Microsoft 365Microsoft 365, which boasts all the features of the Microsoft Office suite, is available to staff to install 15 personal devices (this means up to 5 computers, up to 5 tablets and up to 5 phones). This online platform allows you to use the Microsoft Office productivity suite anywhere and anytime on a desktop, laptop or mobile device. You can sync work across devices for a seamless working experience.

Install Microsoft 365 on your desktop computer

  1. Navigate to https://portal.office.com.

  2. Enter your staffnumber@wf.uct.ac.za then click Next.

  3. On the UCT sign-in page, enter your UCT password, then click Sign In.
  4. When the Microsoft 365 portal opens, click Install now to install the latest version of Office.

    NOTE: If you are using an Apple Mac, on the Office page, under Install Office 2016 for Mac, select Install to begin downloading the installer package. Once the download has completed, open Finder, go to Downloads, and double-click to install the application.

Activate an installation

To activate an installation of Micrsoft 365, please follow these instructions.

Deactivate Microsoft 365 on your device

You may need to deactivate one of your Microsoft 365 licences, for instance, if you want to install Microsoft 365 on a new device and have run out of activations.

  1. Navigate to https://portal.office.com.
  2. Enter your staffnumber@wf.uct.ac.za then click Next.
  3. On the UCT sign-in page, enter your UCT password, then click Sign In.
  4. Click on Install office and select Other install options.
  5. Click My account > Install status
  6. On the list of the devices you have installed the software on click Deactivate next to the device you want to deactivate.

NOTE: OneNote is no longer included in the Office 2019 and Microsoft 365 suites. You will therefore need to download and install it directly from the Microsoft website. ICTS does not provide support for OneNote. You may install this application on your various devices, but you do so at your own risk.

Microsoft AI offerings

Microsoft CoPilot

Formerly known as Bing Chat AI, Microsoft CoPilot is a basic AI product available to everyone with a Microsoft ID.

This free offering is similar to ChatGPT in that it’s a large language model (LLM) that includes functionality such as GPT4 and Dall-E image generation. It also allows up to 30 messages per chat session and 300 messages per day.

UCT’s Campus agreement gives Microsoft A3 licence holders (Education Qualified Users) access to Microsoft CoPilot for Enterprise at no additional cost. This version functions identically to Microsoft CoPilot, but includes some data protections such as not saving or storing any data or information provided by the user, and not using any interactions for the purpose of training the CoPilot LLM.


Microsoft CoPilot Pro

While the UCT Microsoft Campus agreement doesn’t currently offer any additional paid plans, personal Microsoft ID accounts can subscribe to Microsoft CoPilot Pro at $20.00 USD per month. This product gives access to 

  • faster response times, especially during peak times
  • more messages per conversation per day
  • additional image tools and generating capabilities

Microsoft CoPilot Pro also has some basic Microsoft Office AI capabilities. This does, however, require a subscription to a personal or family Microsoft 365 product as well as CoPilot Pro.

IMPORTANT: Microsoft CoPilot Pro cannot be used or subscribed to using a UCT account. It is only available to personal accounts.

 

Microsoft 365 CoPilot

Microsoft 365 CoPilot is vastly different to CoPilot Pro. While it provides the same LLM and Dall-E product capabilities, it also includes strong integration with the Microsoft 365 product suite, which Microsoft calls the Microsoft 365 Graph.

Microsoft 365 CoPilot’s AI accesses your Office files, email and other Microsoft Graph data and learns about your work to provide a more personal experience. It can

  • create documents
  • analyse reports and documents
  • assist with spreadsheet creation and formulas
  • produce PowerPoint presentations from other document types

It’s a fully integrated and complete AI product for Microsoft Office.

Associated costs

This is available at an additional cost of ± $360 USD per user per year of enterprise and business customers. This offering is now available to Microsoft Education customers, however, it is not yet available at UCT.

Microsoft 365 for students