Microsoft Releases a Cheaper Version of Microsoft 365 App with 100GB of Storage

A new level of their workplace productivity package, Microsoft 365 app Basic, was recently introduced by Microsoft. Microsoft 365 Basic costs $1.99 a month and offers 100GB of OneDrive storage, Outlook, and access to the web-based Office products. Microsoft 365 Personal, Microsoft 365 Family, and the free version of the Microsoft Office 365 software all stay the same.

The Microsoft Office 365 app has recently debuted a new tier. Subscribers to Microsoft 365 Basic get access to 100GB of OneDrive storage, web-based Office applications, Outlook email, and customer care for both Microsoft 365 and Windows 11. The plan, which costs $1.99 per month, essentially replaces the current 100 GB OneDrive option. For users of Microsoft 365 Basic, technical assistance for Windows 11 and the Microsoft Office 365 app is available by phone or online chat. On January 30, 2023, Microsoft 365 Basic will be made accessible.

According to Gareth Oystryk, director of product marketing for Microsoft 365, “later this year we will also have a number of things accessible with increased OneDrive security, including Personal Vault, password-protected and expired links, ransomware detection and recovery, and bulk file recovery.” The free edition of Microsoft 365 is not a substitute for the basic subscription of the Office 365 programme. The online versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, OneDrive, and Clipchamp are still available to users who do not wish to pay for Microsoft 365. However, the 5GB data restriction of the Microsoft Office 365 app free plan might be restrictive.

With the introduction of Microsoft 365 Basic, the $6.99 monthly pricing of the Microsoft Office 365 Personal app also stays the same. Additionally, Microsoft 365 Family won’t change. In reality, Microsoft emphasised that since their introduction ten years ago, the costs of Microsoft Office 365 Personal App and Microsoft 365 Family have remained unchanged. Microsoft also introduced Microsoft 365 Basic, and later this month, the Office software will be renamed to Microsoft Office 365 App for Windows and mobile devices. Although the Office moniker is still a part of Microsoft’s ambitions, the corporation has been shifting toward the Microsoft 365 brand in recent years.

“Office plays less of a part because that’s our emphasis. We’ve really invested extensively in the Microsoft Office 365 app, and it’s really become our flagship productivity package. Office would nevertheless occasionally appear in different situations, the speaker said. Up to the brink, Oystryk. We’re focusing more on Microsoft 365 as our productivity package, and we want people to think of the Microsoft Office 365 app when they think of productivity rather than Office.

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For customers who don’t require all the features, the Microsoft Office 365 app now offers a new, more economical option. The free version of Microsoft 365, dubbed Microsoft 365 Basic, gives 100 GB of OneDrive online storage but excludes access to the Office desktop applications that are included with the Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions. Another advantage of Microsoft 365 Basic is an ad-free Outlook online experience, which provides the user interface a bit more breathing room. Members of this package also get access to support specialists for Windows 11 and the Microsoft Office 365 app.

Microsoft intends to introduce new security capabilities to this new plan in addition to the advantages offered at launch. These include sharing password-protected links on OneDrive, which will be made available later this year, and ransomware recovery. All of this just costs $1.99 a month, or if you want to save some money, $19.99 a year. If you don’t utilise Office’s desktop programmes, this is a big discount from the $6.99 ($69.99 per year) price of the Microsoft Office 365 personal app. The fact that you can still utilise the applications on mobile and the web may be sufficient for most.

Microsoft already charges the same fee for its standalone OneDrive subscription, which also comes with 100GB of online storage. The Microsoft Office app indicates that all current users with standalone OneDrive subscriptions would be converted to Microsoft 365 Basic immediately, indicating that this plan actually replaces the previous one. Beginning January 30, current OneDrive subscriptions will be automatically transferred to the free Microsoft Office 365 app. The new Microsoft 365 app, a straightforward rebrand of the current Office software, was also announced by Microsoft. It is now accessible on the web and will be made available for Android, iOS, and Windows later this month.

Microsoft Office is raising the level of consumerism in its subscription options for Microsoft Office 365 apps. With a few extra capabilities that lie between the free option and the $6.99 per month personal membership, Microsoft office 365 Basic replaces the 100GB OneDrive storage option for just $1.99 per month. On January 30, 100GB of cloud storage, an ad-free Outlook online and mobile experience, and improved security measures will all be included in the main Microsoft Office 365 software. Data encryption for an Outlook mailbox, looking out for dubious links, and virus/malware screening for attachments are all security measures. Customers who already have 100GB of OneDrive storage are immediately upgraded to Microsoft 365 Basic for the same $1.99 per month cost. 

