US Retail pricing. Actual cost will vary based on the country of purchase and licensing program used.

System Requirements

To get the best experience, we recommend that customers meet our system prerequisites. For example, the prerequisites for the Office 365 (Plan E3) Beta include browser support. The Office 365 Beta service will not work if customers are using Internet Explorer 6 or if they try to connect with Microsoft Office 2003. If you do not meet these system requirements, you can still use our current Microsoft Business Productivity Online Services, which has millions of business users today.

Operating Systems

• Windows 7
• Windows Vista with Service Pack 2
• Windows XP with Service Pack 3
• Windows XP Home Edition is supported but will not support federated identity
• Windows XP Media Center Edition is supported but will not support federated identity
• Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, 10.6 Snow Leopard
  

System Software

• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 (for Windows XP)
• Java client 1.4.2 (for Macintosh OS X)
• Office clients
• Microsoft Office 2010 or Office 2007 Service Pack 2
• Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac and Microsoft Entourage 2008 Web Services Edition
• Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac and Outlook 2011 for Mac
• Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 or later
• Microsoft Lync 2010
  

Client Applications

• Services Connector
• Browser software—Microsoft Online Portal
• Internet Explorer 7 or later
• Mozilla Firefox 3.x
• Apple Safari 3.x
  

Browser Requirements—Microsoft Outlook Web App

• Internet Explorer 7 or later
• Firefox 3 or later
• Safari 3 or later on Macintosh OS X 10.5
• Chrome 3 and later versions
• Outlook Web App also has a light version that supports a reduced set of features across almost any browser

How can Office 365 meet your business needs?

In evaluating the business benefits of Microsoft online solutions and Office 365 in particular there are four key areas to consider which will impact your business case: finance, processes, people and new technology.
 
Cost savings.
In these difficult economic times, many customers look at online services as a way to shift from the large, ‘lumpy’ capital expenditures associated with upgrading every few years to a more predictable monthly operating expense. Online services can actually do better than that – they can reduce both capex and opex budgets. In case studies of Microsoft Online Services customers, companies have claimed between 30-50% cost savings.

Focus resources on high value-add projects.
The simplified administration and offloaded operational maintenance of the cloud services enable you to make the most of your IT people resources, to focus on projects that are core to your business and drive competitive differentiation.

Gain greater efficiency in your processes.
More efficient processes can be enabled through the elimination of multiple infrastructure platforms, by moving to one cloud solution. Or being able to execute business processes more effectively by being able to reach all parts of the organization, enabling better collaboration between teams who are distributed throughout the world.

Drive greater value from IT investments with latest technology.
Provide your employees with access to the latest technology making them more productive, and quickly leveraging your IT investments. It not only makes your employees more productive, it maximizes the value you get for your investment. Online services can greatly accelerate this process. And the ability to purchase exactly what you need now and expand later if necessary enables you to ‘right size’ those investments.

Flexible pricing to match your business needs.
Office 365 for enterprises offers a variety of plans to meet the needs of businesses of all sizes and varying IT needs. Priced from $2 - $27 per user per month, each plan has the same Services Level Agreement with financially-backed 99.9% uptime, and includes the security and support you expect from Microsoft. Learn more Pricing and Plans – Office 365 Fact Sheet.