Microsoft is reportedly working on making a consumer version of its Microsoft 365 service. The company provides Microsoft 365 subscription as an all-in-one solution to its enterprise and education customers, giving them access to products like Windows, Office, and EMS on a subscription basis.
The new consumer version of the service will simply be called Microsoft 365 Consumer, according to ZDNet. That’s obviously not a brilliant name, but it’s exactly what you’d expect from Microsoft.
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Microsoft is hiring a Product Manager for the new Microsoft 365 Consumer subscription, but details on the service are unclear. It’s not clear exactly how Microsoft will tackle the pricing of the subscription, for one. Plus, on the consumer side, most of Microsoft’s services are free, so the features of the service will be quite interesting.
Mary Jo Foley predicts that the subscription could give users access to Windows 10 Home, Office 365 Home, Skype, Outlook, Cortana, Bing, and Microsoft To-Do. That’d be a perfect bundle for a consumer who lives on the Microsoft ecosystem, though I’m not sure if it will get much traction unless it’s priced cheaper than Office 365 Home.
Most consumers already have a licensed version of Windows 10 that came pre-installed with their device, so they wouldn’t really need Windows 10 Home separately — and unless Microsoft 365 Consumer is cheaper than Office 365 itself, I doubt any regular user would really want to pay for Microsoft 365 Consumer. Either way, it’ll be interesting to see what Microsoft does with Microsoft 365 going forward.
skane2600
<p>Wow, with this bundle you can get a discount on products like Bing! It's almost like Microsoft is giving it away. </p><p><br></p>
skane2600
<blockquote><em><a href="#381189">In reply to Winner:</a></em></blockquote><p>You do realize searching with Bing is already free, right?</p>
skane2600
<blockquote><em><a href="#381244">In reply to bbennett40:</a></em></blockquote><p>These days you can never be sure.</p>
shameermulji
<p>"<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Mary Jo Foley predicts that the subscription could give users access to Windows 10 Home, Office 365 Home, Skype, Outlook, Cortana, Bing, and Microsoft To-Do"</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">With the exception of Office 365, aren't the rest already free?</span></p>
skane2600
<blockquote><em><a href="#381187">In reply to shameermulji:</a></em></blockquote><p>Exactly.</p>
Stooks
<blockquote><em><a href="#381226">In reply to Rob_Wade:</a></em></blockquote><p>How about Windows intune and defender ATP with phone support for both and maybe some skype credit.</p><p><br></p><p>So with a personal version of this…..Windows 10 Home, Intune, Defender ATP, Office 365 Personal and xamount of Skype credit all with phone support for say $100</p><p><br></p><p>Home version 6 people….same thing as above…..$150?</p>
Stooks
<blockquote><em><a href="#381240">In reply to Waethorn:</a></em></blockquote><p>Nope. </p><p><br></p><p>Maybe enough extra stuff bundled with Windows, like itune, defender ATP and support for that to be a reason for someone to go with this new option. Of course with Office 365 personal as well in the package.</p><p><br></p><p>However buying a PC with Windows 10 will not go away but neither will you get the extra's that are only offered to business customers now, that maybe in this new offering/s.</p><p><br></p><p>It could impact your business by providing users with enough support so as not to go to you in some cases. Then again you probably peddle that Google garbage so I am not sure if it will impact you.</p>
Stooks
<blockquote><em><a href="#381407">In reply to JackoUK:</a></em></blockquote><p>Nice conspiracy.</p><p><br></p><p>As long as there is a "Windows 10" Microsoft will not get rid of a copy of Windows coming with a new computer. Maybe HUGE MAYBE if they release a new version, say Windows 11 that is only subscription but I highly doubt that.</p><p><br></p><p>This new service will probably come with Office 365 Personal, Windows 10 home with some extra thing like intune/Defender ATP support and maybe some amount of Skype phone time. The cost will probably be around the $100 mark. If you own a computer with Windows 10 then the extra intune or defender ATP will be worth it….maybe.</p>