Microsoft Office 365/2019 Q & A

#announcements #instructors

Q: Will there be another Microsoft Office Release and when?

A: YES! As of September 26th, 2017, Microsoft released the following information:https://blogs.office.com/en-us/2017/09/26/the-next-perpetual-release-of-office/. Per this blog post, this next release “is scheduled for the second half of 2018.”

Q: What is Office 365 vs Office 2019 vs “Perpetual Release”?

A:****Office 365refers to the subscription version of Office. Office 365 comes in a variety of versions for home and business. Regardless of the specific Office 365 version, all subscription-based versions receive updates at a minimum of two times a year. These Office 365 versions are kept up to date and will receive the “Office 2019” changes as just another update. As Microsoft has dropped the naming convention “2016” from the current Office 365 offerings, we suspect they will not use “2019” with Office 365.

Office 2019 refers to the non-subscription or “perpetual” version. This version is a one-time purchase. We believe the Office 2019 release will be a roll-up of all the updates Office 365 users have received through July 2018. This new “perpetual” release is a way for users who purchased that type of license to get an updated version of the Office applications at least one more time before Microsoft eventually forces everyone into the 365 subscription model.

NOTE: Office 365 includes both downloaded/installed full versions of the apps and online/limited versions of the apps. Office 365 does NOT refer to the online apps only. Some users may still be confused about this and think 365 = online apps (which is not correct).

Q: Do we know if file extensions will be the same or is this a major upgrade?

A: While we do not know the answer to that for sure, if MS were making a change that large, we would know well in advance. While possible, we do not expect MS to do something to change the file extensions. We are 95% certain this will be a roll-up of all the Office 365 updates to date that the “perpetual” licenses missed out on. (With maybea user interface freshening). To perpetual license users, it may seem like a major upgrade (new features, etc.), but to 365 users who are getting constant updates anyway, it appears to seem like a normal update.

Q: Will current SIMnet users need to do anything when they switch to Office 2019?

**A:**Current SIMnet users will KEEPthe same account URL for usage and implementation.

When Office 2019 content is released, they WILL need to enable the 2019 content via:

SIMnet Course Manager>ADMINISTRATIVE SETTINGS>PRODUCTS> shift SIMnet 2019 to RIGHT.

Additionally, they will also want to enable Office 2019 textbook series options via:

SIMnet Course Manager>ADMINISTRATIVE SETTINGS>TEXTBOOKS>shift appropriate textbooks to RIGHT.

Q: How can I keep up-to-date with McGraw-Hill Education’s SIMnet 365/Office 2019 Development?

**A:**For more information on specific SIMnet 365/Office 2019 development, please continue to visit the SIMnet Blog. We will post updates as we have new information to share.