Microsoft (formerly Office) 365 for Education looks like a great deal. It comes with Microsoft's productivity suite with additional communication and collaboration applications. It's also advertised as free. In this post we'll be asking:
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- Is it really free?
- What do you get?
- How does it compare with G Suite?
First things first. Is it really free?
Bottom line up front: Microsoft 365 Education is totally free.
There are three Microsoft 365 Education plans. The basic plan, A1, is entirely free for an unlimited number of individual users. The other plans do charge per user if you want to upgrade your educational organization to those plans to get the extra features. This is entirely optional, the fee education plan has a ton of great stuff.
What do you need to get access to Microsoft 365 Education?
All you need to get started with Microsoft 365 Education is a valid school email address. You can enter it right on the Office Education homepage.
What's included in the plan?
Microsoft 365 brings all of Microsoft's core productivity and collaboration tools to the cloud. Email, group chat, and group collaboration within projects across multiple applications are all supported.
With the exception of Publisher, these apps are device-agnostic and can be accessed from anywhere, with storage on the Cloud in OneDrive.
The basic, free version of Microsoft 365 Education brings together the core apps in their online-only forms, meaning there's no desktop app. Users do get the desktop version of OneNote.
There's no limit to the number of users, and the plan includes Class and Staff notebooks, Professional Learning Community (PLC) groups, compliance solutions with a unified eDiscovery center, rights management, data loss prevention, and encryption.
Microsoft calls this their ‘A1' plan: entirely free for faculty and students, it includes:
Outlook
Outlook is Microsoft's business and organizational email, the equivalent of Gmail. Outlook Web Access (OWA) is free to anyone, and like Gmail is to G Suite, it's your ID for the rest of the Office ecosystem. For A1 plan users in Microsoft 365 Education, there's a 50GB inbox limit. There's unlimited email storage with In-Place archiving and legal hold.
If you already have a standard Outlook account you can connect it to OWA by enabling Outlook Anywhere in File>Account Settings>Exchange>More Settings>Connection.
Word
Microsoft's flagship word processing and desktop publishing application. The Microsoft 365 version offers instant simultaneous collaboration. A1 plan users get the web version.
Excel
Collaborate, create spreadsheets, get visualizations and use AI to get additional insights. On the A1 plan, you get the web version only.
Powerpoint
Create, edit, and collaborate on presentations and slideshows with animations, cinematic motion, 3D models, and a library of graphics and templates. Web version only.
OneNote
A note-taking app that allows hand drawing and annotation using a stylus, collaboration, and organization. The A1 plan gives you access to the desktop app.
Teams
Teams is a collaboration hub for Microsoft 365 users, with meetings and group chat, admin functions, and third-party apps.
OneDrive
Microsoft's cloud storage tool, OneDrive lets users set time limits on links, scan documents, whiteboard with their phones, and save the results as documents. There's also data loss management and encryption. Microsoft 365 Education users get unlimited OneDrive storage.
Stream
Microsoft's take on YouTube, Stream lets users make, share, and interact with videos across the Microsoft 365 ecosystem.
Flow
Flow lets users automate tasks quickly and easily across applications without writing any code.
Skype
We've all met Skype. It's the most familiar video calling and conferencing tool out there. Office A1 users get Skype for Business which gives you additional features including call recording and up to 250 attendees on conference calls.
Sway
Sway lets you create visual, interactive stories, offering ready-made design packages and web and device integrations to make design and production easier and faster.
Forms
Forms lets you collect data, post self-marking quizzes, and quickly ask groups questions to gather responses. It integrates tightly with Excel to deliver data and insights.
Yammer
Yammer is Microsoft's internal social network for organizations. It's aimed at filling the same niche as something like Slack or doing the same job as a Facebook page but with better functionality and security.
Other Microsoft 365 Plans
So far we've talked about the A1 plan, Microsoft's basic, free Microsoft 365 Education plan. There are two other plans come with more features but they aren't free.
The A3 Plan
A3 comes with the desktop versions of all the core Microsoft productivity apps, available for up to five Macs and/or PCs per user and up to five mobile devices per user.
You also get the full desktop version of Outlook. Inboxes are capped at 100GB, and there's unlimited personal OneDrive storage, video meetings with up to 10,000 people on Skype Meeting Broadcast and Microsoft 365 Cloud App Security to deliver risk assessment and insight into threat potential.
The additional tools include:
Access
Microsoft's Access lets Microsoft 365 users create their own business applications.
Publisher
Publisher lets you build image-plus-text materials including ads, newsletters, and brochures. But it's only available on PC.
