Microsoft Introduces New Microsoft 365 Personal and Family Subscriptions

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 31 March 2020 – Microsoft
today announced the refresh of Office 365 to Microsoft 365, a subscription that
will better help people make the most of their time, connect and protect the
ones they love, as well as develop and grow. This refresh will be fully rolled
out by 21 April 2020.

 

An
evolution of Office 365, Microsoft 365 builds on the foundation of Office 365,
infusing new artificial intelligence (AI), rich content and templates, and
cloud-powered experiences to empower people to become better writers, presenters,
designers and finance managers, as well as deepen people connections. These
experiences start rolling out today and will reach over 38 million Office 365
subscribers over the next few months.

 

“Now more than ever, as many of us work and learn
remotely, we are acutely aware of all the different ways life can
interrupt work and work can interrupt life. It’s never been more important to
stay connected and on top of the things that matter. Today,
we offer a powerful set of free applications and services that help users create,
share, connect, and collaborate with their friends and family across the web
and on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android devices. Used by more than a half
billion people, free Office, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Skype, Outlook, OneNote,
and OneDrive apps enables people to co-author, video chat, organize, and come
together. We are committed to improving and innovating on these experiences
every day,” said Yusuf Mehdi, Corporate Vice President, Windows and Devices
Group.

 

In
addition, Microsoft today unveiled two new Microsoft 365 experiences that will be
available for preview in the coming months. Firstly, a new Microsoft Family
Safety app designed to keep families safe across the digital and physical
worlds. Next, to provide one application to help manage work and life and deepen
connections with those who matter most, Microsoft also previewed new features
coming to Microsoft Teams for users’ personal life today. With these new
features, users can connect, stay organized, and collaborate with family and
friends. They will be able to connect in group chats, make video calls,
collaborate over shared to-do lists, assign tasks to specific people and coordinate
schedules, as well as share photos and videos all in one place.

The new Microsoft Edge browser also takes a step forward with new
features to protect users on the web with Password Monitor, and to simplify
research with Collections. You can learn more about all the new Edge features here, as well as the entire suite of new
features available with Microsoft 365 below.

 

• AI-Powered
  Microsoft Editor: To
  help people put their best foot forward at home and at work, Microsoft Editor —
  an AI-powered service available in more than 20 languages — is now accessible
  across Word and Outlook.com, and as a standalone browser extension for
  Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome. Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers
  have access to advanced grammar and style refinements such as rewrite
  suggestions and additional style critiques to allow greater clarity
  and conciseness.
• Presenter
  Coach Features in PowerPoint: An AI-powered Presenter that helps correct monotone pitch and refine speeches. This will be
  available as a free preview, and then eventually only to Microsoft 365
  subscribers.
• PowerPoint
  Designer: This
  feature effectively boosts creativity, such as transforming text into a
  beautiful timeline, or even auto-generated slide layouts. Microsoft is providing
  Microsoft 365 subscribers with exclusive access to over 8,000 beautiful images
  and 175 looping videos from Getty Images, plus 300 new fonts, 2,800 new icons
  and 200+ new premium templates to create high-impact and visually appealing
  documents.
• Managing Finances
  Seamlessly with Money in Excel: A new solution for Microsoft 365 subscribers that help
  users seamlessly manage, track and analyze their money and spending all in one
  place through a secure and simple process that connects to the user’s bank and
  credit card accounts, including major retail banks and community credit unions,
• New
  Data Types and Smart Templates in Excel: This presents a different and less time-consuming
  way to interact with data, providing deeper meaning for over 100 topics. Microsoft
  365 subscribers have exclusive access to the over 100 new data types powered by
  Wolfram Alpha.
• Organizing Time Across Work and Life
  with Outlook:
  New features in Outlook on the web help users manage all commitments,
  across work and life, in one place. With these new features, they can link their
  personal calendar to their work calendar to show their real availability, while
  still maintaining their privacy.
• Deepen Connections with Family and
  Friends with Skype and Microsoft Teams: Skype has seen an increase in usage with
  40 million people using it daily, up 70% month over month and, we are seeing a
  220% increase in Skype to Skype calling minutes month over month. To help
  people get connected even faster, Microsoft recently introduced a new feature
  in Skype called Meet Now, that allows users to easily create video
  meetings in as little as three clicks for free, with no sign ups or downloads
  required.
• Protecting Families in the Physical
  and Digital Worlds with Microsoft Family Safety:
  Unveiled today, this application empowers families to help protect their loved ones by giving them
  the tools and insights to discuss healthier habits online and in the real
  world. The new Microsoft Family Safety app is the only app that
  manages screen time across Windows PCs, Android, and Xbox while providing
  parents a peace of mind when the kids are not home.

 

The
new Office features start rolling out to current Office 365 customers today.
Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions will be available worldwide on
April 21^st. These include premium desktop Office apps, 1 TB of
OneDrive cloud storage per person, 60 Skype minutes for calling mobile phones
and landlines, advanced security features to protect users from malware and
phishing attacks, ongoing technical support, plus all the new features and
benefits announced today. Microsoft 365 Personal costs $6.99 USD a month. For
the best value, a family of up to six people can use Microsoft 365 Family for
$9.99 USD a month.

Read
about the full suite
of new Office features and access more press
information here. To learn more about
Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions as well as the market and
language availability of these new features, visit
this page.
For more information on Microsoft 365 business and Microsoft 365 Apps for
Enterprise plans, visit this page
here.

About Microsoft

Microsoft
(Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) is the leading platform and productivity company for
the mobile-first, cloud-first world, and its mission is to empower every person
and every organization on the planet to achieve more.