Office 365 is Microsoft's new way to use it's Office suite of software, and allows for much more collaboration than ever before. While much of the experience will remain the same as using previous versions of Office, there will no doubt be some questions as to what the differences actually are, and how they will affect you.
Check below to see some of the more commonly asked questions about Office 365 at Wesleyan University.
- Do I have to change something?
No. You will continue to have your locally installed Microsoft applications. New computer replacements will have the latest version installed for Mac and PC. Folks who are not due for a new computer but want to upgrade will be able to request getting the new version.
- Will I have to install Office myself?
No. Your Wesleyan provided computer, whether it's a PC or a Mac, will come with Office 2016 pre-installed and ready to be used. You can sign into these applications using your Wesleyan credentials and sync them with your OneDrive for Business to gain some of the collboration functionality Office365 enables.
You will also have access to 5 separate liscenses which can be activated on ANY computer or device. You can use these 5 licenses to install Office apps on your personal PC or Mac, your iPad or Android tablet, or your iPhone, Android, or Windows Phone devices.
- What will happen to my Google Drive?
Nothing. Your Google Apps for Education account will still remain active and any data you have saved on your Google Drive will remain there. Office365 gives you access to another option for cloud storage of your documents, pictures, and other data. You can choose to continue using Google Drive for your cloud storage, or you can switch to using OneDrive for Business. Just keep in mind that in order to work collaboratively in the Office apps like you may be used to with Google apps, you will have to store those documents inside your OneDrive for Business.
- Do I have to change my version of Office on my computer to use One Drive for Business?
That depends. One Drive for Business works with Office 2013 or later and Office 2011 for Mac and later. One Drive for Business is already included in those versions of Office and ITS will have information available very soon with information about how to start using the storage. Of course, you can always contact your Desktop Support person, Helpdesk staff, or enter a ticket at service.wesleyan.edu asking for help.
- What about my email?
There is no change to email at this time. ITS will be moving faculty/staff email to the Microsoft cloud in the next 1-2 years so we can offer much larger mailboxes than we can now and to have a better online email experience than OWA currently offers. Users will not be required to change the email program they are using even when their mail storage is moved. There will be a lot more information about that in the coming months.
- How will I learn how to use the programs or know what’s different?
Lynda.com has courses on using Office 365. Remember you can drill down to just what you need and do not have to take the whole course. They even have a course of new features in Office 2016 and Office 365. The new Office 365 site will have links to those courses. Remember, you can login to Lynda.com with your Wesleyan username and password from anywhere in the world.
ITS staff are happy to work with departments and faculty and staff to help you use the new products. We are also planning face to face learning sessions highlighting new features and functions.