Bookings
Users visit the Bookings page for a faculty member and book the service and time they need. That information is forwarded to the faculty member's inbox and calendar.
A5 Plan
The A5 plan comes with enhanced versions of the tools and functionality on the A3 plan, plus a new tool, Microsoft BI. Users can control how support accesses their inbox with Customer Lockbox, and there's enhanced visibility and control over your Microsoft 365 environment using personal and organizational analytics, post-breach cyberthreat investigation, and remediation.
Users can also create meetings with a dial-in number that attendees can join by telephone with Audio Conferencing.
Power BI
Power BI is a business analytics tool that delivers insights, data visualizations, and lets multiple users share and collaborate on reports.
Calling Plans
A5 plan users can also use Calling Plans that let you tie domestic and international telephony into your Microsoft Microsoft 365.
Should students use Microsoft 365 instead of G Suite?
This posts does a complete breakdown on G Suite for Education.
For students, Microsoft 365 has one clear advantage: individuals can sign up immediately.
Whether you're a student or a teacher, if you want G Suite, the whole school has to sign up, and there's a 14-day waiting period before you get access. Microsoft 365 doesn't have any such restriction, you can sign up right now as long as you have a valid email address from an educational institution.
Let's look at how the two offerings break down once you do sign up.
Productivity
Historically, G Suite made online versions of Microsoft's ubiquitous business, school, and personal productivity apps, then Microsoft moved its apps online and matched Google's collaboration features. Now, Microsoft 365 and G Suite are similar in many ways.
The major difference is what kind of user they're best for. Microsoft apps are best for power users. G Suite apps are best for beginners. It's worth noting that the more advanced functionality that once distinguished Excel, such as conditional formatting, is being rolled out gradually in Sheets. As that happens, though, Microsoft isn't sitting still: they're adding more functionality to their own tools.
Similarly, Microsoft Word has more advanced bibliography features and spelling and grammar checking — all things likely to be useful to students. But Docs is simpler and it's easier to find the main tools.
Microsoft 365 Online applications (the ones you get with the free version, A1) don't allow you to edit offline. You must be connected to the internet. G Suite's apps are online by default; offline editing can be enabled by an admin.
There's not much you can do with one that you can't do with the other. Office will probably give you a more polished product, Google will probably deliver faster and have a shorter learning curve. But both are supported by extensive how-tos and huge support libraries and third-party videos.
Communication
G Suite has Google Hangouts, which allows anyone with a link to join a video call. Hangouts has a chat window inside it where you can share text and links and send files — much like Skype.
By comparison, Microsoft offers both Skype and Teams, which has better file-sharing and instant messaging and also incorporates project management features. Skype is familiar to most users, while Teams can be a base of operations in a way that you'd need to use several Google apps to equal. You also get Yammer, for which there is no G Suite equivalent. It's possible that some users will find these communications apps overlap or are already using best-in-class competitors like Slack.
Office has the standard business email tool, Google has the standard webmail tool. Gmail is simpler, more intuitive, but has fewer native features. It's easier to search for emails in Gmail, but Outlook's integration with the rest of Microsoft 365 is tighter. Ultimately, neither ecosystem has a decisive edge here.
Storage
There's no competition: every Microsoft 365 Education user gets unlimited personal cloud storage. So does every G Suite for Education user.
Administration
Admins control the settings for all the G Suite accounts in their organization. Office's permissions are a little more nebulous. G Suite requires that admins sign up their whole organization; Microsoft 365 lets you sign up by yourself.
Security and privacy
Microsoft 365 has impeccably secure data centers, and everything inside the Microsoft 365 ecosystem is encrypted at rest and in transit through SSL/TLS. Office Advanced Threat protection offers defense against spam, malware and other kinds of attack. File-and-volume encryption is achieved through IPsec and TLS, with 2FA as an additional bulwark.
G Suite also has impeccably secure data centers. While it uses solid security throughout, it's less compliant than Office in some areas: Google Contacts and Groups aren't HIPPA compliant, for instance.
Microsoft 365 has a slight edge here and is likely to retain it since Microsoft doesn't have a business model based on advertising and hence on user data.
Pricing
G Suite has a free option, G Suite for Education, and an option that costs a few dollars a month. Microsoft has the same.
Here's how the pricing between G Suite and Microsoft 365 educational plans compare.
G Suite education plans:
- G Suite for Education = Free
- G Suite Enterprise for Education = $4 per user per month
And the Microsoft 365 education plans:
- A1 = Free
- A3 = $2.50 per month for students, $3.25 per month for faculty
- A5 = $6 per month for students, $8 per month for faculty
G Suite has a price advantage — one that adds up rapidly in larger educational institutions. On the other hand, Office delivers a more enterprise-friendly, cohesive package.
