BANGALORE, INDIA: If you are someone who uses more than one device at home and would like to have a premium product for your documentation works, this offer from Microsoft Corporation could be the deal for you.
That is, if you are ready to shell out a considerable sum from your pocket. On Wednesday, Microsoft extended the availability of its Office 365 for consumers, which was erstwhile offered only to enterprises.
As a family, anyone can subscribe to Office 365 Home Premium, which promises the latest and complete set of Office applications, for an annual payment of Rs. 4,199.
So, what are the advantages of paying so much? You can use it across five PCs or Macs and five other mobile devices/gadgets you run at home (under single annual subscription). Also, it offers an enhanced storage space of 27 GB on the family pack, an impressive 20 GB increase, on SkyDrive (a cloud-based service).
"This isn't just another version of Office. This is Office reinvented as a consumer cloud service," said Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft Corp. "Together with Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, Office 365 gives you the freedom to do things when and how you want."
During the launch, Microsoft also announced it would deliver many new features and services to the cloud first, transforming the company's traditional three-year release cycle. Now, new features and services stream to subscribers as soon as they're ready, eliminating the hassles of upgrading and keeping subscribers always up-to-date, it added.
Simultaneously, Microsoft also announced in India the availability of the updated FPP version of its traditional Office suite for consumers - Office Home and Student 2013.
"This is a major leap forward," said Ramkumar Pichai, general manager, Microsoft Office Division, Microsoft India. "It's a service designed to help you manage the tasks of your work and home life, wherever you are, whenever you need, online or offline."
On the launch, Sukhwinder Ahuja, director, Office & Cloud, Microsoft India, told CIOL that they wanted to follow the models of cable and movie subscriptions and offer a value proposition to their consumers. "We have also integrated social media (applications) like Facebook and LinkedIn on every suite. MS Office 365 actually follows you wherever you go; it's absolutely unique," he explained.
Usually, users make a one-time payment to use a licensed MS Office. In that context, a subscription fee of Rs. 4,199 every year does seem a bit steep, but if one factors in the fact that it would be for up to 10 devices (five Pcs/Macs and five mobile devices), it seems worth investing.
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As Ahuja puts it across, women and children, who would like to use the latest features of Office, would benefit a lot out of this offer. Replying to a query on what differntiates the new service from Microsoft Office Web Apps, MS said that the later included browser-based versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote.
"The web applications allow users to access their documents directly from anywhere within a Web browser as well as share files and collaborate with other users online."
Office 365, on the contrary, is an online subscription service that provides e-mail, shared calendars, the ability to create and edit documents online, instant messaging, Web conferencing, a public website for businesses and internal team sites - all accessible anywhere from any device. "Office Web Apps is a part of the Office 365 service," Microsoft clarified.
According to a Forrester report, 50 per cent of users access three or more mobile devices. So, it would be a great platform to stay connected as well."
Also, as MS Office 365 is completely compatible with touch devices that run Windows 8 OS, the experience assured gets as much better.
Meanwhile, from Wednesday (January 30), consumers can purchase it across Reliance and Croma store shelves, besides visiting Microsoft stores. Alternatively, they can subscribe to it on the Web by downloading from Microsoft Office site or from Flipkart. Also, people can try it free for 30 days at www.office.com.
Also, Microsoft is introducing Time to 365 (www.office.com/timeto365), a new crowd-sourced website where people can find and share tips, tricks, ideas and inspiration from around the world.