Office 365 ProPlus Licensing-October 2015
Office 365 ProPlus Licensing – Details

Per-User Microsoft Office Licensing
Office 365 ProPlus is productivity software (including Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher, Access, and Skype for Business) that is installed on your desktop or laptop computer.
Office 365 ProPlus is a subscription service offering under the online services licensing model. It is licensed on a “per user” basis. Each Office 365 ProPlus User Subscription License (User SL) must be assigned to a single named user (Licensed User) before using the software. This differs from traditional Office installations (such as Office 2016) which are tied to Licensed Devices. The Office 365 ProPlus license allows Licensed Users to access Office experiences on PCs or Macs and on their mobile devices. The Licensed User may activate the software for local or remote use on up to five concurrent operating system environments (OSEs). Office 365 ProPlus licensing treats physical and virtual OSEs the same, so the five concurrent activations may be on five different devices or multiple OSEs on one device. These devices may include company managed device and employee personal devices. The Licensed User may also use the software activated by another user under a different User SL.
Each Licensed User may also access Office365 ProPlus remotely from any device, including third-party devices. This includes situations where you activate one of five copies of the software on a network server. See Remote Access below for additional details.
Remote Access for Office365 ProPlu
Virtualization with Dedicated Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
Office 365 ProPlus click-to-run deployment technology integrates with user-dedicated virtualization technologies.
Click-to-run supports the full client installation on physical PCs as well as dedicated virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) deployment on user-dedicated Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 or newer virtual machines without Remote Desktop Service (RDS) role enabled*.
*Additional licenses are required to enable virtualization deployments on a network server. Please consult a Volume Licensing Partner to determine your license needs.
Virtualization with Remote Desktop Service (RDS)
Shared computer activation is another activation mode for Office365 ProPlus and integrates with RDS virtualization technologies. Examples of virtualization scenarios using RDS role enabled include Remote Desktop Session Host and Pooled VDI (using RDS). When Office 365 ProPlus is deployed on a network server with RDS role enabled, each Licensed User may sign in with their own subscription account to temporarily activate Office via shared computeractivation*. Shared computer activation also enables use of Office 365 ProPlus on shared devices such as those on a factory floor or medical personnel in a hospital. Deploying Office 365 ProPlus using shared computer activation does not count against a user’s five desktop installations of Office 365 ProPlus.
*Additional licenses are required to enable virtualization deployments on a network server. Please consult a Volume Licensing Partner to determine your license needs.
Licensing Office Web Apps Server 2013
Microsoft Office Web Apps Server 2013 offer, everyone view-only access to Office Web Apps documents.
For editing of Office Web Apps documents, you need an Office license acquired through Volume Licensing. Office 365 ProPlus provides licensing rights to use Microsoft Office Web Apps when Microsoft Office Web Apps Server 2013 is deployed on-premises. The Office 365 ProPlus Licensed User can edit documents using Office Web Apps Server 2013 from any device, including those not licensed for Office. External Users* do not need an Office license to view or edit Office Web Apps documents. All Office 365 plans that include Microsoft SharePoint Online include Office Web Apps as a hosted service. See description of Office 365 plans at 365-for-business-plans-FX102918419.aspx.
*External Users are those users that are not either your or your affiliates’ employees or your or your affiliates’ on-site contractors or on-site agents.
Licensing Microsoft Office Home & Student 2013 RT for Commercial Use
Microsoft Office provides the best Office experience across devices. The Windows RT operating system and Surface software and touch computing platform tablets come preinstalled with Office Home & Student 2013 RT software on the device for noncommercial use.
If you are a Licensed User of Office 365 ProPlus, then you can also use Office Home & Student 2013 RT for commercial use.
Alternatively, you may use a Windows RT or Surface tablet to access Office 365 ProPlus software running remotely in a network server. See Remote Access for additional details.
Licensing Office 365 ProPlus for use with Windows To Go
You can use Office installed on a USB drive with Windows To Go when you license the work device for the following:
→ Windows 10 with Software Assurance for the Windows desktop operating system or Windows Virtual Desktop Access subscription license; and
→ Office 365 ProPlus*
*Shared computer activation may be required.
As a result, a Licensed User can use a USB drive to run Office on any licensed work device whether on company premises or outside of the workplace.
Acquiring Office 365 ProPlus in Volume Licensing
Customers in all Volume Licensing programs may acquire Microsoft Office as a software product under desktop application licenses. Office 365 ProPlus is only available through the Microsoft Enterprise Agreement, Microsoft Enterprise Subscription Agreement, MPSA, Open programs, and Microsoft Enrollment for Education Solutions (under the Campus and School Agreement).
