What are the basics of Microsoft 365?

This article is the first in a series of articles focusing on Microsoft 365 basics. It explains what Microsoft 365 is, what it offers, the different flavors available in the market, and how you can sign up for a 30-day free trial to get a hands-on experience.

What is Microsoft 365?

Microsoft 365 (or Office 365) is a cloud-based subscription service. It allows organizations to collaborate and work together efficiently from anywhere using any device. And the work done by teams using Microsoft 365 gets synced across devices and stays up-to-date for everyone to use.

What does Microsoft 365 offer?

While what you get largely depends on the edition chosen (more on different Microsoft 365 editions later), almost all include prominent Microsoft apps like MS Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Planner, and more. More importantly, your organization gets productivity apps like:

• Microsoft Teams (the new and improved version of Skype)
• SharePoint (for centralized document management)
• Yammer (for setting up communities/forums)
• Microsoft Outlook (for sending and receiving mail)
• Bookings (for scheduling and managing events/appointments)

What is the difference between Office 365 and Microsoft 365?

You could say Microsoft 365 is the new Office 365. The productivity suite’s name has changed. But the difference does not end there. What used to be a simple grouping of cloud-based Microsoft productivity applications – containing apps like Microsoft Office, SharePoint, Teams, Yammer, etc., - is now a full-fledged service that blends Office 365, Enterprise Mobility, and Security. This makes Microsoft 365 perfect for businesses of all sizes.

Different Editions of Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365 for corporates is classified into two different editions:

• Microsoft 365 for Business and
• Microsoft 365 for Enterprise

Note: Both of them come with a 30-day free trial period after which the charges apply. They both work on an annual subscription-auto renewal mode and bill on a per-user/month basis.

Microsoft 365 Business Edition ships in four different flavors:

• Basic
• Standard
• Premium and
• Microsoft 365 Apps for Business (the edition offering only the basic apps)

What set these 4 editions apart can be seen in the table below.

Business Basic	Business Standard	Business Premium	Business Apps for Business
$6/user/month	$12.50 user/month	$22.00 user/month	$8.25 user/month
Web and mobile apps only	Includes Desktop version too	Includes Desktop version too	Includes Desktop version too
Standard security	Standard security	Advanced Security	Standard Security
No mobile device management	No mobile device management	Mobile device management is available	No mobile device management
Teamwork and communication are available	Teamwork and communication are available	Teamwork and communication are available	No teamwork and communication
Email and calendaring are available	Email and calendaring are available	Email and calendaring are available	No email and calendaring

Note: To find out more about Microsoft 365 business editions, read More on different Microsoft 365 business editions. Also, there are two more editions available: for family/personal and students. To know more about these, read: know more about Microsoft 365 Family and Student plans.

Microsoft 365 Enterprise Edition ships in three different flavors:

• Microsoft 365 F3
• Microsoft 365 E3
• Microsoft 365 E5

What set these 3 editions apart can be seen in the table below.

Microsoft 365 F3	Microsoft 365 E5	Microsoft 365 E3
$36.00 user/month	$57.00 user/month	$8.00 user/month
Web and mobile apps only	Includes Desktop version too	Includes Desktop version too
Limited audio call facility, only 2GB per user inbox storage.	All apps are available. 50 GB inbox storage space.	All apps are available. 50 GB inbox storage space.
Limited mobile device management	Mobile device management is available	Mobile device management is available
No advanced analytics	Advanced analytics is available	Limited advanced analytics
Limited Identity and access management.	Identity and access management is available.	Limited Identity and access management.
Limited compliance management.	Compliance management is available.	Limited compliance management.
Limited information protection	Information protection is available.	Limited information protection

Note: To find out more about Microsoft 365 enterprise edition, read More on different Microsoft 365 enterprise editions

How to sign up for a Microsoft 365 Account?

Visit the Microsoft 365 editions page and select the edition of your choice. Use the 1-month trial period instead of buying the product right away.

Note: The Microsoft editions page and the pricing vary from country to country. Yours should look similar to this but with pricing displayed in your country’s currency.

1. Click Try free for one month link in the edition you wish to try. (For demo purposes, Microsoft 365 Business Standard edition is used).
2. The sign-up form opens as shown in the image below.

3. Enter your email id and click Next.
4. If you don’t have a Windows account, you are prompted to set up one as shown in the image below.

5. Click the Set up account button. You’ll be taken to the account set-up page as shown the image below.

Note: You can also change your mail id, if necessary, by clicking the Change my email button and using that email to set up your account.


6. Fill in your details and click Next.

Note: All fields are mandatory, except the Middle name.

7. You are required to verify your phone number as shown in the image below. You can choose to receive the verification code by text or through a phone call.

8. After verifying your account, you are required to set up your sign-in details as shown in the image below.

9. You have to:
• Enter your domain name.
• Enter your password and confirm your password as well.
• Then click the Next button.

Note: Ensure you specify a strong password.

10. Your product info gets displayed as shown in the image below. Specify the licenses you need. During the trial period, you can use up to a maximum of 25 licenses. Next click Add payment method button to set up payment.

11. You are directed towards the payment details section as shown in the image below.

12. Enter your card details, personal details and address and click Save.
13. Your account details get listed under the Review and confirm section as shown in Figure 8.

14. Click the Save button and then click the Start trial button at the bottom to start your free trial. Your 1-month free trial gets triggered and you can use it by clicking Start using Microsoft 365 Trial button.
15. Your welcome page would look like the one shown in the image below. This is your admin center using which you can manage your Microsoft 365 users. If you want to add your users right away, you can do so by clicking the Add user button. But since this can be a complex task for beginners, it’s best to get used to Microsoft 365 app first before you do anything else.

16. To access the Microsoft 365 home page, select App launcher and click Explore all your Apps link as shown in Figure 10.

What’s Next?

Now that you signed up for the Microsoft 365 free trial period, it’s time to familiarize yourself with the environment. In the next article, let’s analyse what the Microsoft 365 home page offers and how to use it to your organization’s benefit.

Microsoft 365 Beginner Series -- Read More

What is Microsoft 365? What does it offer? How to sign up?
Microsoft 365 Home Page
Microsoft 365 Home Page Continued
Microsoft 365 Admin Center Basics
Learning Microsoft 365 Outlook Basics I
Microsoft 365 Outlook Basics II -- Using the Microsoft 365 Outlook Toolbar
Microsoft 365 Outlook Basics III -- Microsoft 365 Outlook Meetings and Scheduling Poll
Microsoft 365 Outlook Basics IV -- Microsoft 365 Outlook Group
Microsoft Teams Basic Training