With a new Basic license, Microsoft is launching a cheaper version of its 365 package. The latter usually scores with the group’s cloud desktop office, which is missing here. Instead, 100 GB of OneDrive storage, email access with Outlook.com and support access for Microsoft 365 and Windows 11 are included. Ransomware recovery and password-protected sharing links for OneDrive are also planned for later this year.
Basic costs 2 euros a month or 20 euros a year for a cloud subscription. Microsoft already has a similar cloud storage license on offer: OneDrive also offers 100 GB of storage space in the basic version – and costs the same. Accordingly, the provider automatically converts all subscriptions to 365 Basic on January 30th.
Those who book a basic access cannot use the regular 365 Office applications. However, access to the free web-based applications of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote is provided with the account as usual. However, their range of functions does not correspond to their 365 counterparts – and Outlook as a full e-mail client is also missing.
New app for smartphones and Windows
At the same time, Microsoft is releasing its new 365 app for Android, iOS and Windows. Users should be able to access the various applications centrally and receive recommendations for upcoming tasks. In addition, Microsoft wants to standardize the storage overview of OneDrive, from February 1st users should be able to manage all devices.
Details on all updates can be found in the blog of the Redmonders, also celebrating 10 years of Microsoft 365. In fact, this refers to the launch of Office 365 – which, however, left the beta phase in mid-2011 and laid the foundation for the current cloud portfolio in the user area and caused plenty of data protection controversy. Microsoft 365 has only been the name of the package for most users since mid-2020.
(fo)