Microsoft Office is unparalleled when it comes to the utter variety as well as quality of apps and tools offered in a single package. There is a good reason why it is the most popular set of business applications you can find and is used across the board for a variety of purposes. Microsoft offers a number of different plans and packages that you can choose from depending on what you need out of your applications. If you simply want a subscription that you and your family can use at home for some basic tasks and assignments, then opt for the Family Package. If you want a plan just for personal use, then the Personal is the one for you. If you are a business looking to employ the use of an application suite across a network, then Enterprise works ideally. When it comes to the Business packages, you can opt for either the Essentials or the Premium packages, with both special plans suited for medium or small sized businesses, ideally with less than 300 employees.
So how can you make the decision between Microsoft Office Essentials and Premium? Here is a little guide:
APPLICATIONS
The primary difference between Essentials and Premium is when it comes to the applications. With the former, you do not get desktop version of Office applications such as PowerPoint, Word, and Excel among others. You can, however, use the online versions of these applications. With the Premium package, you get the desktop versions included in the plan.
PRICE
Essentials is priced at $5 per month whereas Premium is a little bit more expensive at $12.5 per month.
OTHER FEATURES
Apart from the desktop versions, you also get web support with the Premium package along with 1 TB of OneDrive space, custom email, as well as a 50GB mailbox. These features are largely missing from the Business Essentials package, which only has 1TB of OneDrive space.
SERVICES
When it comes to services, both Essentials and Premium have all app support and services enabled so you cannot go wrong either way. Both the packages also enable you to access Exchange and SharePoint.
DOWNLOADING THE OFFICE SUITE
Regardless of whether you choose to get the Microsoft Essentials or Premium package, all Office suites can be purchased and downloaded in a similar, standard manner through office.com/setup. The first step is to choose a plan and buy a subscription. You can do so after office.com/setup login if you have an existing Microsoft account. Once you receive your office.com/setup product key, you can go to the website and do office.com/setup login if you haven’t already. You will receive a link to download your apps and you can start using your Office suite, Essentials or Premium, right away.