Office 365 is both different and similar to Office 2013. Office 365 is an online subscription service, providing email, shared calendars, online document editing, instant messaging, and web conference. All of the aspects of Office 365 are available anywhere from nearly any device as long as you have an Internet connection.
There is one major difference between the two products: Office 2013 can only be installed on a single computer, while an Office 365 license can be applied to a group of users, who can license and de-license any PC they wish at any moment. In this blog post, we will discuss the main differences between Microsoft’s Office 365 and Office 2013 products.
Updates
If you sign up for Office 365, you will benefit from updates, patches and upgrades that download automatically in the background without you having to worry about it. Office 365 offers all the benefits of using Office 2013 without any of the issues related to updating and maintenance. Also, if you have Office 2010 currently installed on your computer, you can configure the software to work with Office 365, and will be able to easily retrieve, edit and save Office documents stored in the Office 365 cloud.
With Office 2013, on the other hand, you will have to remember to manually update whenever the need arises, and you will be stuck with your physical copy until further notice.
Which option sounds better to you?
Pricing
Microsoft’s Office 365 is priced with a subscription model. Office 365 users pay annually; however, if you allow the subscription to end, you will only be able to access read-only versions of your documents. The single-license installed version of Office 2013 is a one-time purchase cost.
Features
One of the best aspects Office 365 is that you get a bunch of extras on top of the Office suite, giving you more for your money. Office 365 features many benefits that Office 2013 doesn’t offer. Office 365 includes an additional 20GB of SkyDrive storage and 60 free minutes per month for international Skype calls.
To learn more about Office 365 features, check out this blog post, “6 Microsoft Office 365 Features That Fly Under The Radar.”
Final Thoughts
Up to this point, Microsoft has offered extremely fair prices for Office 365, hoping to guide consumers to this option. However if you are set on Office , and still haven’t made up your mind, you should find concern in the fact that Office 2013 doesn’t include timely updates and upgrades. The fear of being locked to a single PC could also be an issue for some people. If you're the type of user who demands flexibility, including the latest features, Microsoft keeps coming up with more ways to encourage you to choose Office 365.
Kelser | Microsoft Office 365
Kelser can help you transition from your on premise or hosted email solution to Office 365. Kelser knows how to ensure a smooth conversion while making sure that business-critical functionality is maintained. We also know how to help you to further leverage Office 365 within your organization so that you can save additional costs.
Find out how Microsoft Office 365 can help small and midsized businesses achieve their goals and mobilize their workforces.
