Forum Discussion
Which MS Office is most suitable for me and my family?
Hi
I’ve just splashed out on an iMAC and I would like to pay a one-off fee for my family to use Office. I need Office for PowerPoint and Word mostly plus Outlook (but that’s a bit complicated - see below).
3 questions -
1) are there different versions of Office for Apple vs PC products?
2) which is the most up to date version I can get of Office? (Based UK).
3) I’m seeing so much conflicting information - are immediate downloads online ok? (Worried about system corruption which is why I bought Apple in the first place)
Just to complicate “slightly” - I have an Outlook account through work, plus my kids have school Outlook accounts. My kids’ accounts have been automatically deleted from my work Outlook (I think due to new security). Can I keep my work Outlook on my iPAD or will this automatically migrate to my new iMAC and therefore I can only access my work Outlook? I want to keep my work Outlook on my iPAD, and for me / my kids to have access to their Outlook on my iMAC. Hope that makes sense. I’m not techy, please be kind!
My only complaint are the shortcut keys are different and it’s hard to get use to.
You could look at running a Virtual Machine on your MAC and run the Windows OS through the Vm. Then It’s like you're on your PC. A bit more technical, but maybe worth looking into.
here you go.
1) are there different versions of Office for Apple vs PC products?
Yes, difference is minimal.
MS Office for Mac: fully compatible with macos and includes word,excel, powerpoint, and outlook. The interface looks slightly different from the windows version, but the functionality is very similar
MS Office for Windows: Similar apps but better integration with windows features like file explorer and certain keyboards short cuts
File Compatibility: file created on either platform (eg: .docx, .pptx) can be opened and edited on the other with out any issues
2) which is the most up to date version I can get of Office? (Based UK).
The latest perpetual (one time purchase ) version is MS office 2021 home & business . it includes
.Word, excel, power point and outlook
.A one time payment covers the license for life but you wont get feature updates security updates
Microsoft 365 Family is subscription based option that gives onoging updates and additional features, but since you prefer one time payment, above option is choice for you. its up to you. i personally using 365 Family vesrion for entire family. can share upto 5 members, 1 TB space, Copilot, teams..etc
3. are immediate downloads online ok? be cautious here, as this where many people run into trouble
Safe sources:
Buy directly from microsoft website
Truested retailers like Amazon, john lewis or Currys on the UK
Avoid 3rd party or discount sites
Download process: if you buy from a trusted source, an immediate download is fine.
Though you have outlook, when you buy, you will get everything as per pack :-)
Based on above, you can decide either one time or family version. hope this will help for your purchase.
