When you buy a computer it comes with the operating system and a very basic selection of applications, but if you want fully functional apps for business then you’ll need to add them. Microsoft Office is popular for businesses, but it is the most expensive.There are also free alternatives. Microsoft Office suite has several apps:
- Word is a word processor for writing letters and documents
- Excel is a spreadsheet for handling data and maths calculations
- PowerPoint is a presentation tool for delivering slideshows at meetings
- Outlook is an email and calendar app
- Publisher is a desktop publishing package
- Access is a database framework
Microsoft Office comes in several version sand buying methods depending on your needs:The traditional way of buying is with a one-off payment and you then own it for the life of the software, also known as a “Perpetual Licence”. This is quite expensive, but you can use the software on a single computerfor as long as it’s supported, normally about 10 years. Office Professional is £419.99 and includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Publisher and Access. Office Home & Business is £249.99 and includes Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Office Home & Student is £119.99 and has Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
Microsoft 365 is a subscription service; you pay annually or monthly and rent the software. 365 Personal has all the apps for 1 device and is £59.99 yearly. 365 Family is forup to 6 devices at £79.99 yearly. You also get 1TB of OneDrive cloud storage. 365 Business has the same,but also includes email hosting at approx. £135.
The one-off perpetual licence is often much cheaper than 10 years of 365 subscriptions,but 365 can make sense for some businesses or where you have multiple domestic machines.
Office 2007 is now dangerous to use due to virus risks. Office 2010 support has ended but it’s still okay to use if you have decent antivirus.Office 2013 and newer generations are still well supported. Office 365 and 2021 works on Windows 10 or 11 PCs andthe latest three Mac OS versions.
If you don’t want to pay for office apps then there are several free alternatives, OpenOffice and Libra Office are both free to download. They are a bit clunky and the file types can be difficult to transfer to Microsoft users, but they do work okay. Microsoft also has a free web version of Office if you sign up for a Microsoft Account online.