Why are we changing licenses from ‘A1 Plus’ to ‘A1’?
Microsoft made a change in licensing options for education and will no longer offer Microsoft no longer offers the A1 Plus type license type. Organizations like RRU, who use that license type, Organizations like RRU are required to issue different licenses to licenses to remain legally compliant with license agreements. We
We will replace your A1 Plus license type with the new A1 license type effective <date>. *** December 9, 2024.
No action is required by you.
Q&A
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| title | Why is an MS license required? |
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MS requires that all users of MS applications have an appropriate access license. These licenses also allow Microsoft to provide updates, security enhancements, and support for the tools we use daily. RRU issues MS licenses to all students, staff, faculty, guests, etc. to ensure that each person has appropriate authorized access to MS software and services. |
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| title | What will change when I am assigned an A1 license? |
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MS has phased out license type A1 Plus, which is the license currently assigned to you. A1 Plus has been replaced with A1 licenses. The main difference between the two types is that A1 Plus licenses allowed us download and install MS Office products. The new license - A1 – does not. |
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| title | *** Am I affected by this license change? |
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You may be affected, depending on whether you used the license issued by RRU and even depending on how you used it. There IS a change for you if: | There is no change for you if: | You previously downloaded and installed Office on your computer at home using the A1 Plus license issued by RRU. | You use your own personal or company MS license on your non-RRU computer. You use Office 365 through RRU’s license exclusively online. |
If you previously installed Office on your computer using the RRU license, the installed version of Office will no longer function either on <date> December 9 or after a 30 day grace period, so January 9. At that point, you’ll need to log into http://office.com/ using your RRU Login and password. Documents already saved on your desktop are accessible from http://office.com/ (popup blockers may prevent this so you may need to adjust the blockers). New documents will be created from http://office.com/ .
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| title | How can I tell if I'm using an RRU Office 365 license or my own? |
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The fastest way is to open an Office app like Word, Excel, or PowerPooint and look in the upper right of the screen. You’ll see the name of whoever is logged in. Click on the little image (This could be a picture as shown below, or it may be your initials, etc.).  Image AddedIf you “@royalroads.ca” in the area highlighted in yellow, you’re using an RRU license. If you see gmail.com, outlook.com, hotmail.com, etc. showing there, you’re not currently logged in using an RRU license. |
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| title | What will change when I am assigned an A1 license? What is different between the two license types? |
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The new A1 license is primarily designed for lightweight, cloud-based use, which is optimal for educational environments that rely on internet connectivity and browser-based applications. A1 Plus | A1 | allowed downloading & installing of Office apps provides access to web versions of core Office apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote
potentially provided more storage space on OneDrive supports collaboration and communication through Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint, and Exchange for email provides access to other tools such as Sway, Forms, and Stream. provides access to some applications like Access and Publisher
| does not allow downloading and installing; must use apps online provides access to web versions of core Office apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote
supports collaboration and communication through Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint, and Exchange for email
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| title | Am I required to use Multifactor Authentication (MFA) to access office.com? |
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Yes, you will be required to use MFA to access this online resource. If you have not set up MFA, please refer to these instructions to do that. |
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| title | How should I log into office.com? |
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Go to https://office.com/ Click the purple ‘Sign in’ button
 Image AddedEnter your RRU Login (for me, cdavid@royalroads.ca) and then hit ‘Next’
 Image AddedEnter your usual RRU password (the one you use to log into Moodle, email, etc.) then hit ‘Sign in’
 Image AddedYou may be required to use Multifactor authentication to access office.com.
If you have not set up MFA, please refer to these instructions to do that.
*** if you are outside Canada, contact the Helpdesk (see ‘How to get help’ below) for assistance ***
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| title | Will my downloaded Office apps stop working immediately on that date? |
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Our understanding is that there will be a grace period of 30 days during which the installed apps will function normally. After that, you can continue to open documents and print them, but you can no longer edit them. For that, you’ll need to log into office.com |
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Please direct questions to <where do we want questions directed?> let us know if you have any questions about this change or connect with the Helpdesk if you have difficulties accessing Office 365. We appreciate your cooperation as we make this adjustment to better align with organizational requirements and licensing standards. |
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