Monday, December 14, 2015

Running Office 365 on a Chromebook

Let's cut through the chase and agree that Microsoft Office 365, a web enabled version of the quarter century old flagship program works on Chromebooks. We are going to take the rest of this edition of our blog to show you how.
Selecting the Office 365 that is right for you, or that you are authorized to "purchase". The information can be found in the Office 365 catalog . We settled for the Office 365 Business Premium at a cost of $12.50 per month. Microsoft offers its program as it has always done: different price points, i.e different functionality. It even limits the number of appliances, and users per version. Google Apps for Work does not impose any such restrictions. There is only one version for various segments: education, government and business, that is refreshed OTA every six weeks, guaranteed.
Two-step process: Desktop version, just like in 1999
Unlike pure web based applications, Microsoft Office 365 requires at least two steps before it can work on a Chromebook.
Step one: Downloading Office 365 on a PC or a Mac. That is correct, you must first go through the process of creating an account, and downloading the "cloud" program on a PC or a Mac. We only worked with a PC to do it. Our version allows us the install it on 5 PCs/Macs, 5 tablets and 5 phones, and that is it. 
Step two: Web Version: Get the Apps. We know that you cannot download any programs on a Chromebook itself, but you can install extensions, in this case from the Chrome Web Store onto the chrome browser of your Chromebook. You must add each component of Office 365 to your browser, one at a time.
Once completed, Microsoft Office 365 are located where the rest of your apps are: in the launcher. We do not offer Microsoft 365 training in our blog.

Be careful when signing on to Office 365, you must sign on the business or school side of the screen because what you thought was a Microsoft account only works in that area.

After completing the drill, you are now ready to run Microsoft Office 365 the desktop/cloud hybrid on your Chromebook. All your files will be saved, not on Google Drive, but on Microsoft OneDrive, each manufacturer's cloud storage option. 

Our objective was to show that all the uninformed talk from so called experts, or more accurately "hired pens" about Chromebooks being for kids or not suited for "real work" miss the point. Chromebooks offer other advantages that are missed in the chatter surrounding the cloud. They are affordable, they run fast and last up to 10 hours per full charge.

The software anxiety that I mentioned in an earlier post appears to be a fiction, something that the competition without doubt, is fueling. Chromebooks are now moving into the enterprise market after taking over education. The Dell 13 Chromebook is the new generation of Chromebooks that are built to target that market. Just like Samsung and Asus built the first commercialized Chromebooks for education, and now all the major manufacturer produce Chromebooks, there will be a growing number of options made available to businesses. When that happens, the prices will also fall, while quality and security improve.
Chromebooks are the only computers in the market today whose performance increases with time, they do not require antivirus software, costly patching, and scheduled backups.  

Pricing of Office 365 also varies depending on the components included in the option you choose. Here is a list of business options: 

  • Office 365 Business
  • Office 365 Business Essentials
  • Office 365 Business Premium
  • Office 365 ProPlus
  • Office 365 Enterprise E1
  • Office 365 Enterprise E3
  • Office 365 Enterprise E5
  •  

    For $5.00 per month, you do not have the desktop version, see below:


    Get business-class email & the web version of Office applications
    Exchange OnlineOneDrive for BusinessSkype for Business
    • Business-class email hosting with 50 GB mailbox
    • Web version of Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint (desktop version of apps not included)
    • 1 TB file storage & sharing
    • HD video conferencing with Skype for Business*
    • 24/7 phone & web support


    2 comments:

    1. Great things you’ve always shared with us. Just keep writing this kind of posts.The time which was wasted in traveling for tuition now it can be used for studies.Thanks Is a Chromebook good for college?

      ReplyDelete
    2. Good morning CST USA. Chromebooks are ideal for college use and here is why: all your work such as an assignment is saved in the cloud, and get this, while you are creating it. Make sure you name your document but if you forget this, it will still be saved under "untitled" with a time stamp. Now the best part, in addition to the relative low cost, Chromebooks are updated on average once every six (6) weeks, meaning that your computer gets actually better, faster over time not like the other guys'. There is so much to say, and if you need more information, follow up here, and let your friends know about us.

      ReplyDelete

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