I didn’t pick Microsoft 365; Microsoft 365 picked me.
Office 365 to Microsoft 365
It all started simply enough. Shell out $7.95 per month and you get 3 devices worth of Microsoft Office. With a freelance writer who insists on having both a high-end desktop computer, and a small, quirky go to laptop, plus a teenager who needs a laptop for school, that easy, transferrable, don’t worry about it license for Office 365 was nice. Free, continuous updates didn’t impress me much, but a teen going back and forth between Google Docs and Office 365, loved always having the cutting edge features.
When I added another laptop (I have a problem), and my other kiddo aged into needing a computer, Microsoft was happy to just add a few bucks to my monthly fee to license Office 365.
OneDrive For Writers
At first, I didn’t know I needed OneDrive. I’m old school.
When I started using the internet, you had to be able to spell anonymous to get anywhere. Netscape (the first graphic internet browser) was still just a glint in Marc Andreessen’s eye, and I had to install my own TCP/IP stack, because Windows didn’t come with one.
In other words, I backed my files up manually to an external drive, and maybe later to an online service, but still manually. While working, I lived by the mantra, “Save often,” so I didn’t lose my work.
I configured the locally installed copy of Microsoft Word to save every five minutes and hoped that I never had a crash at minute 4 1/2.
But Microsoft offered OneDrive for free with my Office 365 subscription. I figured I would just cut out the external drive. And, I could stop backing up manually. I’ve been syncing data drives for years, it’s basically that, I told myself.
OneDrive Office 365 Sync Across It All
Then, one day, I needed to work in a library. I needed (wanted) the MacBook (I told you I have a problem), but I already started on the quirky Windows laptop that I left at the house.
The solution?
Online Office 365, run from inside a Google Chrome browser on MacOS. Sure, I might not have been able to do the most complicated Word stuff, but how often do you really do anything beyond, bold, italics, and headings… maybe some bullet points.
The document?
It was sitting right there, ready and waiting, thanks to OneDrive.
Oh, and by the way, there is no more saving every five minutes. It saves continuously. I have to manually make copies to get versions. (There’s probably a way to do it easier. I’ll research it one day when I get the time.)
Even More Office 365 In Microsoft 365
Enter Microsoft 365.
More than just a rename, there is now a whole swarm of apps. Some of them I gleefully use (Sway, anybody?), and others I don’t even know what they do.
Recently, I had a chance to do some research and write about some Microsoft 365 features.
I looked into 6 Microsoft 365 Features You Didn’t Know existed.
And, I also checked out New 2020 Microsoft Teams features.
Microsoft To Do vs OneNote
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I can’t help but wonder if Microsoft To Do might be more efficient than cramming all my lists into OneNote…
Research time!
Side note: I like how all the stock photography for ‘research’ involves books and libraries, and not very many people on a computer with furrowed brow.