Since 2022, the Microsoft 365 cloud solution has replaced its illustrious predecessor, Office 365. Depending on the subscription chosen, Microsoft 365 brings together important Office applications such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint as well as cloud integration with OneDrive and Exchange Online. The reason for the name change is easily explained: Microsoft wants to emphasize the cloud, which enables data processing and teamwork, rather than the functions of desktop software.
Office 365 becomes Microsoft 365
Product name changes, also known as rebranding, are an integral part of marketing. They make it possible to reorient product lines and adapt them to the company’s brand or to the market. This is also the case with Microsoft’s Office 365 suite, known today as Microsoft 365. What Microsoft had announced as early as 2020 was implemented in April 2022 with the rebranding of Office 365 to Microsoft 365.
The name change includes all Office apps and subscription plans, including mobile app, windows app and office.com address. The complete name change is expected to be completed in 2023. Microsoft will therefore no longer offer Microsoft services under the name MS Office or Office 365, but will make them available under the name Microsoft 365. For existing customers as well as for new users of After that, it doesn’t change much. Microsoft is even planning new and improved features for Microsoft 365.
Enjoy complete flexibility for cloud-based teamwork or private use, with Microsoft 365 at IONOS. The service includes automatic updating, flexible packages, all important Office applications and high data protection on European servers.
Why did Office 365 change its name?
To answer this question, we need to take a look at the international market situation. We can quickly see that Google, with Google Workspace, is one of Microsoft’s main competitors in the field of private and professional cloud-based software solutions.
When Google bundled its own services with Workspace and Google One, Microsoft Office was still struggling to shed its desktop-only image. With the rebranding, Microsoft makes it clear that the business cloud solution is available to everyone and improves efficiency, networking and ease of use in every field, private or professional.
What are the differences between the two versions?
Software changes also raise the question of their impact on the status quo. The good news for most businesses and individuals is thatthere are hardly any. Now, Microsoft applications such as Word, Excel, OneDrive, PowerPoint, or Exchange Server are offered only as part of Microsoft 365 instead of Office 365. Existing subscription plans and Microsoft 365 pricing do not change.
Aside from the « new » name, one of the biggest changes is the change in the Office logo. The Microsoft 365 logo, introduced in October 2022, takes the form of a blue and purple hexagonal loop reminiscent of the famous Möbius strip. The traditional Office brand is gradually disappearing from Microsoft’s web apps as well as retail. It is replaced by Microsoft 365 with old and new features. New features include an app discovery and pinning tool, a tagging feature for custom tags, and the new DALL-E 2 artificial intelligence image generator.
If you don’t know which version of Office you have, you can find out in a few steps via the « File » menu and the « Account » submenu of a Word document.
