Free Office 365 software packages now available to all McMaster students

So far, almost 5000 students have saved more than $742,000 by downloading Microsoft Office 365 through a new university-funded initiative that allows McMaster students to access the popular software package for free – and students can still take advantage of this program.

Thanks to a new licensing agreement between McMaster and Microsoft, students can now quickly and easily download the full suite of Microsoft Office products – a $150 value – for their computer, laptop or smartphone, free of charge.

“This is a great opportunity for students to download the software they may need to be successful, and to access it at no cost to them,” says McMaster’s Assistant Vice-President and Chief Technology Officer, Gayleen Gray. “This initiative is just one of the ways McMaster is supporting student learning on campus – I invite all students to take advantage of this unique program.”

Office 365 is Microsoft’s software package that includes Microsoft Office apps, such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint, along with storage space on Microsoft’s cloud storage service, OneDrive. Office 365 also provides a workspace for groups of users to communicate with each other, store group files, share documents with other users and collaborate in real time.

This initiative is a first step in implementing the recommendations of last year’s IT Services Review, which identified centralized software licensing as an enhancement opportunity at McMaster.

Download Office 365 today at http://www.mcmaster.ca/uts/office365