Microsoft has confirmed the widely rumored Jan. 29 release date of Microsoft Office 365 on its official teaser site, which promotes the hashtag #timeto365 (via WinBeta).The company's subscription-based productivity service represents its vision for the future of Office, as the tech mogul continues to incentivize installment plans over its traditional flat-rate licensing business model.
"Office 365 was built based on our previous experience, and Microsoft is not new to the cloud business with Hotmail, now Outlook.com," says Microsoft's Gerald Leo. "We needed to ensure we had an enterprise-grade solution [with Office 365]."
365 gives users access to a secure cloud and various Office Web apps which store documents, grant access to email accounts and calendars, and crafts a hub for coworkers to instant message one another. Microsoft offers several pricing tiers, which are respectively tailored for both small businesses and large enterprises.
As for pricing, the traditional Office Standard will cost $369, while Office Professional Plus 2013 is priced at $499. Undergrads and doctoral students may want to check out Office Home & Student 2013 for $139.99. Meanwhile, Home and Business is priced at $219.99, and Office Professional 2013 runs $399.99. As for Office 365 Home Premium, consumers can nab the software bundle for $8.33/month. Office 365 Small Business Premium will be priced at $12.50/month, 365 University at $3.30/month, 365 Midsize Business at $15/month, and 365 Enterprise & Government at $20/month.