Office 365 is confusing. It’s a a single name for disparate plans and services, and might refer to hosted Exchange email, or a version of the desktop Office suite that you subscribe to rather than purchase, or both.
UPDATE August 2013: Since I originally posted this, Microsoft has updated their offerings, so now it is possible to get a plan which includes both hosted Exchange and the Mac version of the desktop Office suite. I’ve updated the information below. In addition, they have released Microsoft Office for iOS devices, and it requires an Office 365 subscription that includes the Office suite.
SOFTWARE ONLY:
- Office 2011 Home & Student: $139, includes Word, Excel, and PowerPoint (no Outlook) for one machine
- Office 2011 Business Edition: $219, includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook for one machine
- If you already have Office 2011 Home & Student, and need Outlook, you can upgrade to Business Edition for $99.
- These traditional “boxed” editions do not include upgrades to future versions, or use of Office for iOS.
- Office 365 Home Premium is $10/month for five Mac or Windows users, and it’s the full Office suite (including Outlook) as something you subscribe to rather than buy, plus some cloud service stuff. It includes upgrades to future versions of the Office suite when they are released, and use of Office for iOS. Unlike all the other plans, it does NOT include hosted Exchange.
HOSTED EXCHANGE EMAIL ONLY (does not include use of Office for iOS):
- Office 365 Hosted email (aka Exchange Online Plan 1) is hosted Exchange (like Intermedia) for the bargain price of $4/mailbox/month (with no minimum) for unlimited users. Cheaper than Google Apps, fwiw. It does NOT include the Office suite or any other software.
- Office 365 Small Business is the same thing as Office 365 Hosted Email, but limited to 25 users, plus the ability to edit Office document attachments in web mail, access to SkyDrive (like Dropbox), and other minor features, for $5/mailbox/month.
- Office 365 Enterprise E1 is like Office 365 Small Business for unlimited users, for $8/mailbox/month.
HOSTED EXCHANGE AND SOFTWARE (includes upgrades to Office suite when they are released, and Office for iOS):
- Office 365 Small Business Premium is Office 365 Small Business, plus the full Mac or Windows Office suite, for $12.50/mailbox/month.
- Office 365 Midsize Business is like Office 365 Small Business for up to 300 users, plus the full Mac or Windows Office suite, for $15/mailbox/month.
- Office 365 Enterprise E3 is like Office 365 Small Business for unlimited users, plus the full Mac or Windows Office suite, for $20/mailbox/month.
- Office 365 Enterprise E4 is like Office 365 Small Business for unlimited users, plus the full Mac or Windows Office suite, and telephone integration, for $22/mailbox/month.
There are other plans too, like Office 365 ProPlus, and whole other families of plans for Education and Government. Microsoft are the masters of product segmentation.