a better deal instantly as compared to Office 365 Personal.
For Office 2019, we are making the assumption that the software has 3 years of ownership, before you upgrade your software to the newer version. This allows us to compute to a cost of $50.00 a year.
And if you see the inclusions, there are more Office Applications included in the Office 365 package. (e.g. Outlook, Publisher, Access, Onedrive, Skype).
So from a cost perspective, Office 365 Home is the better deal, assuming you have at least 2 users (up to a maximum of 6!).
Value Comparison
From a features perspective are they exactly the same? Office 365 has one major advantage over Office 2019: Office 365 constantly gets updated with new features every couple of months!
Office 2019 and Office 365 right now are almost at par in terms of features at the time of this writing. However give it some time, and Office 365 will be ahead in terms of the features race.
>> Click here to see the Office 365 Roadmap for Excel
Another good thing, is the changes are gradual in Office 365 and you get them right away. And as compared to the perpetual Office 2019, the changes are more drastic when you upgrade from one perpetual Office version to another (e.g. Office 2016 to Office 2019).
Here is an example list of the updates that are new in both Excel 2019 and Office 365:
- Custom functions using JavaScript
- New functions such as IFS, SWITCH, TEXTJOIN, MAXIFS, MINIFS
- Co-authoring for multiple users
- Assigning default behavior for Pivot Tables
- 3D Models
- Custom visuals such as bullet charts, speedometers and even word clouds!
- The list will grow longer for Office 365 soon!
Debunking the Online Myth
One common misconception is that with Office 365 is you have to be connected to the internet to use it.
It’s not true! Office 365 is installed locally on your computer, similar to how Office 2019 is installed. We suggest moving over to the subscription model, as it keeps your Office applications up to date and you will reap the benefits sooner too!
Imagine seeing a sparkling new feature, then only to discover that your perpetual Office installation does not support it! Office 365 removes this issue outright, as you get it right away as included in your subscription.
And remember, this does not only apply to Excel, but also to all your Office applications as well! (e.g. Word, Powerpoint)
I hope this has been helpful for you in terms of comparing Office 365 and Office 2019. If you can get Office 365, I highly suggest to go for it!
(Disclaimer: We do not make any money or are affiliated with Office 365, we just want you to have the best solution at the most affordable price!)
What Excel Version Do You Have?
If you’re not sure what version you have, go to the File tab of any Office application and select Account.
You will see your version under Product Information.
We have compiled this tutorial which easily shows you which Excel version you currently have: What Microsoft Excel Version Do I Have?