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16 'Office 365' stories February 2013 - December 2020
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Microsoft U-turn on user ‘productivity’ data in Office 365 and Teams

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Dec 2 2020 - 5:50 am PT
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Microsoft U-turn on user data

Concerns about misuse of data on employee usage of apps like Office 365 and Teams has resulted in a rapid Microsoft U-turn.

The company had logged app usage data at a user level, and claimed enterprise customers could use the data to measure both the productivity and influence of their employees. Microsoft has now announced that it has heard the concerns about this and taken immediate action …

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The iPad Pro is too big to get Office apps for free, says Microsoft

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Sep 25 2015 - 4:36 am PT
38 Comments

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Current iPad owners can download Microsoft Office apps free of charge, using them for both viewing and basic editing – but that won’t be the case with the iPad Pro, Microsoft told arsTechnica.

Office on the iPad Pro will require an Office 365 subscription for any and all editing. That’s because Microsoft defines a 10.1 inch cutoff. Anything below 10.1 inches is a “true mobile device” and as such qualifies for free access to the core editing capabilities. But above that threshold and it’s not a “true mobile device” any longer, it’s something else entirely, and it will need an Office 365 subscription as a result … 


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Office 2016 for Mac now available outright for $150, no Office 365 subscription required

Avatar for Chance Miller Sep 22 2015 - 12:13 pm PT
9 Comments

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Update (via 9to5Toys.com): MacMall has Office Home and Student 2016 for $139.99 ($10 off) or Business for $20  off) with Tax in a few states.

After teasing it at the beginning of this year, Microsoft made Office 2016 available for Mac earlier this summer, but only for those that had an Office 365 subscription, which runs $9.99/mo or $100/year. Today, however, Microsoft has released a standalone version of Office 2016 for Mac, allowing anyone to purchase the software outright.

Purchasing Office 2016 for Mac without an Office 365 subscription will run you $150 for a Home & Student license, which lacks Outlook. With the purchase, you’ll also get 15GB of OneDrive storage. Office 365 subscribers get 1 terabyte of space. Office Home & Business 2016 for Mac is also available for $229.99 and includes Outlook. Both of those prices are up $10 from the previous versions of Office and for single licenses, as Microsoft continues to push users towards Office 365 plans.

Microsoft this time around is not offering a standalone business plan for Office. Instead, organizations are required to sign up for an Office 365 plan. Business plans start at $5 per users and increase in increments up to $12.50 per user, depending on what features you want.

Office 2016 for Mac features a redesigned suite of apps, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote. The software also includes enhanced cloud functionality, including the ability for multiple users to collaborate on documents in real time when using the same app on different platform, including Mac, iPad, or PC. The apps are also all now optimized for devices with Retina displays.

You can purchase Office 2016 for Mac outright for $150 now via Microsoft’s website. Read our initial hands-on with the software here.

Microsoft pilots hybrid not-quite-email, not-quite-IM iPhone app – ahead of Windows Phone

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Jul 22 2015 - 7:37 am PT
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Microsoft has today launched Send, an experimental iPhone app that offers a kind of cross between email and instant messaging. Microsoft says that it is designed for “brief, snappy communications” where you want an instant response but also want to retain a record of what was said within Outlook. The app was previously leaked as Flow by Outlook.

While tools like text messaging and IM are great for short messages, you often don’t have your co-worker’s cell phone number or an IM app on your work phone. And we’ve heard loud and clear from people at work, they want all their communications available in Outlook—even if they send them from other apps. This is where Send comes in! Send gives you the simple, quick text message-like experience while allowing you to reach all co-workers and have all of your communications in Outlook for reference later.

Tellingly, Microsoft is launching first for iPhone – ahead of not just Android, but also its own Windows Phone platform … 
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Neat business-focused Hiri email app for Mac gets Office 365-compatibility, Exchange support to follow

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Jun 23 2015 - 5:57 am PT
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I’ve tried a number of Mac email clients over the years before settling (for now) on Postbox, but if I were running a company, I’d definitely give Hiri a whirl. Once your company grows, however, the chances are you’re going to need Office 365 and Exchange compatibility – and that’s what the company is now working on … 
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Microsoft extends free Office 365 offer to students & teachers outside the U.S.

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Feb 24 2015 - 4:37 am PT
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U.S. students and teachers have been able to get free access to Microsoft Office 365 since 2013, and the company has now extended the deal to a range of other countries.

Millions of students around the world are eligible for free Office from their school and today we are announcing that we’ve made it easy for all eligible students globally to sign up themselves to get Office 365 and install free Office.

That includes the 5.5 million eligible students in Australia, the nearly 5 million eligible students in Germany, 7 million more in Brazil, 1.3 million at Anadolu University in Turkey, every student in Hong Kong and millions more.

Qualifying students and teachers can install the latest version of Office on up to five Macs, as well as a further five mobile devices. The deal is available if you study or teach in a school with an Office license.

To check if you’re eligible for the deal, you’ll need your school-provided email address, then visit the eligibility-checker for students or for teachers.

