More details on Microsoft 365 for Consumers emerge

Microsoft currently offers a Microsoft 365 bundle for companies which consist Windows 10 Enterprise, Office 365 and Enterprise Mobility and Security. Microsoft has also long been rumoured to be working on Microsoft 365 for Consumers, and today ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley revealed some more details on the package.

A December 2018 job listing for a Product Manager, M365 Consumer Subscription noted:

The Subscription Product Marketing team is a new team being created to build and scale the Microsoft 365 Consumer Subscription. This is an exciting opportunity to define the target audience for Modern Life, understand the needs of our customers, and develop consumer value propositions that drive business growth.

Now according to Foley Microsoft 365 for consumers (also called Microsoft 365 for Life) will largely be a rebrand of the existing Office 365 Personal and Home products, without Windows 10, but with Teams for Life (a consumer version of Teams and possibly a password manager included.

ZDNet also reports the pricing will remain the same, meaning it will largely mean a change of name for existing Office 365 for Home subscribers.

Microsoft will apparently not bundle in any of their gaming subscriptions, which appears to be a strategic mistake, as it would have pulled in a wider demographic.

The product is not expected anytime soon, with Mary Jo expecting it to arrive in Summer 2020. It was originally expected Summer this year.

It is difficult to see what the value proposition of the Microsoft 365 for Consumers is beyond the already great value to Office 365 for Home, which includes 1 TB of OneDrive storage for up to 5 people and all the major Office apps. Microsoft has however talked up the integration of their various apps, and I hope they do not degrade the user experience by making Office 365 more consumer-focused and therefore less powerful.