New Microsoft 365 plans: Microsoft announced a new service at the Inspire business conference. The service, called Microsoft 365, reportedly connects three standalone services: Office 365, Windows 10, along with Enterprise Mobility + Security.
According to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, the new package was created with businesses in mind and aims to reduce the burden of integrating one operating system with office and device management applications from different vendors.
The new Microsoft 365 service is a big step for Microsoft in offering the Windows operating system as a monthly subscription service, reportedly moving away from one-time purchases.
Microsoft has offered Windows 10 with subscription plans, but only for Windows 10 Enterprise editions. The company's announcement of the new plan provides more options and appears to be another step towards changing the Windows commercial licensing model.
The company said that Microsoft 365 will be available as two separate services: Microsoft 365 Enterprise for larger companies and Microsoft 365 Business for smaller businesses.
The differences between the two are the services provided in each package. For example, Microsoft 365 Enterprise users will have access to a version of Windows 10 Enterprise, while those who choose the Microsoft 365 Business package will have Windows 10 Professional as their operating system.
Both Microsoft 365 Enterprise and Microsoft 365 Business users will have access to Office 365 for their employees, as well as the Cloud service for managing employee accounts, and Enterprise Mobility + Security.
The Microsoft 365 Enterprise package will be available in two options: Microsoft 365 E3 and Microsoft 365 E5, which will be available for purchase from August 1, 2017.
Prices are currently unavailable.
More information about Microsoft 365 is available on the official Microsoft page.
