Office 365 is set to be top of the agenda in Microsoft’s upcoming event, which has been confirmed for 3pm GMT on 30 March.
As is the case with nearly all major tech companies, this will be held virtually due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
The event is subtitled ‘how to be more productive across work, life, and family’, with announcements expected to focus on Microsoft’s software tools.
Chief among these is be Office 365, the company’s subscription service which includes the likes of Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Rumours point to a ‘Life’ option being added, which would focus primarily on consumers and replace the existing Home and Personal tier. While this will largely be a rebranding, we could see the addition of a password manager at no extra cost to subscribers.
The ‘for Life’ branding could also make its way to Microsoft Teams, the company’s business-focused collaboration tool. The ability to send your location, share family calendars and send documents would make the program more accessible for everyday consumers.
As a software event. we’re not expecting to see any announcements regarding new Surface products. An official Microsoft blog post at the end of February indicated that the Surface line has been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak, and the crisis has only deepened in the weeks since.
Considering the Surface Book 3 and Surface Go 2 were expected this Spring, the most likely place for an announcement will be Microsoft’s Build developer conference in May, also confirmed to be taking place virtually. Despite that also typically being a software event, the company hasn’t shied away from announcing new hardware there in the past.
Millions of people have been forced to work from home as the coronavirus continues to spreads across the globe. Many will rely on Microsoft software in order to remain productive away from the workplace, so it is hoped that the company’s announcements on 30 March will help make this process as seamless as possible.
Author: Anyron Copeman, Senior Staff Writer
As the resident expert on Windows, Senior Staff Writer Anyron’s main focus is PCs and laptops. Much of the rest of his time is split between smartphones, tablets and audio, with a particular focus on Android devices.