When comparing Microsoft Office vs Office 365, the Slant community recommends Microsoft Office for most people. In the question“What are the best office suites for Windows?” Microsoft Office is ranked 2nd while Office 365 is ranked 4th.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Incredible apps and completely free to use
Pro Easy to transition from MS Office
Office 365 is laid out the same way with a similar ribbon interface that will be instantly comfortable to long-time Microsoft Office users.
Pro Excellent integration and compatibility with MS Office desktop applications
Pro Allows for real-time collaboration
Multiple people can work on the same document at the same time.
Pro Speech to text dictation
Linux never got it together
Pro No installation required
Cons
Con Over priced and being slowly forced to 365
Con Loaded with bugs
Program hangs can occur with 365 and tons of high CPU thermal loading from this package to the point of requiring uninstall of this package. Word hasn't gotten any better since they refined it in the early 2000s - it's only gotten far more bloated and crash prone, not to mention the horrible GUI appearance and lack of functionality that their older, stand-alone packages once had.
Even XL (formerly, Lotus 1,2,3), was ruined and degraded to where, 101 functions ceased to function properly.
Outlook - what a debacle that turned out to be. About the only useful application in the suite turned out to be PowerPoint in daily use.
Con Next step down the path of constant surveillance
At least with standalone and a good packet filter you can limit what telemetry is being sent back to Microsoft.
Con Proprietary
Uses proprietary software.
Con Dependant on having an Internet connection
Con Cloud dependent
Does not edit local files, they have to be synced first.
Con Unusable for business in the EU
Cloud applications are mostly incompatible with the EU general data protection regulation.
Con Has only a fraction of Microsoft Office functionality
Office 365 is not a complete replacement for Microsoft Office. The most advanced functionality still can only be found on the desktop.
Con Expensive
$35/user/mo.