Wondering what each of the Office 365 applications are and what they do? We’ve got you covered.
Microsoft Office 365 applications are powerful tools to help you accomplish your tasks at home, work, or school, but are you not quite sure how to use some of them? Don’t worry—you’re not alone. Everyone knows the original band members—Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook—but some of you may not be so familiar with the other Office 365 applications available such as Sway or Visio. Depending on which subscription plan you have, you may or may not have access to all the apps. However, it is good to know what is possible if you should decide to upgrade or change your plan to gain access to new applications.
My Choice Software has constructed this Available guide to the Office 365 applications available from Microsoft to give you a quick rundown of each app so you can make the best decision about which Office 365 plan is best for you.
*Note: Application availability in this guide will only cover home and business Office 365 subscriptions
Let’s start with the classics:
Word
You can create fully-fledged documents with more options and resources than ever before. Add text, images, charts, and citations into your document with ease. Some new features include the ability to share and work on documents with others, advanced research and proofing options, edit PDFs, and find the exact command you are looking for in the “Tell me what you want to do” search box.
Available for:
- Mobile: iOS, Android, and Windows
- Office 365 Home
- Office 365 Personal
- Office 365 Business
- Office 365 Essentials – Office Online Only
- Office 365 Business Premium
- Office 365 Pro Plus
- Office 365 Enterprise E1 – Office Online Only
- Office 365 Enterprise E3
- Office 365 Enterprise E5
Excel
Keep track of your data, finances, and more using Microsoft’s intuitive and unparalleled spreadsheet format. Quickly transform your data into graphs, charts, and automatically calculated trends for presentations or additions into other Office 365 applications like Word or PowerPoint. New additions include automatically recognizing calculation trends, new chart and graph visuals, and finding the exact command you are looking for in the “Tell me what you want to do” search box.
Available for:
- Mobile: iOS, Android, and Windows
- Office 365 Home
- Office 365 Personal
- Office 365 Business
- Office 365 Essentials – Office Online Only
- Office 365 Business Premium
- Office 365 Pro Plus
- Office 365 Enterprise E1 – Office Online Only
- Office 365 Enterprise E3
- Office 365 Enterprise E5
PowerPoint
Spice up your slideshow or presentational video with an easy-to-use system that lets you string great visuals together in only a few steps. You can now use Presenter View to see your current slide, speaker notes, and the next slide at a glance to practice your presentations and maintain control. New features include improved design options through PowerPoint Designer, fluid motion through Morph, the ability to focus on certain parts of your slides through Zoom.
Available for:
- Mobile: iOS, Android, and Windows
- Office 365 Home
- Office 365 Personal
- Office 365 Business
- Office 365 Essentials – Office Online Only
- Office 365 Business Premium
- Office 365 Pro Plus
- Office 365 Enterprise E1 – Office Online Only
- Office 365 Enterprise E3
- Office 365 Enterprise E5
Outlook
Microsoft’s robust and dynamic email system allows you to filter and collect emails from different sources into one central planning application where you can also manage your calendar, schedule and share meetings, and receive notifications of important dates and events. New features include easy integration with sharing Office files through OneDrive, creating Groups for collaboration and file sharing, start Skype for Business sessions straight from the app, and better support for Mac.
Available for:
- Mobile: iOS, Android, and Windows
- Office 365 Home
- Office 365 Personal
- Office 365 Business
- Office 365 Essentials
- Office 365 Business Premium
- Office 365 Pro Plus
- Office 365 Enterprise E1
- Office 365 Enterprise E3
- Office 365 Enterprise E5
These next Office 365 applications may be unfamiliar to some of you, but are all helpful none the less:
OneNote
A great tool for the avid note taker, OneNote gives you the ability to make smart notes about anything from your next meeting to that recipe you have wanted to try. Add text, images, and handwritten notes via a stylus or your fingertip (touchscreen devices only) in a free-form format that conforms to your style and keeps you organized. New features include sharing notes with others, more intuitive drawing options, and utilization in a classroom environment via content distribution from a central content library.
Available for:
- Mobile: iOS, Android, and Windows
- Office 365 Home
- Office 365 Personal
- Office 365 Business
- Office 365 Business Premium
- Office 365 Pro Plus
- Office 365 Enterprise E3
- Office 365 Enterprise E5
Publisher
Utilize text, images, and intuitive editing tools to create gorgeous publications such as newsletters, cards, and emails to be sent out to an audience. Format your messages just the way you like them using the newly expanded toolset in the ribbon and use mail merge to include photos and links for a more efficient mailing. New features include sharing to the cloud, photo printing, and sending entire publications as HTML email messages.
