Microsoft Announces Consumer Version of Microsoft 365

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnSuASngwK8

Nearly three years ago, Microsoft introduced an interesting new service called Microsoft 365 for its commercial customers. The new service combined Windows 10, Office 365, and Enterprise Mobility + Security into a single subscription.

Today, it’s launching a new service under the Microsoft 365 brand — but for consumers. Meet Microsoft 365 Personal & Family, Microsoft’s new subscription for consumers. With the new Microsoft 365 Personal & Family subscriptions, Microsoft is replacing the Office 365 branding many people know with the new Microsoft 365 service.

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Microsoft 365 for consumers brings the best of Microsoft together into a single package. But it’s not just about things like Office 365, there are some interesting new components.

Microsoft 365 will come with a new Microsoft Editor experience that will offer a new editing experience across apps to help avoid bias and grammatical issues. The new Microsoft Editor will be natively integrated into Outlook and other Microsoft 365 apps, and Microsoft will also release a browser extension for it.

Microsoft 365 will also give users access to a catalog of premium content within PowerPoint Designer, including 150 looping videos that can be freely used in presentations. Microsoft is also improving Presenter Coach in PowerPoint with new features like monotone pitch detection, pitch feedback, etc. Excel is getting a new feature called Money in Excel that connects to financial accounts to help you keep track of your finances, with monthly snapshots and more.

The subscription, of course, includes Office 365 and OneDrive Premium facilities.

The company is also launching a new app called Family Safety that helps parents track the screen time for kids. You can set app limits, reminders when kids run out of time an app, etc. It will also automatically create activity reports each week, and apply web + search filters. There are a number of other family-focused features on this new app, and Microsoft is promising complete privacy for users.

The service will also come with access to Microsoft’s new version of Microsoft Teams that’s aimed at consumers — more on that here. 

Microsoft 365 Personal & Family will be launching on April 21. Microsoft 365 Personal costs $6.99 a month, while you can get Microsoft 365 Family for $9.99 a month — which you can be used within a family of up to six people. If you are an existing Office 365 customer already, you will automatically get upgraded to the new Microsoft 365 service.

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Conversation 37 comments

  • rlkmartin

    30 March, 2020 - 11:47 am

    <p>Paul,</p><p>Any word yet on pricing? Is this an upgrade to current Home 365 subscribers or a whole new product line. </p><p>Thanks</p><p>Rick</p>

  • dcdevito

    30 March, 2020 - 11:48 am

    <p>Meh, seems too business focused for me</p>

    • sherlockholmes

      Premium Member
      30 March, 2020 - 12:06 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#535038">In reply to dcdevito:</a></em></blockquote><p>Sadly enough, Microsoft was always that way. </p>

      • mebby

        30 March, 2020 - 4:28 pm

        <blockquote><a href="#535046"><em>In reply to SherlockHolmes:</em></a><em> True, but my family uses O365. Hopefully, they will add more consumer focus apps/services.</em></blockquote><p><br></p>

  • Aaron44126

    30 March, 2020 - 11:51 am

    <p>"Microsoft 365 Personal &amp; Family will be launching on April 21. Microsoft 365 Personal costs $6.99 a month, while you can get Microsoft 365 Family for $9.99 a month — which you can be used within a family of up to six people."</p><p><br></p><p>Aren't those the same price points as Office 365 personal and family?&nbsp;Will Office 365 users just get upgraded?</p><p><br></p><p>[Edit] Answered my own question. Yes, they are rolling over current Office 365 (home/personal) users automatically.</p>

  • darkgrayknight

    Premium Member
    30 March, 2020 - 11:52 am

    <p>You missed an important line: "Today, we are delighted to announce that on April 21<sup>st</sup>, Office 365 will become Microsoft 365"</p><p>So our Office 365 will become Microsoft 365 subscriptions.</p><p><br></p><p>www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2020/03/30/introducing-new-microsoft-365-personal-family-subscriptions</p>

  • Dan1986ist

    Premium Member
    30 March, 2020 - 11:58 am

    <p>Office 365 becoming Microsoft 365 on the customer side makes sense, since it is more than just getting Office apps. </p>

  • papachungo13

    Premium Member
    30 March, 2020 - 12:32 pm

    <p>Wishing they'd roll Visio into one of their package tiers</p>

    • Aaron44126

      30 March, 2020 - 12:46 pm

      <p>If your workplace offers Microsoft HUP, you can pick up Visio through that.</p>

      • marcosv

        Premium Member
        30 March, 2020 - 1:01 pm

        <blockquote><em><a href="#535064">In reply to Aaron44126:</a></em></blockquote><p>Unfortunately, not all workplace arrangement with Microsoft includes Visio in HUP.</p>

        • Paul Thurrott

          Premium Member
          31 March, 2020 - 8:48 am

          Why would they? That’s kind of a niche need.

