Tech Tip Tuesday: Fear of going to the Cloud? Never fear Microsoft is here!

Well, well, well, when you thought Microsoft Office 2016 would be the last perpetual Office update, well think again.  Microsoft teased Office 2019 as a part of its Ignite Conference.

Still focused on the cloud, Microsoft still realized that not everyone is ready to jump to the cloud with Office 365.  Yea, they realize some of you still want stand alone software.

So now you may be asking what exactly should you do. What are the benefits of having the cloud version of office with Office 365 or the stand alone version with Office 2019?  In the end it is up to you and what you prefer.  When it comes to 365, Microsoft wants to be a part of your utility bill, something you need and budget for annual.  So like a Tech movie review let's go with the good the bad and Tech Worthy of each.

Office 365: The Good

• You always have the latest update and newest features for everything in the office suite
• 1 TB included of One Drive Space
• The ability to install the software on multiple devices (up to 5); laptops, cell phones, tablets, etc
• Access your software and data from anywhere
• Free Technical Support

Office Stand Alone 2016, 2019 etc

• One time Cost, you buy it its yours forever
• Get only what you need like Excel, Word, Power Point or pay more for the whole suite

Office 365: The Bad

• Giving up about 100 bucks a year

Office Stand Alone: The Bad

• Only security Updates; No new features or software upgrades
• Can only install on one device

The Tech Worthy

• Uh guess I didn't think this through, the good  can also be considered a part of the Tech Worthy.

Final Thought

Again its up to you.  For me I have 365 because I have multiple devices and use more products in the suite like publisher.  If you just need word, excel, or power point just go with the basic stand alone edition.  Or if you don't want to pay Microsoft anything check out  Apache Open Office.  It's free!  

"Apache OpenOffice is the leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It is available in many languages and works on all common computers. It stores all your data in an international open standard format and can also read and write files from other common office software packages. It can be downloaded and used completely free of charge for any purpose."