Difference Between Office 365 and 2016 - Comparative Analysis

There is a large variety of products and services offered by the Microsoft. But, in this article, we are focusing on only two services of Microsoft i.e. Office 365 and traditional Office 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007 and 2003. We will also tell you the difference between Office 365 and 2016. First, let’s have an idea about Office 365 application and Microsoft Office.

Microsoft Office is a traditional product that is sold for only one time with up-front cost. Users need to buy any version of MS Office Suite. After that, they can install it on a single PC or Mac machine and use it for as long as they want. There is no expiry date in the MS Office. On the other hand, Office 365 is the latest service of Microsoft. To use this program, users need to pay or take a subscription plan on a monthly or yearly basis.

After that, they can access Office 365 as long as they pay the fee. In this, users get many additional features like cross-platform, OneDrive cloud storage, and apps for Smartphones, tablets, laptops & PCs. Apart from this, there are also many similarities between Office 365 & traditional Office. The following section describes Office 365 vs Office 2016 clearly & simply.

Similarities Between Microsoft Office 365 & Office 2016

As we know Microsoft provides both Office 365 & Office 2016 suits. But do you know that several similarities are associated with them? If you are curious to know that in detail then go through the below points thoroughly to understand the concept in detail:

• Applications: Both services offered the same applications i.e. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook & OneNote to their users to enhance productivity. Plus, the features of these applications are almost similar like creating real-time documents, spreadsheets, presentations & emails.
• User Interface: The user interface of the O365 & Microsoft 2016 are similar. If you decide to switch from Microsoft 365 to M365, then you won’t face any type of GUI hassle since both service’s interfaces are the same.
• Compatibility: Both services can be compatible with each other e.g. suppose you are creating a document in Office 2016 with the help of Word and you save those documents on OneDrive or local storage. Then it could be quite simple to access the data in Office 365, you just have to share it with the Office 365 user.
• Cloud Integration: With the help of OneDrive, these services support cloud integration with which you can share, store & access data from any device or location as it is kept online.
• Offline Functionality: Office 365 relies on an internet connection to access the data, but some applications & services it provides don’t need an online connection, like Office 2016.

Overall, various similarities are associated with these two services. However, there are some differences in terms of pricing models, updates, flexibility, etc are going to be discussed in the following section.

Let’s Know Office 365 vs Office 2016 - Comparison

It is required to know that Office 365 is a subscription-based program, while the traditional Office suite is a one-time purchase service. Moreover, there are many other notable differences between these two services. Some of the reasons are discussed below why it is beneficial to choose Office 365 over the traditional Office suite.

• Office 365 is Cost-Effective
  Small monthly payments can be easily affordable by the users while it may intricate to pay a big amount at once. So, we can say that Office 365 is a cost-effective program as compared to traditional Office Suite. In addition, when a person purchases the Office 365 subscription through Microsoft, then Office 365 can offer users with a discount when paying for 12 months ahead of time. It will help users in cost savings.
• Office 365 Stays Up-to-Date
  The traditional Office suite provides the most recent version at the time of downloading. As for example, if a person downloads the Office Suite today, then he or she will get Office 2016 version. The main problem is that after several years if they need to upgrade the Office Suite with the recent version, then it can be another major expense in itself. But, in the Office 365, you will always get the latest version of MS Office without purchasing the new software. Also, it is more reliable, efficient, and easy to budget around.
• Office 365 is More Flexible
  Traditional Office Suite is a one-time download, unlike its subscription-based complement. However, Office 365 allows getting different levels of service according to the user’s requirements. This also helps in the business to find exactly the same kind of functionality that user’s need out of Office 365.

Read also: How Secure is Microsoft Outlook Email?

Difference Between Office 365 and 2016 - Which is Better For You?

There are few things to consider which decide the benefits of Office 365. As we will see in this comparison, Microsoft Office 365 is much better than traditional Office 2016, 2013, 2010 and 2007 Suite.

