What is Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office is Microsoft’s family of office software suites, centered on word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations: Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. The suite was announced by Bill Gates on August 1, 1988, at COMDEX, and the first bundle contained exactly those three applications; Office for Windows shipped on October 1, 1990, after a Mac version in 1989 (Wikipedia article). For the company and the operating system, see the Microsoft entry and the Windows entry.
Composition
The first bundle consisted of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, all of which had shipped standalone before the suite: the first version of Word was released for MS-DOS in the autumn of 1983, and the first version of Excel was released for the Mac in 1985 (Wikipedia article). Over time the suite added Outlook, OneNote, and other apps, with the Windows version also including Access; the exact app mix varies by subscription plan and platform, and the official Microsoft 365 page is the reference.
Office and Microsoft 365
Microsoft launched the subscription service Office 365 on June 28, 2011; on March 30, 2020, it announced that the consumer plans of Office 365 would be rebranded as Microsoft 365, effective April 21, 2020 (Wikipedia article). Later in 2022, Microsoft announced it would retire the Office brand on the web and in mobile apps: office.com was renamed to Microsoft 365 in November 2022, and the mobile apps followed in January 2023 (Wikipedia article). Today office.com states “Office is now Microsoft 365”: signing in gives everyone free access to essential Microsoft 365 apps on the web plus 5 GB of cloud storage, while larger storage and desktop apps come with a Microsoft 365 subscription.
Discussion in the show
Weekly #004 mentions Office twice, both times as examples around the user experience of AI products:
- In the chapter “AI 产品经理与人的使用体验” (AI product managers and the user experience), discussing how personal agents make users “grow impatient,” Guizang says: “Remember Office had this exact problem? You’re preaching at me — I say you don’t understand a word I say” (Chinese transcript). This cites Office’s AI assistant as an example of preachy interaction; it is a participant’s impression.
- In the chapter “Muse Charm、手机与 AI 的入口” (Muse Charm, phones, and the AI entry point), talking about file management on phones, Guizang says “I download Office, and even finding that Office is a hassle” (Chinese transcript).
See the episode 004 chapter and the chapter “Muse Charm、手机与 AI 的入口” (Muse Charm, phones, and the AI entry point) (chapter link).
Frequently asked questions
How do Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365 differ?
Office is the name of the software suite, while Microsoft 365 is the subscription service that includes those apps; the consumer plans of Office 365 were renamed Microsoft 365 on April 21, 2020, and office.com now points to Microsoft 365 (Wikipedia article).
Is there a free version of Microsoft Office?
Yes. Signed in with a Microsoft account at office.com, you can use essential Microsoft 365 apps on the web and 5 GB of cloud storage for free; desktop apps and more storage require a subscription (the official page reads: “Everyone gets cloud storage and essential Microsoft 365 apps on the web, free of charge”).
Where do I download Microsoft Office?
The official entry points are office.com and the Microsoft 365 product page; after signing in, follow the on-page prompts to install the desktop apps or use the web version.
Which apps are in the Office suite?
The original three are Word, Excel, and PowerPoint; Outlook, OneNote, and others were added later, with the Windows version also including Access. The app mix differs by subscription plan and platform — the official page is the reference.