No Hoax on April Fool’s Day: Office 365 is now Microsoft 365

What was first believed to be a hoax on April Fool’s Day has now turned into reality. On April 21, 2020, the Microsoft subscription service will receive a re-branding and from this day on, Office 365 will be called Microsoft 365. The re-branding appears to be an attempt to boost sales in the private consumer sector.

Microsoft 365: new name – new services?

The Microsoft app is currently operating on Windows, macOS, iOS and Android. Despite the re-branding, the current pricing and functionality level will remain the same. Nevertheless, it is not a mere formality and Microsoft is „committed to improving and innovating on these experiences every day“, as a representative announces.

In addition to the renowned Office applications – such as Word or Excel – Microsoft confirmed that Microsoft 365 would include new apps and services in the future. In this respect, the company mentioned additional functionalities from the areas of artificial intelligence (AI), as well as optimized content and templates. Also, special features related to cloud solutions will be implemented.

Announcing a higher level of security

In combination with the announcement, Microsoft reiterated that the company completely abstains from selling any user data. Is believed that this way, the company aims to distinguish itself from the major competitor Google.

Thanks to the new Microsoft 365 subscription service, users take advantage of the technical support for Windows 10 and of additional safety-related functions. In this respect, a better protection against phishing and malware attacks is achieved.

Microsoft Teams for private use

Microsoft is due to launch the communication tool Microsoft Teams for private use shortly. Emphasis is put on the safety level of the messaging service and Microsoft Teams for private users will be based on an end-to-end encryption, as well as 2FA. It enables users to share sensitive data – such as financial information – without needing to worry about their privacy.

New functions for the Office suite

Microsoft 365 will also include a new editor tool for Word. The new AI editor will make grammatical suggestions and take care of gender-neutral alternatives. Furthermore, it examines matters of plagiarism and optimizes stylistic aspects.

More functions and changes are planned for PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook. In Outlook, the private calendar can now be linked to the business calendar. This way, the realtime availability for business appointments will be more apparent. At the same time, privacy related to details with regard to personal appointments and meetings is guaranteed. 

For PowerPoint, a new designer is available in Microsoft 365, further facilitating the creation of presentations. As a result of Microsoft’s partnership with Plaid, it is now possible to link bank accounts to Excel and data – such as expenses – can now directly be transferred to Excel. This way, Microsoft aims to further facilitate accounting workflows.

More family safety with Microsoft?

Lastly, Microsoft announced a new app for families and „Family Safety“ will enable parents to monitor the screen activity of their kids. The app is supposed to protect people in the real world as well, by making an alert if a family member leaves the house. In case the tracking system is activated, the app will also track the specific location of family members.

The focus of the Microsoft updates is built around the mission to transfer efficient and well-known functions from the business into the private world. A such, Microsoft hopes to increase its client base among private users, while facilitating our daily lives. Even though Microsoft promises to obey the highest security levels, one should remain aware that the company will have access to an even higher amount of sensible (and private) data in the future.

OneOffixx guarantees a full compatibility with Microsoft 365

New and existing OneOffixx clients do not need to worry about the Microsoft update and they can rely on a full compatibility. As usual, our popular template management software seamlessly fits into the Microsoft 365 surroundings.

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