Customers with other Volume Licensing programs may license Office 365 ProPlus through the Microsoft Online Services Agreement. You can choose your plans and place orders at us/business/compare-office-365-for-business-plans-FX102918419.aspx.
Office 365 ProPlus is available as a stand-alone User SL and is also included as a component of certain Office 365 plans. Users who are licensed for any of the following are licensed for Office 365 ProPlus:
→ Office 365 ProPlus User SL*, or
→ Office 365 Enterprise E3-E4 User SL
Office 365 ProPlus may also be acquired under Government and Education offerings. You can compare the Office 365 plans at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/business/compare-office-365-for-business-plans-FX102918419.aspx.
Online Services Downgrade Rights
In Online Services customers have access to the latest technology with the newest features and releases. As with all Subscription Services, Microsoft generally offers only the latest version of the service at a time. Therefore, downgrade rights are not available with Office 365 ProPlus licenses.
Online Services Benefits
Microsoft Office Multi-Language Pack
Microsoft Office Multi-Language Pack provides the flexibility to customize Microsoft Office for multilingual needs.
Customers licensed for Office 365 ProPlus may deploy and use the latest version of the Office Multi-Language Pack during the term of the Office 365 ProPlus subscription
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between Office 365 ProPlus and Office Professional Plus 2016?
Both Office Professional Plus 2016 and Office 365 ProPlus deliver the same productivity software and application experiences. However, Office Professional Plus 2016 is a traditional Office installation that is tied to the computers it is installed on, and it is available through Volume Licensing only. A user-based service, Office 365 ProPlus is available as a per user subscription. See the comparison of the two licensing models for Office in the Appendix section of this document.
Which Office 365 subscriptions include shared computer activation?
Any SKU that contains Office 365 ProPlus will be eligible for shared computer activation. This includes the following SKUs:
• Office 365 ProPlus
• Office 365 Enterprise E3
• Office 365 Enterprise E4
And all equivalent Government and Education SKUs are also included. Project Pro for Office 365 and Visio Pro for Office 365 also include shared computer activation.
What about customers who have previously applied the Media Eligibility right with Remote Desktop Services (RDS) for Office 365 Pro Plus, Visio Pro for Office 365, and Project Pro for Office 365?
If a customer has previously installed a copy of the corresponding 2013 on-premises software on a network server in order to use the software on a network server with RDS role enabled, they may continue to do so until no later than March 31, 2016, at which point they must instead use the corresponding Office 365 software.
How many machines can be activated via shared computer activation?
Office 365 ProPlus allows a user to activate up to FIVE desktop PCs/Macs in non-shared environment. When a user signs into Office 365 Pro Plus via shared computer activation it will not count against a user’s FIVE total desktop installations and thus will not show up on the user account management page.
Which devices can be used to access Office deployment on a network server?
Different from Office Professional Plus 2016 per device licensing terms, with an Office 365 ProPlus per user license you may access your Office deployment on a network server from any device, anywhere. You may also access Office 365 ProPlus from your mobile devices, such as tablets.*
Can I deploy Office 365 ProPlus media to my personal device to work from home?
Yes. Office 365 ProPlus may be installed on up to five devices at a time per user license independent of device ownership, corporate-owned or personal devices.*
Can I bring my personal device to work and use it with Office 365 ProPlus?
Yes. Office 365 ProPlus may be installed on up to five devices at a time and be used anywhere, at work or at home.*
Can I install and use Office 365 ProPlus with my Mac device?
Yes. Office 365 ProPlus is available for devices running on Mac Operating Systems.
Can I use Office 365 ProPlus with a partner-hosted solution?
No. Office 365 ProPlus is not sold under our service provider hoster channel (or SPLA partners). Customers may continue to purchase Subscriber Access License (SAL) for Office hosted desktop solutions provided by Microsoft Partners.
Can I deploy Office 365 ProPlus on shared public cloud environments?
No. Office 365 ProPlus may only be deployed on network servers in your organization’s premises or outsourced servers fully dedicated to your organization. You are responsible for the use of the software regardless of the physical location of the hardware, on or off your organization premises.
Can I deploy Office 365 ProPlus on Azure?
Yes. Office 365 ProPlus may be deployed on Azure with shared computer activation enabled.*
*These licensing terms only apply to Office 365 ProPlus per user licensing and do not apply or change the terms under Office Professional Plus per device licenses or Windows Client licenses.
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