(Redmond, WA, Monday, March 30, 2020) – It’s never been more important for us to stay connected and on top of things. Microsoft has shared what they are doing to help organizations, employees, teachers, parents, and students in these challenging times, including offering a powerful set of free tools and applications.
Today, Microsoft announced Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions and new features to the Edge browser. On April 21st, Office 365 will become Microsoft 365, the subscription for work and life that helps people make the most of their time, connect, and protect the ones they love. An evolution of Office 365, Microsoft 365 builds on the foundation of Office, infusing new AI, rich content and templates, and cloud-powered experiences.
Microsoft also unveiled two new experiences coming to Microsoft 365 that will be available in preview in the coming months:
- A new Microsoft Family Safety app designed to keep your family safe across the digital and physical worlds. Features will allow for families to manage screen time across Windows PCs, Android devices and Xbox, to set content filters, to find other family members using location awareness, and to access driving reports. This will launch in limited preview across iOS and Android devices.
- New features in Microsoft Teams that bring you closer to friends and family to connect and collaborate on things that matter most.
New benefits for Microsoft 365 subscribers include:
- Microsoft Editor premium features, including writing refinements like conciseness, similarity checker, and more
- PowerPoint premium features like Presenter Coach, which uses AI to detect if the presenter is talking too fast, saying “umm” too much, and more, providing real-time feedback
- Money in Excel, featuring smart templates that help seamlessly connect financial accounts in one place
- New features in Outlook, like an expansion of Play My Emails on Android
- Access to popular wellbeing, creativity and enrichment apps
New features in Microsoft Edge include:
- Edge Collections helps gather and organize information from across the web
- Password Monitor keeps people protected by searching the Dark Web to see if your username and passwords have been compromised
- Tracking Prevention, giving users control across three options to reduce the number of third-party trackers while browsing the web
- Vertical tabs to orient tabs vertically
- Smart Copy makes it easy to copy content from the web into a document, while retaining rich web format
New Office features start rolling out March 30. Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions will be available worldwide on April 21st. Microsoft 365 Personal costs $6.99 USD a month. Microsoft 365 Family, which can be used for up to six people, costs $9.99 USD a month.
To learn more about Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions as well as the market and language availability of the new features we announced, visit this page. For more information about the changes announced today that are coming to Microsoft 365 business and Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise plans, visit this page here.