Page 236 - MS Office 365 for Dummies 3rd Ed (2019)

As with the rest of Office 365, Microsoft continually is updating requirements. The current version of Microsoft Office is 2019 and others will surely follow. To see whether your existing software will work with Office 365, jump over to your favorite search engine and type “Office 365 requirements.” Look for a link to a page on either www.office.com or www.microsoft.com and check whether your existing software will work.
A key feature of Office 365 provides the ability for your business’s Active Directory instance to sync with your Office 365 account. To achieve this integration, however, your Active Directory domain must be a single forest. What does this mean? It means you can use your existing username and password from work with Office 365. (After it’s set up, of course.)
Device requirements
In the old days, you had to use Microsoft Windows if you wanted to use most Micro- soft software. The old days are history. Today, Microsoft has Office 365 apps for Mac desktops and laptops, iPads, Android tablets, Android phones, iPhones, plus Windows devices. Microsoft is constantly adding and upgrading Office 365 apps, so be sure to stay up to date on available Office 365 apps for your particular device.
Internet access requirements
Because the Office 365 software lives in a Microsoft data center and is accessed over the Internet, having high-speed Internet access available on a regular basis is important. For some of the components of Office 365, such as the Outlook Web App (OWA), high-speed Internet access isn’t required, but as a general rule, you want to make sure that you have a pleasant experience and that equals a high- speed Internet connection when dealing with the cloud.
In addition, because Office 365 is a subscription-based product, you will con- stantly get a stream of updates. This is great because your software is always up to date and you don’t have to worry about requirements. However, if you have a slow Internet connection, updates might be more of a problem than a benefit.
Because Office 365 can be accessed from any computer anywhere in the world with an Internet connection, you have no control over the network connectivity. Most people understand that the speed of their Internet connection directly relates to the speed of a software update or download and will not blame the Office 365 service — that doesn’t mean the experience is less painful on a slow Internet connection.
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