• Devices
  Office 365 can be used on various devices such as a laptop, PC, tablet, and Smart phone. Also, people can use the Office package up to five devices. But, if talking about the traditional Office 2016, then it will be restricted to use only an individual PC or laptop. If you want to use Office on all of your connected devices, then Office 365 is best in this case.
• Storage
  Generally, people think that Office 365 is a Cloud-based storage system. So, they cannot access or save the data on Office 365 without internet connectivity. But, it is not just true. People can use this application offline and easily create documents that can be saved offline. Apart from this, Office 365 packages come with 1TB online storage space while Office 2013 packages are bundled with only 15GB of online storage. But clearly, Office 365 is the better supported program.
• Support
  Office 365 is continually supported. However, Microsoft provides technical support through chat or phone at no any additional charge. Needless to say, this option is not available for traditional Office suite users. Moreover, Office 365 comes in two packages; one is personal which is accessed by only one user. Another is Office 365 Home's storage that can be shared by up to five users.
• Upgrades
  Microsoft assures that as long as the users continue to pay their subscription of Office 365, they can continue to upgrade their package with the latest versions of Office 365. But, in the traditional Office, people are stuck with what they bought. If they want to update their old version to the new one, then they have to pay more charges.
• Extra
  Microsoft Office 365 comes with 60 minutes a month of free international calls through Skype. But, this feature is not available in the traditional Office.

Is it Possible to Sync Office 2016 with Office 365?

Yes, one can effortlessly integrate Microsoft 365 with Office 2016 using the below-mentioned steps. So, without any further ado, let’s delve into the four different sections that describe the step-by-step guidelines of Cloud Storage Integration, Collaboration, Email Integration & Updates and Security:

#Cloud Storage Integration:

• Open an Office 2016 application.
• Afterward, look for the File option in the menu bar.
• Choose Save As or Open (to access files).
• Select the destination location as OneDrive to store the resultant data.
• When asked, provide the credentials to sign in to the OneDrive account.
• Lastly, save or open files from your OneDrive storage.

#Collaboration:

• Store the resultant content in OneDrive from Office 2016.
• Now, press the Share button in Office 2016 to share the document with collaborators.
• Next, collaborators with M365 accounts can edit the document in real time & concurrently using any of the O365 services.

#Email Integration:

• Run the Outlook 2016 service.
• Navigate to the menu bar & click on File.
• Choose Account Settings > Click on New to add an account.
• Now, add an Exchange Online account to Outlook 2016 by following the prompts.

#Updates and Security:

• Verify that whether M365 is receiving the update automatically or not.
• To check the updation status, follow the steps: click on File > select Account > click on Update Options > Update Now.

Office 365 vs Office 2016: What to Choose?

In this write-up, we have tried to clear the difference between Office 365 and 2016 by providing all the information related to both services. In the end, the winner of this comparison is Office 365. Because there are many advantages of Office 365 over the traditional Office 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007 and 2003 are discussed in this blog. Still, the choice is yours to choose any of them according to your needs.

Common Queries

Q: Can I use Office 365 offline?

Almost all the O365 services can be accessible only with an internet connection i.e. real-time collaboration and cloud storage. However, after installing the M365 applications you can use Microsoft Office 365 without internet connection.

Q: Are there any benefits of choosing Office 365 instead of Office 2016?

Choosing Microsoft 365 rather than Office 2016 is a wise decision because with O365 users are up to date with the latest security measures, accessibility from any location, communication tools like Teams & SharePoint, collaboration services i.e. real-time co-authoring, etc. These all services come with a single subscription to Exchange Online.

Q: Can I migrate data from Office 2016 to Office 365?

Yes, you can efficiently upgrade from traditional Office 2016 to M365 with these quick steps: First, buy any O365 subscription plan > Backup Outlook 2016 data to secure it from being lost. Then, set up Office 365 > Connect Office 365 to Outlook 2016. Finally, import data via File > Open & Export > Import/Export. Verify and test.

Q: Difference between Office 365 and 2016 according to their cost?

To acquire Office 365 users have to buy its subscription plan, & maintenance charges are additional according to the updates. On the other hand, Microsoft 2016 is a one-time purchase service with no maintenance charges. But in this service, you will not get all the applications that Office 365 provides.