-->Windows 10 Pro Education is a new offering in Windows 10, version 1607. This edition builds on the commercial version of Windows 10 Pro and provides important management controls needed in schools by providing education-specific default settings.
If you have an education tenant and use devices with Windows 10 Pro, global administrators can opt-in to a free change to Windows 10 Pro Education depending on your scenario.
To take advantage of this offering, make sure you meet the requirements for changing. For academic customers who are eligible to change to Windows 10 Pro Education, but are unable to use the above methods, contact Microsoft Support for assistance.
Important
If you change a Windows 10 Pro device to Windows 10 Pro Education using Microsoft Store for Education, subscription activation won't work.
Requirements for changing
Before you change to Windows 10 Pro Education, make sure you meet these requirements:
Devices must be running Windows 10 Pro, version 1607 or higher.
Devices must be Azure Active Directory joined, or domain joined with Azure AD Connect. Customers who are federated with Azure AD are also eligible. For more information, see Review requirements on devices.
If you haven't domain joined your devices already, prepare for deployment of Windows 10 Pro Education licenses.
The Azure AD tenant must be recognized as an education approved tenant.
You must have a Microsoft Store for Education account.
The user making the changes must be a member of the Azure AD global administrator group.
Compare Windows 10 Pro and Pro Education editions
You can compare Windows 10 Editions to find out more about the features we support in other editions of Windows 10.
For more info about Windows 10 default settings and recommendations for education customers, see Windows 10 configuration recommendations for education customers.
Change from Windows 10 Pro to Windows 10 Pro Education
For schools that want to standardize all their Windows 10 Pro devices to Windows 10 Pro Education, a global admin for the school can opt-in to a free change through the Microsoft Store for Education.
In this scenario:
- The IT admin of the tenant chooses to turn on the change for all Azure AD joined devices.
- Any device that joins the Azure AD will change automatically to Windows 10 Pro Education.
- The IT admin has the option to automatically roll back to Windows 10 Pro, if desired. See Roll back Windows 10 Pro Education to Windows 10 Pro.
See change using Microsoft Store for Education for details on how to do this.
Change using Intune for Education
In Intune for Education, select Groups Command screenshot windows. and then choose the group that you want to apply the MAK license key to.
For example, to apply the change for all teachers, select All Teachers and then select Settings.
In the settings page, find Edition upgrade and then:
Select the edition in the Edition to upgrade to field
Enter the MAK license key in the Product key field
Figure 1 - Enter the details for the Windows edition change
The change will automatically be applied to the group you selected.
Change using Windows Configuration Designer
You can use Windows Configuration Designer to create a provisioning package that you can use to change the Windows edition for your device(s). Install Windows Configuration Designer from the Microsoft Store to create a provisioning package.
In Windows Configuration Designer, select Provision desktop devices to open the simple editor and create a provisioning package for Windows desktop editions.
In the Set up device page, enter the MAK license key in the Enter product key field to change to Windows 10 Pro Education.
Figure 2 - Enter the license key
Complete the rest of the process for creating a provisioning package and then apply the package to the devices you want to change to Windows 10 Pro Education.
For more information about using Windows Configuration Designer, see Set up student PCs to join domain.
Change using the Activation page
- On the Windows device that you want to change, open the Settings app.
- Select Update & security > Activation, and then click Change product key.
- In the Enter a product key window, enter the MAK key for Windows 10 Pro Education and click Next.
Education customers with Azure AD joined devices
Academic institutions can easily move from Windows 10 Pro to Windows 10 Pro Education without using activation keys or reboots. When one of your users enters their Azure AD credentials associated with a Windows 10 Pro Education license, the operating system changes to Windows 10 Pro Education and all the appropriate Windows 10 Pro Education features are unlocked. Previously, only schools or organizations purchasing devices as part of the Shape the Future K-12 program or with a Microsoft Volume Licensing Agreement could deploy Windows 10 Pro Education to their users. Now, if you have an Azure AD for your organization, you can take advantage of the Windows 10 Pro Education features.
When you change to Windows 10 Pro Education, you get the following benefits:
- Windows 10 Pro Education edition. Devices currently running Windows 10 Pro, version 1607 or higher, or Windows 10 S mode, version 1703, can get Windows 10 Pro Education Current Branch (CB). This benefit does not include Long Term Service Branch (LTSB).
- Support from one to hundreds of users. The Windows 10 Pro Education program does not have a limitation on the number of licenses an organization can have.
