Differences between Microsoft Office 365 Apps and older versions of Office

Microsoft 365 Apps, the new Office, enables you to:

Work collaboratively with your group across all your devices.
Work with the very latest version of your documents. All the time.
Use the latest versions of: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, and Publisher.

Before you can use any M365 application (like Word, PowerPoint, or Excel) you must sign in with your UAlbany credentials to activate M365.

In order to sign in to activate M365 Apps for Enterprise, you will need to complete 2-Step Login using Duo. So it is important to bring the device that receives your one-time, secret code with you to classrooms and conference rooms in order to use Microsoft 365 apps.

If you are unable to complete 2-Step Login on a computer where you have not yet activated M365, you will still be able to use Microsoft 365 apps (like Word, PowerPoint, or Excel), but they will function in Reduced Functionality Mode.

Features	Microsoft 365 Apps	Office 2021, 2019, Office 2016, Office 2013

Features	Microsoft 365 Apps	Office 2021, 2019, Office 2016, Office 2013
Updates	Regular feature upgrades, quality updates, and security patches	Only receives security patches
Cloud Features	Real-time file coauthoring in Word, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Excel Easy access to your files wherever they are stored in Microsoft 365 or on your computer @Mentions in Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Get more done with tools you know—powered by the intelligent cloud. Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise helps you improve writing in Word and Outlook, find insights in Excel, and create presentations in PowerPoint. Show changes in PowerPoint While You Were Away Default file saving location is OneDrive for Business space instead of your computer's hard drive to help ensure file security and accessibility	Real-time file coauthoring only in Word More difficult to access files stored in Microsoft 365 @Mentions only in Outlook
Other Features	The icons you click to run the Office applications will look different in M365 than they did in prior versions. AutoSave feature to make sure the file you're working on is always safely saved (with version history in case you need to revert) PowerPoint Designer and QuickStarter to suggest new slide designs and assist with research and outline creation Streamlined, simpler-to-use Modern Ribbon Résumé Assistant and Dictation in Word Ideas in PowerPoint, Excel Excel Data Types Researcher in Word, OneNote M365 is the version already available for home use, so you will have the same experience no matter where you work	Office 20* versions include applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook and do not get new features unless you upgrade to the next version (e.g. 2016 → 2019)

Learn more about the differences between Microsoft 365 and Office 2021: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/what-s-the-difference-between-microsoft-365-and-office-2019-ed447ebf-6060-46f9-9e90-a239bd27eb96