If you're sharing the file with someone who's also using Office 365, this setup can let you both edit the file's contents in real time.

There's a Share button in the top right, and you click on it to create a OneDrive folder on your PC, where you can drop files that will automatically get synced in the cloud. Setting up files for sharing is also straightforward. Office 365 works with your local files right away, while still syncing them in the cloud. You first have to get online to set it to offline mode, so if you want to work offline because you're having trouble connecting, you might be out of luck altogether.

Works well both online and offline: Microsoft's main competitor is arguably Google Docs, but using Docs offline is awkward. Plus, if something happens to these files on OneDrive, the service keeps 30 days of backups that you can select from to restore lost or corrupted data. But it's definitely a factor if you're working with sensitive material that needs to stay off the cloud.Īnd if you need to put such materials online, OneDrive (the company's cloud storage service integrated into Office) has built-in tools to password-protect individual files and to create shareable links to them that expire after a specified amount of time. If you've become accustomed to web browser-based productivity like the Google Docs Suite, then you already don't have to worry about features or versions. Out-of-date software is often how malware gets onto your device, so automatic updates go a long way toward protecting the average user. You can even sign up for the 'Insider' program to get beta access to what's coming next, if you can't wait.

You'll always have the latest version of Office: You may prefer to own your office suite instead of subscribing to it, but one of the advantages of Office 365 is that you'll automatically get security patches, new features, and whole new versions of Office, as soon as they're available. But is it enough to overcome the competition's lack of a price tag? Pros So far, the company's answer has been to bind their suite and their cloud storage together, at bargain prices. In a world where you can get high-quality offline and cloud-based office suites for free, Microsoft Office may look increasingly quaint and expensive.

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