Lesson 1: Welcome: An Independent Map of Microsoft 365

Welcome to the course

Microsoft 365 is a set of apps and online services for writing, calculating, presenting, email, meetings and file storage, with Copilot, Microsoft's AI assistant, built into many of them. This course takes you from no prior knowledge to choosing a plan, setting it up, using it safely and using Copilot with care.

This first level covers three things you need before anything else:

1. Who wrote this course, and who has the final word on the facts.
2. How to read the dates and labels attached to plan and feature claims.
3. How to set up a notes page that you will fill in as the course goes on.

This course is independent of Microsoft

Read this before anything else:

• This course is independent. Microsoft did not write, sponsor or approve it.
• It does not reproduce Microsoft's documentation. The explanations, steps and examples are written fresh for this course. Where you need the official wording, the course sends you to Microsoft's own pages instead of copying them.
• Microsoft's current pages are the authority. If this course and Microsoft's current page about a plan, price or feature disagree, go with Microsoft's page. The course gives you an explanation. Microsoft's page gives you the current facts.

Think of it like a travel guidebook and the train operator's timetable. The guidebook explains how the network works and which route suits you. The timetable is where you confirm today's departure times.

Why everything is dated

Microsoft changes its plans, prices, AI features and screens often, sometimes every month. Two examples:

• Names change. In January 2025 Microsoft renamed its hub app, previously called Office and then the Microsoft 365 app, to the Microsoft 365 Copilot app. Word, Excel and PowerPoint kept their names. A guide written in 2024 would point you to an app you can no longer find under that name.
• Prices and plans differ by country and change over time. For example, on Microsoft's US comparison page, checked 1 November 2026, Microsoft 365 Personal was listed at $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year. The same page says features and app availability may vary by region. Your country's price may be different, and the US price may have changed since.

So the course follows one rule: every plan, price, AI feature and screen description is checked against Microsoft's current pages and given a date.

How to read check dates and labels

Whenever a lesson makes a claim that could go out of date, look for these markers:

• Check date, for example (checked 1 Nov 2026). This is the day the claim was confirmed on Microsoft's current pages. The older the date, the more likely something has changed.
• Preview: the feature is still being tested and may change, move or be withdrawn. It may only appear for people in an early-access programme.
• Unconfirmed: the course could not confirm the claim on a current Microsoft page. Treat it as a lead to check, not as a fact.
• Plan-dependent: the feature depends on which plan you have (consumer, small business or one your employer provides). Plans are covered in Level 4.

Microsoft publishes its own public list of upcoming features, the Microsoft 365 Roadmap (microsoft.com/microsoft-365/roadmap). It sorts features into three statuses (checked 1 Nov 2026):

1. In development: being built and tested.
2. Rolling out: reaching some customers but not all of them yet.
3. Launched: generally available to the customers it applies to.

If a lesson describes a feature you cannot see, check three things in this order:

1. The check date: is the claim old?
2. The label: is the feature in preview or plan-dependent?
3. Microsoft's current page for that feature.

If you use a work account, your IT team may also have switched the feature off. Level 4 explains this.

Task: create your personal notes page

In later levels you will compare plans, install apps and change settings. A notes page means you never have to work out from scratch what you have. Use any tool you already know, such as a paper notebook, a notes app on your phone or a document on your computer. Choosing between Microsoft's apps comes in Level 2.

Do this now:

1. Create a page titled "My Microsoft 365 notes" and add today's date.
2. Add a heading Plan. Write the plan name if you know it (for example, from a receipt or a work welcome email). If you don't know it, write "unknown, find in Level 4".
3. Add a heading Accounts. List each Microsoft account you use: personal, work or school, or none yet. Do not write down any passwords.
4. Add a heading Apps I use. List the Microsoft apps you already open, such as Outlook, Word or Teams, even occasionally.
5. Add a heading Devices. List each device and its system, for example "Laptop: Windows 11", "Phone: iPhone" or "Tablet: Android".
6. Add a heading Copilot. Write whether you have seen Copilot anywhere, and where.
7. Add a heading To check. Use it for anything you are unsure of. Each time you check something, write the date next to it, just as this course does.

Keep the page somewhere you can open on every device you listed. You will add to it in nearly every level.

Key takeaways

• This course is independent of Microsoft and reproduces none of its documentation.
• Microsoft's current pages are the authority on plans, prices and features. If they disagree with the course, they win.
• Every plan, price, AI feature and screen claim has a check date. Older dates deserve a fresh check.
• Preview means still being tested and may change. Unconfirmed means not confirmed on a current Microsoft page. Plan-dependent means it depends on your plan.
• The Microsoft 365 Roadmap uses three statuses: In development, Rolling out and Launched.
• Your notes page records your plan, accounts, apps, devices and Copilot use, with dates, for later levels.