- Roll back options to Windows 10 Pro
When a user leaves the domain or you turn off the setting to automatically change to Windows 10 Pro Education, the device reverts seamlessly to Windows 10 Pro edition (after a grace period of up to 30 days).
For devices that originally had Windows 10 Pro edition installed, when a license expires or is transferred to another user, the Windows 10 Pro Education device seamlessly steps back down to Windows 10 Pro.
See Roll back Windows 10 Pro Education to Windows 10 Pro for more info.
Change using Microsoft Store for Education
Once you enable the setting to change to Windows 10 Pro Education, the change will begin only after a user signs in to their device. The setting applies to the entire organization or tenant, so you cannot select which users will receive the change. The change will only apply to Windows 10 Pro devices.
To turn on the automatic change to Windows 10 Pro Education
Sign in to Microsoft Store for Education with your work or school account.
If this is the first time you're signing into the Microsoft Store for Education, you'll be prompted to accept the Microsoft Store for Education Terms of Use.
Click Manage from the top menu and then select the Benefits tile.
In the Benefits tile, look for the Change to Windows 10 Pro Education for free link and then click it.
In the Change all your devices to Windows 10 Pro Education for free page, check box next to I understand enabling this setting will change all domain-joined devices running Windows 10 Pro in my organization.
Figure 3 - Check the box to confirm
Click Change all my devices.
A confirmation window pops up to let you know that an email has been sent to you to enable the change.
Close the confirmation window and check the email to proceed to the next step.
In the email, click the link to Change to Windows 10 Pro Education. Once you click the link, this will take you back to the Microsoft Store for Education portal.
Click Change now in the changing your device to Windows 10 Pro Education for free page in the Microsoft Store.
You will see a window that confirms you've successfully changed all the devices in your organization to Windows 10 Pro Education, and each Azure AD joined device running Windows 10 Pro will automatically change the next time someone in your organization signs in to the device.
Click Close in the Success window.
Enabling the automatic change also triggers an email message notifying all global administrators in your organization about the change. It also contains a link that enables any global administrators to cancel the change if they choose. For more info about rolling back or canceling the change, see Roll back Windows 10 Pro Education to Windows 10 Pro.
Explore the change experience
So what will users experience? How will they change their devices?
For existing Azure AD joined devices
Existing Azure AD domain joined devices will be changed to Windows 10 Pro Education the next time the user logs in. That's it! No additional steps are needed.
For new devices that are not Azure AD joined
Now that you've turned on the setting to automatically change to Windows 10 Pro Education, the users are ready to change their devices running Windows 10 Pro, version 1607 or higher, version 1703 to Windows 10 Pro Education edition.
Step 1: Join users' devices to Azure AD
Users can join a device to Azure AD the first time they start the device (during setup), or they can join a device that they already use running Windows 10 Pro, version 1607 or higher, version 1703.
To join a device to Azure AD the first time the device is started
There are different methods you can use to join a device to Azure AD:
- For multiple devices, we recommend using the Set up School PCs app to create a provisioning package to quickly provision and set up Windows 10 devices for education.
- For individual devices, you can use the Set up School PCs app or go through the Windows 10 device setup experience. If you choose this option, see the following steps.
To join a device to Azure AD using Windows device setup
If the Windows device is running Windows 10, version 1703, follow these steps.
During initial device setup, on the How would you like to set up? page, select Set up for an organization, and then click Next.
Figure 4 - Select how you'd like to set up the device
On the Sign in with Microsoft page, enter the username and password to use with Office 365 or other services from Microsoft, and then click Next.
Figure 5 - Enter the account details
Go through the rest of Windows device setup. Once you're done, the device will be Azure AD joined to your school's subscription.
To join a device to Azure AD when the device already has Windows 10 Pro, version 1703 installed and set up
If the Windows device is running Windows 10, version 1703, follow these steps.
Go to Settings > Accounts > Access work or school.
Figure 6 - Go to Access work or school in Settings
In Access work or school, click Connect.
In the Set up a work or school account window, click the Join this device to Azure Active Directory option at the bottom.
Figure 7 - Select the option to join the device to Azure Active Directory
On the Let's get you signed in window, enter the Azure AD credentials (username and password) and sign in. This will join the device to the school's Azure AD.
To verify that the device was successfully joined to Azure AD, go back to Settings > Accounts > Access work or school. You should now see a connection under the Connect to work or school section that indicates the device is connected to Azure AD.
