Microsoft Office is dead, long live Microsoft 365

According to a company FAQ, Microsoft is going to execute the biggest rebranding in the office productivity-sector in more than 30 years.

We got used to the fact that the moniker of „Office 365“ has been changed to „Microsoft 365“ two years ago when the subscription-based services got a more modern touch. The coming months will, indeed, face an even more superior approach to re-paint the „Office“-branding and to finally push it under the umbrella of Microsoft 365 in its whole as THE cloud-powered productivity suite in general.

This change, following in the wake of this year’s Ignite, is told to affect the website Office.com itself, the Office mobile app and the Office-app for Windows which will all share the name of a new Microsoft 365 app, "with a new icon, a new look, and even more features“, according to Microsoft. The well-known tools like Excel, Outlook, Powerpoint or Word won’t be abandoned but are told to seamlessly integrate into Microsoft 365 from which they still can be accessed and, of course, used.

The changes announced recently - and accompanied by the new product name and a new logo - will begin to roll out for Office.com in November 2022 when the first brush stroke of fresh paint is used. Further changes will then begin to roll out for the Office-app on Windows and the Office mobile app in January 2023 and affect every user who works with the Office-app for work, school or personal use.

Somehow confusingly, Microsoft will still continue to offer one-time purchases of the „classic“ apps mentioned above to consumers and businesses via Office 2021 and Office LTSC-plans while the re-branding only affects the subscription-based editions under the „Microsoft 365“-banner to suit different needs: Not every customer is the ideal customer for a subscription-based Office suite and may need single-time-purchases deployed instead.

As for the single apps, the new Microsoft 365-app will be available on the web at Microsoft365.com, on Windows via the Microsoft Store and in both stores for Apple- and Android-devices: The Apple App Store and Google Play.