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Microsoft To Release Office 365 'Personal' Edition in Spring

A so-called "Personal" edition of Office 365 is set to roll out this spring, Microsoft announced on Thursday.

The Personal edition will cost an estimated $69.99 per year, though Microsoft's resellers will set the actual prices when it is released. The edition will provide rights to use a single copy of the latest Office suite, either on a PC or on a Mac, plus another copy on "a tablet to be connected to the service," according to Microsoft.

Subscribers will also receive 60 minutes of Skype calls per month and an additional 20 GB of OneDrive storage, in addition to the 7 GB of free storage already provided.

Microsoft plans to continue its Office 365 Home Premium subscriptions, but that product will be renamed "Office 365 Home." Office 365 Home Premium currently offers the rights to use Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access, Publisher and OneNote applications on a total of five devices, along with 20 GB of additional OneDrive storage, for $99.99 per year. It seems Microsoft is planning also to add 60 minutes of Skype calling per month to that plan.

Either plan allows the use of either Office 2013 for the PC or Office 2011 for Mac. It's rumored that the next Office for Mac release will occur at the end of this year.

Microsoft indicated it would provide more details about the new Personal edition closer to product launch.

About the Author

Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.

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