Figure 8 - Verify the device connected to Azure AD
Step 2: Sign in using Azure AD account
Once the device is joined to your Azure AD subscription, the user will sign in by using his or her Azure AD account. The Windows 10 Pro Education license associated with the user will enable Windows 10 Pro Education edition capabilities on the device.
Step 3: Verify that Pro Education edition is enabled
You can verify the Windows 10 Pro Education in Settings > Update & Security > Activation.
Figure 9 - Windows 10 Pro Education in Settings
If there are any problems with the Windows 10 Pro Education license or the activation of the license, the Activation panel will display the appropriate error message or status. You can use this information to help you diagnose the licensing and activation process.
Troubleshoot the user experience
In some instances, users may experience problems with the Windows 10 Pro Education change. The most common problems that users may experience are as follows:
- The existing operating system (Windows 10 Pro, version 1607 or higher, or version 1703) is not activated.
- The Windows 10 Pro Education change has lapsed or has been removed.
Use the following figures to help you troubleshoot when users experience these common problems:
Figure 10 - Illustrates a device in a healthy state, where the existing operating system is activated, and the Windows 10 Pro Education change is active.
Figure 11 - Illustrates a device on which the existing operating system is not activated, but the Windows 10 Pro Education change is active.
Review requirements on devices
Devices must be running Windows 10 Pro, version 1607 or higher, or domain joined with Azure AD Connect. Customers who are federated with Azure AD are also eligible. You can use the following procedures to review whether a particular device meets requirements.
To determine if a device is Azure AD joined
Open a command prompt and type the following:
Review the output under Device State. If the AzureAdJoined status is YES, the device is Azure Active Directory joined.
To determine the version of Windows 10
At a command prompt, type:
A popup window will display the Windows 10 version number and detailed OS build information.
Note
If a device is running a previous version of Windows 10 Pro (for example, version 1511), it will not be changed to Windows 10 Pro Education when a user signs in, even if the user has been assigned a license.
Roll back Windows 10 Pro Education to Windows 10 Pro
If your organization has the Windows 10 Pro to Windows 10 Pro Education change enabled, and you decide to roll back to Windows 10 Pro or to cancel the change, you can do this by:
- Logging into Microsoft Store for Education page and turning off the automatic change.
- Selecting the link to turn off the automatic change from the notification email sent to all global administrators.
Once the automatic change to Windows 10 Pro Education is turned off, the change is effective immediately. Devices that were changed will revert to Windows 10 Pro only after the license has been refreshed (every 30 days) and the next time the user signs in. This means that a user whose device was changed may not immediately see Windows 10 Pro Education rolled back to Windows 10 Pro for up to 30 days. However, users who haven't signed in during the time that a change was enabled and then turned off will never see their device change from Windows 10 Pro.
Microsoft Student Free
Note
Devices that were changed from mode to Windows 10 Pro Education cannot roll back to Windows 10 Pro Education S mode.
To roll back Windows 10 Pro Education to Windows 10 Pro
Log in to Microsoft Store for Education with your school or work account, or follow the link from the notification email to turn off the automatic change.
Select Manage > Benefits and locate the section Windows 10 Pro Education and follow the link.
In the Revert to Windows 10 Pro page, click Revert to Windows 10 Pro.
Figure 12 - Revert to Windows 10 Pro
You will be asked if you're sure that you want to turn off automatic changes to Windows 10 Pro Education. Click Yes.
Click Close in the Success page.
All global admins get a confirmation email that a request was made to roll back your organization to Windows 10 Pro. If you, or another global admin, decide later that you want to turn on automatic changes again, you can do this by selecting change to Windows 10 Pro Education for free from the Manage > Benefits in the Microsoft Store for Education.
Preparing for deployment of Windows 10 Pro Education licenses
If you have on-premises Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) domains, users will use their domain-based credentials to sign in to the AD DS domain. Before you start deploying Windows 10 Pro Education to users, you need to synchronize the identities in the on-premises AD DS domain with Azure AD.
You need to synchronize these identities so that users will have a single identity that they can use to access their on-premises apps and cloud services that use Azure AD (such as Windows 10 Pro Education). This means that users can use their existing credentials to sign in to Azure AD and access the cloud services that you provide and manage for them.
(Azure AD Connect) is responsible for synchronization of identities between the on-premises AD DS domain and Azure AD. Azure AD Connect is a service that you can install on-premises or in a virtual machine in Azure.
Figure 13 - On-premises AD DS integrated with Azure AD
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For more information about integrating on-premises AD DS domains with Azure AD, see these resources:
Related topics
Deploy Windows 10 in a school
Deploy Windows 10 in a school district
Compare Windows 10 editions
Windows 10 subscription activation