One of the greatest successes of Steve Ballmer as CEO of Microsoft, and which is not usually attributed to him, is the commitment to Microsoft 365. This Microsoft subscription service offers the latest Office at all times and access to other added services such as OneDrive or Skype calls. So which one should we choose?
Office 2021 vs Microsoft 365… Fight!
First, in both cases we will receive Office 2021. The difference is that when Office 2023 arrives, it will not be received by the one that is not a subscription service. Yes indeed, the license is ours forever for the equipment in which we decide to use it. We will have updates for the life of the product, around five years.
Office 2021 incorporates Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook (The latter only in the business version). The problem is that we will miss some features that Microsoft has been adding to its subscription service such as: the cloud and AI-based features, the premium version of outlook.com no ads and 1TB of OneDrive storage.
Office 2021 is available in three versions: Office Home and Student 2021, Office Home and Business 2021, and Office Professional 2021, and are usually priced at 150, 250 and 440 euros, respectively. The Office Home and Student 2021 version comes with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, while Office Home and Business 2021 includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. Whereas Office Professional 2021 comes with all applications including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Publisher and Access. Of course, we also have codes available on different websites such as Keysfan to slightly reduce the cost. So it would cost us around 90 euros.
Another limitation of Office 2021 is that We can only install it on Windows 11, Windows 10 and the latest versions of Mac. Leaving Windows 8.1 and earlier versions of Windows out of the equation. With Microsoft 365, compatibility with some previous versions of Windows is maintained for the time being.
Microsoft 365 has been getting better and better, and today many of us cannot work without some of its AI-based features. For example, the generation of PowerPoint presentations is wonderful. But, we must consider whether we would make use of what it offers us or if, on the contrary, there are many functions that we are not going to take advantage of on a daily basis.
Microsoft 365, very interesting… if you take advantage of it
With Microsoft 365 we have always the latest officeas long as we maintain the subscription, and we also get a series of very interesting additions. Let’s start by talking about Outlook which includes everything in the free version, plus 50 GB of storage, removes ads and offers message encryption and better security.
We continue with cloud storage at OneDrivewhich is compatible with Android and iOS, and we will have 1TB for each account. If we opt for a family account we will have 5TB, as it can be used with 5 different accounts.
We will also have minutes to call from Skype. This is no longer as interesting as it used to be but you always have to keep it in mind, we never know when it can be useful.
Office 2021, the improved classic
With Office 2021 we get along robust software and updates for five years. If you don’t need OneDrive, Outlook or the cloud features it’s a considerable savings in the long run, it’s a higher initial expense, but over five years it pays off much better.
Also, in five years you may want to try other alternatives on the market such as LibreOffice or Google Docs. Everyone is free to use what they want, although Office remains king.
We have alternatives for all tastes and a clear answer. Let’s choose Office 2021 or Microsoft 365 we’ll be right for sure. We get the best office automation package that there is today and that is appreciated when we have to work with documents smoothly.
So, if you want the classic Microsoft Office in its latest version, you have a great offer with Keysfan. It’s cheaper in the long run than Microsoft 365 if you just want the best and most robust office suite. Take the opportunity and move to Office 2021.