Microsoft Office 365 is an extension of Microsoft Office, with the added advantage of allowing users to access shared mailboxes and have access to their email server. It also comes with a range of additional features that make it very useful for business users. On top of all this, there are many other benefits that are provided with Microsoft Office 365.
Office 365 first launched in Microsoft Office 2021, but the latest version is available for both personal and commercial uses. It is also referred to as Microsoft Office Online or MS Office Professional. Microsoft Office 365 comes with two versions, namely the Home and Business editions. The latest version is called Microsoft Office 365 Business Edition, and is the same as the Home version, but with additional features and capabilities.
MS Office 365 is supported by over 15 different languages including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hindi/Urdu, polish, German, Spanish, Nepalese, Bengali, and Tamil. In addition, you can run most MS Office applications on the cloud. Here the user has the advantage of saving money by not having to purchase any hardware or software to use Office applications on the web. This is in comparison to purchasing hardware or software to host office applications on the web such as in a data center.
MS Office 365 platform consists of four main sections
namely the Office application, Microsoft Office 365 Calendar and Microsoft Office 365 Information Management. The new features in the latest version of MS Office 365 application include the Microsoft Exchange Server and the Microsoft SharePoint. The cloud services are mainly meant for businesses, which may not require the full functionality of a dedicated website for their e-commerce needs. The basic idea behind cloud computing is to provide infrastructure, software, and applications as well as services to a client while the client is continuously maintaining and updating them themselves. These services are offered either by the host organization or the individual user.
Microsoft Office 365 Professional, Microsoft Office 365 Business, Microsoft Office 365 Personal and Microsoft Office 365 Enterprise are the sub functions of Office 365 plans. Microsoft SharePoint and Internet Information Services (IIS) are the latest versions of the software available for the subscription plans. In some cases it also includes the Microsoft Office Online. Microsoft SharePoint is the central repository for documents and information contained in various Microsoft websites like e-business websites, web pages, and portal sites. IIS is the platform that allows for the centralizing of the content management systems like XML feeds, web services, and file-processing mechanisms.
On the other hand, Microsoft SharePoint is a collaboration app for internet users and is considering the foundation for the online community. Online collaboration apps can be in the form of desktop apps, web apps, or websites. It is possible for an organization to have both the above app in the form of a web browser and the outlook mail app on the same computer. Now, as per Microsoft Office 365 platform it is possible to run multiple sites with the outlook web app and share documents and collaborate with other online users.
Microsoft has kept the basic features of its existing apps including the outlook mail app, calculator, data pane, outlook calendar, address book, contacts, task pane, and notes. It is however, necessary to have the latest updates of these apps in to access them from the Microsoft Office 365 app on your desktop or laptop. Microsoft has also announced the availability of the Microsoft Office apps for both mobile devices and the web. Now one can access these apps from any internet-connected computer.
These new additions to the existing Microsoft Office 365 apps present new opportunities for its customers.
One can access the same Word, Excel, and PowerPoint applications through the web browser on their mobile phones.
- This means that they no longer need to buy and download the software to use it on their PC’s.
- The other major advantage of using these apps from the Microsoft 365 website is that one does not need a separate mobile phone to access the Office 365 service.
- On the other hand, the Microsoft Office mobile app on your PC/laptop enables you to access the same great apps on your smartphone as well.
