Review by Sarah B.

I have to admit that one of my paranoid fears is that my computer will crash and that I’ll lose all of my files and projects that I’ve spent a long time working on. One positive feature of Office 365 is the SkyDrive which enables you to save your documents and projects to the cloud and access them from other locations. I also like that 365 makes it possibly to easily collaborate on projects by inviting others to access the document. The other person does not have to have the same version of Office that you do, it can pull up the document in a browser and they can view and make changes as needed. You can also work on SkyDrive documents when you’re offline and then they’ll update when you have an internet connection again (BUT if the document was updated at another location and you don’t have internet access, then you won’t be accessing the most up-to-date version, which I view as a bit of a liability.) I have been known to save important documents to both my SkyDrive and my computer just as a back-up in case the Internet gods decide to shut up the data heavens.

An added feature of Office 365 is access to Office Mobile Apps. Unfortunately, my smartphone (HTC Desire) is not compatible with the Office Mobile App and so I can’t make use of the mobile features. However, the subscription does include the option of adding up to five mobile devices (but I imagine they have to be fairly recent mobile devices or you might run into the problem I had of the device being incompatible with the app). I was kind of bummed that it won’t work on my device. It would have been convenient to be able to access my documents on the go, but oh well, what can you do.

Installation is fairly easy. You just go to the website, enter the product key and connect it to your Microsoft account (or you can start an account with any e-mail address). It will let you download the software on up to five computers, BUT as the name Office 365 indicates, you will only have access to the software for 365 days. After that point you will have to pay all over again for another year’s access to the software. The positives of that is that you will always have the most up-to-date Office software (automatic updates are included in the subscription), but the obvious con is that you’ll be perpetually paying for a subscription. Honestly, my personal preference would be just to own the software outright (I’m OK with not having the latest and greatest version). They do throw in a few extra perks to help lessen the pain of an annual subscription: Skype 60 minutes a month world calling & SkyDrive with 20 GB storage.

It did take a little while for the program to download, but if you have any experience with Office products, it is pretty easy to find your way around. I do like that you have the option of downloading on up to five computers and five mobile devices, but you do have to be prepared to repay for the right to access the software annually. If you’re OK with that, then I think you’ll enjoy Office 365. It’s user-friendly and helps bring accessible technology to our society that’s increasingly mobile and connected. I like that my documents can go with me wherever I am.