New features and integrations in Microsoft 365 and Office 2021 have made it easier than ever to enjoy safe remote end-of-year parties, collaborate conveniently and get work done faster.
So says Charity Mtshali, Microsoft product manager at Axiz, who believes the updated Microsoft 365 and Office 2021 are gifts that keep on giving in terms of supporting remote and hybrid workforces and digitally enabled families.
“Microsoft 365 and Office 2021 are priced within reach of everyone, so nobody should be struggling with inferior software, or worse – pirated software,” she says. “The fact that OneDrive and Teams are now integrated means that you don’t need to purchase a Teams licence separately and you can more easily connect and share – whether it’s with family members or colleagues.”
Microsoft 365 offers access to the latest apps and features that help you stay productive, protected and connected. In addition to premium versions of the Office apps, you get 1TB of cloud storage, the ability to use the apps on all your devices, advanced security features and much more. Office 2021 offers the choice of a non-subscription version of the core Office apps for PC and Mac. Both Microsoft 365 and Office 2021 include Microsoft Teams for personal use, with many of the collaboration features already available to Microsoft 365 subscribers now incorporated into Office 2021. Several other features now added to Office 2021 that were already available to Microsoft 365 subscribers include the ability to modernise your formulas in Excel, record PowerPoint presentations with ease, and beautify your work with an expanded collection of creative content. With an upgrade to a Microsoft 365 subscription, you can access even more creative content and a growing collection of premium features, from advanced grammar suggestions in Microsoft Editor to Presenter Coach in PowerPoint.
Mtshali says a particularly useful feature is real-time co-authoring, you can work with others in the same document at the same time. The OneDrive cloud storage service, powers these collaboration features and ensures your updates are automatically saved.
Both Microsoft 365 and Office 2021 have also received a modern visual update, with a neutral colour palette, softer window corners, refreshed tabs in the ribbon and colourful presence indicators so you can easily see who’s working on a document with you. The app themes will stay in sync with your Windows light or dark mode by default.
“Among our team’s favourite new features are the Office 2021 inking tools allowing you to draw or write with ‘ink’ in Office; and motion graphics for quick and easy professional-looking invitations and presentations,” she says. “And so much effort has been put into overall ease of use that even a beginner is able to master all the features quickly and easily.”
“Whether you’re a large or small business or a household looking to get the whole family connected and productive, we think Microsoft 365 or Office 2021 are great gifts this festive season.”
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The Axiz Microsoft team wishes our partners and end customers a safe and happy Microsoft-powered holiday season!