Describe the differences between Office 365 and Microsoft 365
The evolution of Office 365 to Microsoft 365
Over 10 years ago Microsoft introduced Office 365, the software-as-a-service you might be familiar with and have used. Evolving from Microsoft’s Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), Office 365 was designed to bring together its existing online products to an ever up-to-date cloud service. It combined the core productivity apps such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, etc., and the collaboration and communication services such as Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint, and Skype for Business. Office 365 was a way to grow its Office-centric business and expand on communication and collaboration services. First aiming at corporate users, eventually updated versions of Office 365 subscriptions were released aiming at different size businesses, consumers, and students. These versions included new services such as OneDrive.
Over the last several years, Microsoft’s cloud productivity apps and services have grown well beyond what people traditionally think of as ‘Office’, which has led to Microsoft 365. Renaming Office 365 to Microsoft 365 reflects the extension of features and benefits beyond the core Office 365 apps and services. Microsoft 365 brings together the best-in-class productivity apps from Office 365 with advanced device management, intelligent security, and innovative online services.
The differences between Office 365 and Microsoft 365
Office 365 is a cloud-based service that includes apps such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook along with services such as Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint, Teams and OneDrive. Microsoft 365 is a cloud-based service that includes the same Office apps and services, plus Windows, and Enterprise Mobility + Security.
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Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS) is a mobility management and security platform that helps protect and secure your organization and empower your employees. The platform includes services such as Microsoft Entra ID (formally known as Azure Active Directory or Azure AD) and Microsoft Intune. Microsoft Entra ID provides a complete identity and access management solution with integrated security to manage and protect access for employees, customers, and partners as they connect to their apps, devices, and data. Microsoft Intune is a cloud-based endpoint management and security solution for managing users, devices, and apps across platforms like iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS. These topics will be discussed in later learning paths and modules.
There are Microsoft 365 subscription plans for personal use, small businesses, large enterprises, schools, and more. Depending on your subscription, Office 365 for home and business automatically become Microsoft 365 subscriptions, so no action is needed from your end. Enterprise-sized organizations have the option to get the best-in-class productivity apps through an Office 365 subscription, or integrate them with enterprise-grade management and advanced security through a Microsoft 365 subscription. For more information on the differences between Office 365 and Microsoft 365 enterprise solutions visit, Microsoft Office is part of Microsoft 365.
Apps such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook are available to consumers and businesses as a one-time purchase through Office 2021. To learn more about Office 2021, see Buy Microsoft Office 2021 | Microsoft 365.