After keeping us company for over three decades, Microsoft Office is retiring. No, apps like Word and Excel are not going away, rather the company’s suite of tools is taking on a new, familiar name: Microsoft 365.
The change will come first for the online Office apps at Office.com, which will make the switch in November. In January of 2023, the Office app built into Windows 10 and Windows 11 and the Office mobile apps for iOS and Android will follow suit. As and when you update, the apps will take on the Microsoft 365 branding and a new logo.
Microsoft 365 is similar to Microsoft Office but there are key differences. The biggest of these is price —Microsoft 365 is a monthly subscription service and Microsoft Office is a one-time purchase. Those who subscribe to Microsoft 365 have the latest updates included in their plan but those with Microsoft Office have to buy the latest version of the software.
Microsoft Office was first released in 1990 and has gone through many updates over the years, yet is has managed to remain a constant as a workplace software.
The Office name will remain for one-time purchases through Office 2021 and Office LTSC that offers apps through volume licensing. But now that it’s becoming a legacy brand, new features will be for Microsoft 365 and not Office, according to The Verge. Microsoft added that “there are no changes to Office 365 subscription plans”.
Office is just the latest Microsoft product to get a new name with “Microsoft” in it. Windows Defender, the platform’s built-in anti-malware scanner, came to be known as Microsoft Defender in mid-2019.