According to Gareth Oystryk, Director of Product Marketing for Microsoft 365, “Later this year we will also have a variety of items accessible with increased OneDrive protection, including Personal Vault, expiring and password-protected links, ransomware detection and recovery, and bulk file recovery.” Access to Microsoft Support, which offers assistance by phone or online chat for Microsoft 365 Apps and Windows 11, is also included in the free Microsoft Office 365 app. Apart from cloud storage, the primary distinction between the $6.99 personal subscription and the new $1.99 basic app for Microsoft Office 365 is that the latter does not have access to the desktop versions of the Word, Excel, and PowerPoint applications. Mobile or the web are required for basic subscribers. 

According to Oystryk, “We know that many individuals are now utilising our services, but others are running out of storage or want more features that are not included with the free Microsoft 365 experience. “We also created something exclusively for Windows users.” The basic bundle of Microsoft 365 is intended for Windows users who want more storage, but it also appears to be Microsoft’s method of introducing consumers to its productivity services.

Later this month, Microsoft will also rename its Office software for Windows and mobile devices to Microsoft 365. It matches Microsoft’s rebranding, which was revealed last year, in which Microsoft Office will now frequently be referred to as Microsoft 365. “Will the Office brand entirely vanish? No,” Oystryk answers. Since that is our primary focus, we have made significant investments in the Microsoft Office 365 app, which has transformed into our flagship productivity package. Office will still be visible in some situations. We’re focusing more on Microsoft 365 as our productivity package, and we want people to think of Microsoft 365 when they think of productivity rather than Office.

Additionally, it has been 10 years since Microsoft first made customer subscriptions for Office available. Access to Office desktop applications and 20GB of cloud storage were included with the package, which was previously known as Office 365 Home Premium. These days, it has been increased to 1TB of cloud storage along with a number of other features added to the subscription. Pricing hasn’t changed in the past ten years, according to a blog post by Microsoft Vice President Liat Ben-Zur. Microsoft Office 365 Personal App is still only $6.99 per month, and Office 365 Family is only $9.99 per month, respectively. Although Microsoft maintains there aren’t any current plans to raise the price of Microsoft 365, Oystryk does not completely rule this out in the future. Over the previous ten years, inflation and costs have driven up the cost of other subscription services.

Microsoft said on Wednesday that it will launch a new, less expensive Microsoft 365 subscription option later this month. The new entry-level productivity software from Microsoft Office 365 comes with 100 GB of cloud storage, safe, ad-free email with Outlook, and access to support specialists for assistance with Microsoft 365 and Windows 11, the company said in a statement.

On January 30th, Microsoft 365 Basic will be on sale for $2 per month or $20 for a yearly subscription. This offers more functionality than the existing $20 yearly OneDrive membership and is far less expensive than the $70 annual charge for Microsoft 365 Personal. Later this year, Basic will gain more security features including ransomware recovery and password-protected sharing links in OneDrive in addition to 100GB and ad-free email. When the basic subscription launches later this month, existing OneDrive users will be automatically switched to a basic Microsoft Office 365 app account, according to Microsoft.

On the Microsoft website, via the OneDrive or Outlook applications, or both, you may register for Microsoft 365 Basic. According to a statement from Microsoft, the free version of the Office 365 software will also continue to be accessible. Microsoft is introducing a new low-end subscription tier to its Microsoft Office 365 App service that is targeted at current OneDrive users and those who want additional features for their Outlook inboxes but still want the desktop versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

According to The Verge, Microsoft 365 Basic will cost $1.99 per month or $19.99 annually and come with 100GB of OneDrive cloud storage, the removal of advertisements from Outlook’s online and mobile clients, and “enhanced security” against malware for Microsoft customers. -Scanning of attachments and URLs as well as more encryption options. Not having access to the full desktop versions of the programmes formerly known as Microsoft Office is the Basic plan’s primary drawback when compared to the other Microsoft 365 subscription tiers: Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. Even though they have less capabilities, the online versions are still usable and open to anybody with a free Microsoft account. The Microsoft Office 365 ($6.99/month, $69.99/year) or Microsoft 365 Family ($9.99/month, $99.99/year) personal app levels, which each feature OneDrive storage and other perks, must be upgraded in order to use these applications.

On January 30, Microsoft Office 365 Basic will become available. Anyone who now pays $1.99 per month for the 100GB OneDrive tier will be upgraded to Microsoft 365 Basic at this time. Regardless of the size of a company’s workforce or its software requirements, Microsoft has tailored its Office 365 subscription options to meet the needs of every organisation. For Office 365, there are many options with varying mailbox sizes. Compared to Business plans, Enterprise plans provide greater space. The maximum storage allotment for numerous mailboxes in each plan is shown in the table below.

There are only two alternatives available for the company if the mailbox capacity of their mailboxes surpasses 50 GB: increase the Office 365 subscription or erase the mailbox data. However, many people do not always have the option of removing data. Additionally, the additional cost of upgrading the plan deters some consumers from making the investment.

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