  • Robert Dammers

    Premium Member
    30 March, 2020 - 12:36 pm

    <p>As of today (Monday 30th March), if I go to the website, it asks me if I wish to go to the UK site, where there is not yet any information about Microsoft 365 Personal &amp; Family. Do you have any idea about international (and particularly UK) availability yet?</p><p><br></p><p>Thanks!</p>

  • sherlockholmes

    Premium Member
    30 March, 2020 - 12:45 pm

    <p>Can some one correct the register link please? Thanks. </p>

  • Chris_Kez

    Premium Member
    30 March, 2020 - 1:00 pm

    <p>If Microsoft could somehow work with Apple to get more of this stuff better integrated with iOS it would be much more appealing.</p>

  • Winner

    30 March, 2020 - 2:31 pm

    <p>They're trying really hard to lock us into monthly subscriptions.</p>

    • youwerewarned

      30 March, 2020 - 10:08 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#535131">In reply to Winner:</a></em></blockquote><blockquote><em>As Paul laments elsewhere, these monthlies are a death of a thousand cuts if you don't watch out. But have Cortana (remember her?) announce each of these mini-payments at the beginning of the month and the racket will eventually bring you to your senses.</em></blockquote><p><br></p>

    • hansolo

      01 April, 2020 - 5:03 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#535131">In reply to Winner:</a></em></blockquote><p>nope, offcie 2019 is still available, and free office online, teams, skype, onedrive, ecc… too</p>

  • per.steinar

    30 March, 2020 - 2:54 pm

    <p>How about some real consumer oriented services, for example a music streaming service, integrated with teams and one drive? </p>

    • wright_is

      Premium Member
      31 March, 2020 - 12:55 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#535136">In reply to per.steinar:</a></em></blockquote><p>Teams and OneDrive are a lot more interesting and useful, to me, than music streaming. Everybody has things that they would find better or worse.</p><p>But Microsoft is a productivity company and not a music streaming company. They have shown time and again that they just don't have the street creds to make a go of music, they are playing to their strengths and they should continue to do so.</p>

    • Paul Thurrott

      Premium Member
      31 March, 2020 - 8:45 am

      Come on. Can someone please send this guy the memo?

  • st3ph3n013

    Premium Member
    30 March, 2020 - 4:14 pm

    <p>Wonder if they will offer custom domain hosting again?</p>

    • crmguru

      Premium Member
      30 March, 2020 - 5:46 pm

      <blockquote><em>probablly not… <a href="#535144">In reply to St3ph3n013:</a></em></blockquote><p><br></p>

    • overseer

      01 April, 2020 - 12:06 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#535144">In reply to St3ph3n013:</a></em></blockquote><p>If it did would you trust it to last?</p>

  • davidd

    Premium Member
    30 March, 2020 - 4:27 pm

    <p>Am I right in thinking that Microsoft Editor is, essentially, Grammarly?</p>

    • Nic

      Premium Member
      30 March, 2020 - 8:58 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#535148">In reply to davidD:</a></em></blockquote><p>It could be their attempt to replace it. Although, if the quality of it matches what is produced in Word right now then Grammarly really have nothing to worry about. </p>

    • Paul Thurrott

      Premium Member
      31 March, 2020 - 8:42 am

      It does seem like a counter to Grammarly.

  • proftheory

    Premium Member
    30 March, 2020 - 5:00 pm

    <p>My Office app is LibreOffice &amp; Thunderbird. Lifetime upgrades – Free.</p>

    • BigM72

      31 March, 2020 - 4:34 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#535156">In reply to proftheory:</a></em></blockquote><p>I look at it more like paying for OneDrive and getting the rest for free.</p><p><br></p><p>$100/year for up to 6 people to get 1TB storage each, plus Skype minutes plus Office? Works for me :)</p><p>I also would be pretty happy being able to migrate my personal life from WhatsApp to Teams if I could :)</p>

  • justme

    Premium Member
    31 March, 2020 - 3:13 am

    <p>Funny – follow that link and you get a webpage that says, "Introducing Microsoft 365". There is an immediate link to see plans and pricing, which, if you follow it shows Office 365 home, Office 365 personal, and Office 365 Home &amp; Student pricing. You can click a tab to get various business Office 365 plans. So, as usual, clear as mud. (Yes, I know the branding is changing, but that isnt the point.)</p><p><br></p><p>Me, I just see this as yet another way Microsoft is trying to force us all into one subscription or another. Pass – I positively loathe subscriptions. Does it offer products and services people want? Sure. Does it make business sense for Microsoft to get us all subscribing? Absolutely. Does it make sense for the consumer? That remains to be seen.</p><p><br></p><p>While I am interested to see how this plays out, this isnt for me. I'll stick with my perpetual license as it does what I need, and watch from the rafters.</p>

    • Paul Thurrott

      Premium Member
      31 March, 2020 - 8:36 am

      The names don’t change until the end of April, so those sites reflect the current brands now.

      • justme

        Premium Member
        01 April, 2020 - 3:53 am

        <blockquote><em><a href="#535335">In reply to paul-thurrott:</a></em></blockquote><p>Nods…understandable. I was going to answer by saying that I just wish that Microsoft would make this clearer for non-tech-enthusiast types. Before that, however, I rechecked the link, and I am now seeing a banner across the top of the page that details the name change time frame. Dont recall seeing that when I originally posted – may have been there and I just missed it.</p><p><br></p><p>I still dont like subscriptions, though. :)</p>

  • miketurley

    Premium Member
    31 March, 2020 - 6:46 am

    <p>I hope we will still be able to buy licence keys through Amazon. I monitor the price through Camel Camel Camel and buy when the price is low. </p>

  • zicoz

    31 March, 2020 - 8:15 am

    <p>If they want this to grow they should give people with 365 at work access to 365 Personal for free. </p>

  • accessjunky

    Premium Member
    01 April, 2020 - 4:53 am

    <p>Do you think they will ever roll in Gold and/or Game Pass into this? A family subscription for Gold and Game Pass would, in itself, make a lot of sense, but wouldn't it make sense to have it rolled into one subscription as an optional add-on to Microsoft 365 at a slight discount?</p>

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