Available for:
- Office 365 Home
- Office 365 Personal
- Office 365 Business
- Office 365 Business Premium
- Office 365 Pro Plus
- Office 365 Enterprise E3
- Office 365 Enterprise E5
Access
Create desktop databases and custom browser-based applications using professionally-designed templates in a secure SQL database format. Easily share your custom apps with team members and track your data using smart table templates to quickly define relationships, fields, and the rules that will exist between them. New features include advanced custom app building, better user interface, glimpses of relevant data without changing screens, autocomplete data input, and managing apps for SharePoint deployment.
Available for:
- Office 365 Home
- Office 365 Personal
- Office 365 Pro Plus
- Office 365 Enterprise E3
- Office 365 Enterprise E5
OneDrive
Microsoft’s new and robust cloud storage service allows you to access your saved files at anytime, anywhere through the web. Quickly and easily upload, manage, and share files with team members for greater collaboration efforts and always staying up-to-date through file syncing. OneDrive for Business also has multiple resources to help you out including OneDrive forum, OneDrive blog, OneDrive how-to, and IT Admin & Developer Resources. New features include Office Delve integration, better encryption and control of files, and Advanced Data Loss Prevention (DLP) capabilities.
Available for:
- Mobile: iOS, Android, and Windows
- Office 365 Home
- Office 365 Personal
- Office 365 Business
- Office 365 Essentials
- Office 365 Business Premium
- Office 365 Pro Plus
- Office 365 Enterprise E1
- Office 365 Enterprise E3
- Office 365 Enterprise E5
Skype
Conduct meetings from anywhere using the power of Skype across all your devices. Hold collaborative team sessions to discuss projects or large meetings with many different people in separate locations without difficulty. You can also send instant messages or chat with others in your network to always stay connected in addition to sharing materials with one another.
Available for:
- Mobile: iOS, Android, and Windows
- Office 365 Home
- Office 365 Personal
- Office 365 Essentials
- Office 365 Business Premium
- Office 365 Pro Plus
- Office 365 Enterprise E1
- Office 365 Enterprise E3
- Office 365 Enterprise E5
Project
The best tool available from Microsoft for streamlining your projects through resources and portfolio management. Staying on task and knowing what everyone is doing throughout the project process can be an arduous challenge without good organization. Project compiles all your resources, schedules, and materials together in an intuitive interface that gives you an update on progress.
*Available as a separate add-on
Visio
Build stunning diagrams to provide visual representations of your work to show to clients and at presentations. You can choose to use one of 70 pre-crafted diagram templates to jump right into making your visual or create one from scratch using Visio’s library of tools and thousands of available shapes. Create everything from floor plans to workflow charts to build a better picture of what you want to accomplish. New features include data linking capabilities, tools to define and enhance processes, and Office 365 integration for collaboration and sharing.
*available as a separate add-on
Sway
Create interactive content such as reports, presentations, newsletters, personal stories, and more. Publish stories that contain video, pop-out images, interactive charts and more to make your content come alive. Sway helps you to find the resources you need to make your content much more vibrant and attractive through advanced research options. Additionally, you can easily change the format using Sway’s built-in design engine.
Available for:
- Office 365 Business
- Office 365 Essentials
- Office 365 Business Premium
- Office 365 Pro Plus
- Office 365 Enterprise E1
- Office 365 Enterprise E3
- Office 365 Enterprise E5
Teams
Microsoft brings a new flavor to team chat apps by making one that easily integrates with Office 365 applications. Through Teams, you can see your chat history and content at a glance at any time as well as from Skype. For more private chat sessions between only a few individuals, you can create new groups to hold more private conversations.
Available for:
- Office 365 Essentials
- Office 365 Business Premium
- Office 365 Enterprise E1
- Office 365 Enterprise E3
- Office 365 Enterprise E5
Now that you have a better idea of what you are getting with each Office 365 application, you can make an informed decision about which package will serve your needs best. If you have any further questions about Office 365 applications or the different Office 365 subscriptions, contact us at (800) 318-1439 or support@mychoicesoftware.com.
