Microsoft Office

Office 365 Becomes Even No-Brainer-er

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OneDrive Logo on Several Device Types

OneDrive Logo on Several Device TypesOn Monday, October 27, Microsoft announced that all Office 365 subscriber accounts would receive unlimited OneDrive storage.

A month ago, the software giant increased the maximum allowable files size from 2 GB  to 10 GB.This removed a major gripe many users had against the cloud storage service.

Meanwhile, this puts a lot of pressure on services like DropBox and BitCasa. It also further diminishes the value of Google Docs, which offers relatively lackluster productivity applications.

And while Microsoft officially charges $99 for Home (5 users) and $69 for Personal (1 user) subscriptions annually, you can easily find discounts in the form of Key Cards. Currently, I found them on Amazon for under $70 for Office 365 Home. The Key Cards are usually mailed to you as a credit card-sized card with a code printed on it. You enter the code in the Office 365 Web site to initiate your subscription. And you can renew the same way.

And this is legitimate. It’s how I got my family’s subscription.

 

Office 365 Just Became a No-Brainer [UPDATED]

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OneDrive Logo on Several Device Types

OneDrive Logo on Several Device Types

Microsoft announced significant increases in OneDrive storage. From its free offering to Office 365, storage is becoming very affordable very quickly.

The new pricing and plans are expected sometime in July 2014.

All users get 15GB for free. A healthy 200GB plan is just $48 per year (other plans, too). And with Office 365, each user gets 1TB of storage included. Not 1 TB to share, mind you. A full 1TB for each person!

In my opinion, Office 365 is now a no-brainer. For $99, you get:

  • 5 installations of the latest version of Microsoft Office for Windows or Mac
  • 5 installations of Office for iPad (and Android before the end of the year)
  • Apps on mobile phones (iOS, Android, and Windows Phone)
  • 1TB of OneDrive storage for up to 5 users

So why do I give it “no-brainer” status? Because 1TB of storage pretty much negates the need for remote backup services. Just make sure you have all your stuff in your OneDrive folder (built into Windows 8.x and available for Mac) and you’re good to go. Organize it any way you like. If you’re worried a synchronization might wipe out a file you want to save, then just make a copy in a “backup” folder. And the OneDrive apps on mobile devices can save your photos and videos automatically to the cloud. And to top it all off: You can access all this from any device.

And in future updates, Microsoft plans to enhance the photo organization and sharing features.

The new pricing and offerings are extremely competitive with offerings from Google and others, and it puts DropBox to shame (which offers just 2GB for free and charges $10 per month for 100GB at the time of this writing).

See? It’s a no-brainer.

UPDATE – 7 July 2014

Microsoft has just updated its Office and OneDrive Web sites stating that 1 TB of storage is included for each user of Office 365 Home.

Sources: winsupersite.com & ars technica