Via Windows Central

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Microsoft Office’s Dropbox integration and move to free is paying off on the App Store

Avatar for Zac Hall Nov 10 2014 - 10:35 am PT
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Office for iPhone

Microsoft announced a number of changes to its Office for iOS apps last week: deep Dropbox integration, dedicated iPhone versions, and editing and saving features without the need for an Office 365 subscription. All of those changes seem to be paying off, at least in the short term, as TechCrunch points out the new and updated Microsoft Office apps are now on top of the App Store charts.

Currently on the iPhone App Store, Microsoft Word takes the #1 spot for Top Free iPhone Apps while Microsoft Excel ranks in at #8 and Microsoft PowerPoint follows at #10. It’s a similar scene on the iPad side with Microsoft Word at #1, Microsoft Excel at #3, and Microsoft PowerPoint at #7 on the Top Free iPad Apps list.
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Microsoft OneDrive now provides unlimited cloud storage for Office 365 subscribers

Avatar for 9to5 Staff Oct 27 2014 - 12:48 pm PT
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Microsoft OneDrive

Microsoft on Monday announced that it will be eliminating its top-tier cloud storage plan and offering unlimited cloud storage to Office 365 subscribers at no additional cost. The change will begin rolling out today for Office 365 Home, Personal and University customers and will continue over the coming months.
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Microsoft now offering monthly in-app subscriptions in Office iPad apps

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Sep 2 2014 - 10:25 am PT
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Following updates today for Microsoft’s Office suite of apps for iPad, users can now purchase monthly subscriptions to Office 365, the service required for access to full editing features.

So starting today, you can buy a monthly subscription to Office 365 from within Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for iPad. You can choose between Office 365 Personal and Office 365 Home. Office 365 Personal is designed to help individuals who want to use Office on one PC or Mac and one tablet, while Office 365 Home is for households with up to five PCs or Macs, plus five tablets.

The monthly subscriptions are now available to purchase directly in the app for $6.99/month for the Personal plan and $9.99/month for Home. Microsoft added that “if you buy a monthly subscription on your iPad, you can switch to an annual subscription from your iPad, or from iTunes on your PC or Mac.” Yearly subscriptions to Office 365 offer savings over the monthly plans and are available for $69/year (Personal) and $99/year (Home).

Microsoft offered a chart showing what each of the plans get you within the Office apps vs free features:

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The updated Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps for iPad are available on the App Store now.

Microsoft to hand out free Office 365 subscriptions to iPad owners in retail stores tomorrow

Avatar for Mike Beasley Mar 27 2014 - 6:59 pm PT
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Microsoft finally took the wraps off of its long-awaited Office for iPad suite this morning, only to reveal that most of its functions require a $99 subscription to the Office 365 service. Even though you can get a discounted subscription through Amazon, $70 may seem pretty steep. Rest assured, Microsoft is planning to offer free one-year subscriptions to the service tomorrow.

All you have to do to get your free subscription is show up at one of Microsoft’s retail stores with your iPad in hand. The first 50 people to do so will get the sub completely free of charge. Microsoft announced the promotion in a tweet earlier today:
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Microsoft releases iOS app for IT admins to manage Office 365 servers

Avatar for Mark Gurman Dec 12 2013 - 9:36 am PT
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Today, Microsoft has released a new iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch application for IT administrators to manage their firm’s Office 365 servers. The application features Microsoft’s new flatter design language with large text. It allows administrators to manage the health and features of their Office 365 implementations.

The Office 365 Admin mobile app empowers IT service administrators to connect to their organizations’ Office 365 service status on the go. The Office 365 Admin mobile app enables administrators to view service health information and maintenance status updates. In addition, administrators can filter information by service subscriptions and configure app data refresh interval.

The application is free, and users obviously need to have Office 365 administrator rights and be apart of a firm with a subscription. Earlier this year, Microsoft released its Office 365 application for consumers. That app allows the viewing/accessing and minor editing of PowerPoint, Office, and Excel documents.


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Microsoft raises prices on Microsoft Office for Mac, no one notices

Avatar for 9to5 Staff Feb 18 2013 - 1:35 pm PT
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According to Computerworld, Microsoft raised its pricing on Office for Mac 2011 during its Office 365 event last month by as much as 17 percent and stopped selling multi-license packages of the application suite. The move is likely to drive customers to its Office 365 program for PC/Mac that is $99 a year for a family.

The move puts Office for Mac 2011 on the same pricing schedule as the new Office 2013 for Windows. The price increases and the disappearance of the multi-license bundles also makes Microsoft’s Office 365, a software-by-subscription deal the company has aggressively pushed, more competitive with traditional “perpetual” licenses.

It’s not clear when Microsoft raised prices. The oldest search engine cache Computerworld found with the new prices was Feb. 2, so the company boosted them before then, likely on Jan. 29, the day it launched Office 2013 and Office 365 Home Premium. Microsoft did not mention the changes to Office for Mac in its press releases that day, or otherwise publicize the move on its Mac-specific website.

Indeed, Apple now offers Office for Student/Professional for $140/230. Amazon still says it is $119 but notes that Office 2011 is an older version and the newer version that includes a key card is $139 marked down to $131 with a new SKU. You can still buy the multi-user packs at significant discount, but those likely are only while supplies last.
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