Last week, I tried to get a subscription to Microsoft Office.
I expected to simply find an Office license that included what I needed for a simple price.
I wanted to try it out.
So, what Microsoft Office plan did I need to get it?
This includes Office 365 Enterprise E1E5, Business Essentials, Premium and Education subscription plans.
Right off the bat, were confronted with several confusing plan names.
Is Premium a plan for home users or business ones?
How do I get the Education package?
On my first attempt I clickedthe link in the blog post for Plannerand then clicked See plans and pricing.
That brought me tothis page, which offered me Office 365 Business, Business Premium, or Business Essentials.
Most other Office apps have similarly confusing problems.
OneNote offers a different brand of confusion.
Microsoft explains thatOneNote is includedin every single version of Office for Home, Business, and Student users.
That sounds great, except OneNotes landing page says that its free for all your devices.
Onefrom the Windows Store, and one thats part of an expired Office 365 subscription.
What does the paid version have that the free one doesnt?
Microsoft doesnt offer any simple answers.
you could find articles detailing the differences forWord,Excel, andPowerpointhere.
While theyre refreshingly detailed, theyre also very dense.
When you cant understand what youre buying, youre probably going to overspend.
When you cant understand what youre buying, youre probably going to overspend.
If a new version comes out, youll have to pay again to upgrade these apps.
The plus side is, you get to use the versions you bought forever.
You canfind free versions of Word, Excel, Powerpoint, OneNote, and more here.
These may be enough for most people.
For your part, the best thing to do is ask yourself how you want to use Office.
Do you prefer using online tools and paying as little as possible?
Stick with the free Office apps it’s possible for you to find online.
Do you want to drop in the apps on your machine and dont mind a subscription?
Would you rather pay once for a version of Office apps youre familiar with and can keep forever?
Unfortunately, it includes very little information beyond these basic facts.
Choose your office:This link compares Home and Business plans at once.
If youre looking for an obscure feature, this is one of the best official resources.
Office 365 Plan Options:This comparison page dives into the differences in Office 365 plans specifically.
Unfortunately, Office is so essential that we have no choice but to navigate this confusing mess.
