New Microsoft 365 Personal and Family released with AI editor
Microsoft 365 Personal and Family consumer subscriptions are now generally available to replace some Office 365 plans and to add more features for both free and premium accounts.
The new Microsoft 365 subscriptions for home users were announced on March 30 Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft's corporate vice president for modern life, search and devices.
Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions are a collection of free apps and services designed to help consumers create, share, connect, and collaborate over the web and using apps designed for various desktop and mobile platforms.
Mehdi said that Office 365 was rebranded as Microsoft 365, an upgraded line of services infused with "artificial intelligence (AI), rich content and templates, and cloud-powered experiences" that will slowly roll out to 38 million subscribers in the coming months.
Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions also come with everything Office 365 had to offer, including premium desktop Office apps, 1 TB of OneDrive cloud storage per person (up to 6TB for family plans), 60 Skype minutes, and advanced antimalware and antiphishing security features.
The pricing for Microsoft 365 Personal and Microsoft 365 Family remains the same as it was for Office 365 subscriptions, with $6.99 USD a month for personal subs and $9.99 USD per month for families of up to six people.
Microsoft 365 Personal and Family highlights
The big start of the newly added Microsoft 365 features is the AI-powered Microsoft Editor writing virtual assistant accessible across Word, Outlook.com, and the web as a standalone browser extension.
Microsoft Editor provides easy access to spelling and basic grammar corrections and refinements, as well as rewrite suggestions to allow for more impact and clarity in your writing in more than 20 languages.
"Refinements and advanced grammar checking are available only when you sign in to Editor with your Office 365 or Microsoft 365 subscription account," explains Microsoft."When you sign in with a free Microsoft account, Editor will still help you with basic spelling and grammar issues."
Microsoft 365 Personal and Family customers will also get access to a handful of more features that will roll out at a later time, including but not limited to:
• Money in Excel will soon allow you to manage, track and analyze all your money and spending in a single place.
• Microsoft Family Safety App, which empowers families in a variety of ways with both free and premium offerings, including managing screen time across Windows PCs, Android, and Xbox.
• New features in Microsoft Teams that make it easier to connect, organize, and collaborate with family and friends.
More information about Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions, as well as more details on the market and language availability of the newly added or incoming features, are available here.
A comparison between the Microsoft 365 Family (formerly Office 365 Home) and Microsoft 365 Personal (formerly Office 365 Personal) can be made by going here.
"Today is just the first step in delivering new features and value that helps us all navigate life," Mehdi said today. "Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions are generally available today worldwide, with additional benefits added over time."
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