Microsoft 365 & Office

Introduced in 1988, the first version of the Microsoft 365 & Office productivity software included Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint applications. Today’s versions of the Microsoft 365 & Office suites are designed for a variety of users and computing environments, and encompass other useful, business-focused programs like Access, Outlook, Publisher, Skype for Business, Teams and SharePoint. With your computer, Microsoft software and a printer, you have the tools you need to tackle a wide range of projects. And, of course, in this age of online threats and cyberattacks, dependable antivirus software is a must-have as well.

You can install Office on many devices, including desktop PCs, laptops, Android tablets or Android phones running Windows 7 or later, and on your Mac computer, MacBook, iPad, or iPhone running macOS X 10.10 or later. Office applications may vary across devices because each is tailored to provide maximum productivity on each platform. Additionally, it may be helpful to know that documents created by these latest versions of Office can be opened by earlier versions of the software starting with Office 2007, without downloading a compatibility pack.

Microsoft 365 & Office is available in two ways: a one-time purchase of a specific version, and as a subscription service. For the Student one-time purchase version, you will get Office Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The Home & Business version has those listed above, plus Outlook. The Teams and SharePoint applications are available in the Business Premium version. When a new version of Office is released, as a subscriber, you’ll receive automatic updates. The subscription also includes OneDrive cloud storage, which may be helpful in place of — or in addition to — an external hard drive for backing up information, organizing files, and storing data.