Mac Users Can Benefit from Microsoft 365

• Microsoft 365 suites increasingly deliver value for Mac users, possibly justifying the suite for Mac-only users.
• Licensing and increasing technical barriers reduce the value of Microsoft 365’s Windows rights for Macs in some organizations.

Microsoft’s focus on platform-independent capabilities in recent years means that Mac users can benefit from most Microsoft 365 E3 and Microsoft 365 E5 features even if they do not use a traditional PC running Windows. Properly licensing the Windows 10 component in such a situation is possible but requires some consideration to ensure proper compliance with Microsoft’s licensing terms.

Microsoft 365 Suite Fundamentals

Microsoft offers four Microsoft 365 suites for commercial customers: E3, E5, F3, and F1. All four are typically licensed on a Per-User basis.

Microsoft 365 E3 is the suite typically licensed by organizations because it includes the Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise (formerly Office 365 ProPlus) desktop application suite, but does not include the E5-level security and compliance services many organizations do not yet license and deploy.