Table of Contents
Questions People Ask About the World’s Best Office 365 Book
Q: Why should I buy Office 365 for IT Pros?
A: Obviously, we think that Office 365 for IT Pros is the best and most up-to-date book about Office 365 available today. and we’re thrilled that people from 94 different countries have bought the book.
Many well known commentators on Microsoft like Mary-Jo Foley (AllAboutMicrosoft.com) and Paul Thurrott (Thurrott.com), consider Office 365 for IT Pros to be unique and something that any IT Pro working with Office 365 should have. They’ve said it many times, including on episode 679 of the Windows Weekly podcast.
The price we ask for the book is more than justifiable for the content we deliver across the complete Office 365 platform. We could have a nice business selling books that we update annually. But because we want our material to be as accurate, complete, and timely as possible, we choose the annual subscription model for each edition. This model allows us to release updates monthly and gives us the satisfaction of knowing that if Microsoft releases something new in Office 365, we can cover it in the next update. We also correct mistakes, improve our writing, and generally tidy things up as we go along. The ePublishing platform allows us to do all of this pretty efficiently.
From a buyer’s perspective, you don’t get text frozen at a certain point in time like you do with other books. You get every update we release for the edition you buy. In fact, because we integrate our updates into the book, each time we issue updates, you get a completely new book. In addition, you also get the chance to subscribe at a big discount for the next edition. Just look at our change log to understand how much work and effort goes into keeping Office 365 for IT Pros updated and you’ll know what a bargain this book really is.
In a nutshell, there’s no other book like Office 365 for IT Pros available to cover the architecture, management, and deployment of Microsoft’s Cloud Office System. If you know of one, please tell us!
Q: What’s an Edition and How Does it Compare to an Update?
We release a new edition of the book annually, usually on July 1 to align with the Microsoft fiscal year. This approach allows us to reset the book, do a complete end-to-end check of its content to prune obsolete material and make room for new, and even refresh the author team! The current edition is the 11th edition and it’s aligned with the Microsoft 2025 fiscal year, which is why we call it the 2025 edition. Apart from anything else, many Microsoft engineering groups drive to complete features by the end of their fiscal year, so it’s a good time to start off a new edition.
Each version receives multiple updates during its year. Typically, we issue an update monthly. Each update has a number that is incremented as updates appear. For instance, we issued update 100 in September 2023. Information about the update number for a book is in the page footer and inside front cover.
Subscribers to the EPUB/PDF version can download updates from Gumroad.com after we release the updated files.
Q: How should I use Office 365 for IT Pros?
A: Office 365 for IT Pros is written to be useful to you in multiple ways. You can read it cover to cover, and learn a lot about Office 365 along the way. Or you can use it as a reference, dipping into different sections as you encounter deployment and support scenarios on the job.
Q: How can I buy Office 365 for IT Pros?
Head over to our book versions and prices page for the latest information about what we have available. We sincerely appreciate each and every subscription because it’s the support given by our subscribers is what keeps us going.
Please use one of the browsers supported by Gumroad to make your purpose. Old versions of Internet Explorer just won’t work!
Q: How do I get the PDF and EPUB versions?
A: We use Gumroad.com (based in San Francisco, CA) to distribute our PDF and EPUB versions. When you buy a book, please remember to create an account on the Gumroad site so that you can continue to access updates as we release new files. If you forgot to create an account, you can go back to Gumroad and create one. You will then be able to return to your Gumroad account to fetch the latest updates.
Your subscription gives access to four files – PDF and EPUB versions of both the main book and Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell book. The receipt you get from Gumroad includes a View Content link (see example below) to access and download the book files. If you click Copy Link Address in your browser, you’ll see that the link is in the form https://gumroad.com/d/201c497120603fde7a3972aac00d5c01 (this link is an example and doesn’t work). If you copy and keep this link safe, you can use it to access your book files at any time.
We send email to tell subscribers when updates are available, but you won’t get these messages if you unsubscribe for updates from Gumroad. Even if you do unsubscribe for messages sent by us, you can always go to your account to get the latest available files.
We’ve received some notes from people whose update notifications end up in their junk email folder. Please check there if you can’t find them in the inbox. It’s a good idea to make Gumroad.com and Office365itpros.com trusted senders so that email sent from these domains is treated as such and not directed into junk mail.
Q: I didn’t set up a Gumroad account. How do I get updates?
A: You can always download the latest files using the Download link in your receipt even if you didn’t create a Gumroad account. By the way, please include a real email address in your contact details. If you don’t, you won’t be able to receive notifications when updated book files are available and you won’t receive discounts when new editions are released.
Q: Why don’t I receive update email from Gumroad?
We send messages whenever we issue a new update for the book. The email comes from addresses like office365itpros@creators.gumroad.com or noreply@customers.gumroad.com. We’ve heard reports that these messages are suppressed because they’re regarded as spam. Please whitelist the gumroad.com domain to make sure that you receive our update messages.
Please use real email addresses when you subscribe. If you don’t, we won’t be able to tell you when updated files are available for download or when new editions are published (and you’ll miss out on discounts for existing subscribers). It’s also a good idea to use the same email address for each purchase as otherwise it can be confusing to match up existing subscribers to determine eligibility for discounts.
Q: Can I get an invoice when I buy Office 365 for IT Pros?
A: Yes. Follow Gumroad’s directions to create an invoice. The link you need to generate an invoice is in your receipt (see screen shot above).
Q: Are updates to Office 365 for IT Pros free?
A: Updates and corrections to the current edition are made available to subscribers of that edition free of charge. For example, the subscribers to the 2024 edition (published in July 2023) received updates for as long as that edition was current. When we released the 2025 Edition, existing subscribers were given a chance to renew their subscription to continue with the 2025 edition for the very reasonable sum of $16.95. We anticipate that the same will happen when we release future editions.
Please remember to provide Gumroad with a valid email address when you buy the book. If you don’t, we won’t be able to contact you with news about updated files. Also, when we issue a new edition, we won’t be able to send you details of the code needed to extend your subscription to cover that edition.
Q: I bought a copy of the EPUB/PDF version. How do I get updates when they are released?
Subscribers to the EPUB/PDF version can always log onto their Gumroad.com account to download the latest available files. This is the easiest way if you can remember the name of the Gumroad account you created.
You now see the four files (two for the main book – EPUB and PDF, two for the Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell book – EPUB and PDF). Click Download to download the file you want. You can also send the PDF for the PowerShell book to a Kindle device direct from your Gumroad account. To do this, you need to add support@gumroad.com top the list of approved personal document email addresses. You can’t send the PDF for the full book from Gumroad (it’s too large), but you can email it yourself (here’s Amazon’s help page on the subject).
Do I pay Sales Tax for the Book?
Gumroad.com takes care of charging the appropriate sales tax for books based on your location. For the European Union, we’ve marked the book as an e-publication, meaning that you pay sales tax (VAT) based on that type of goods instead of normal purchases.
Q: Is there an Amazon Kindle version of Office 365 for IT Pros?
A: Yes, the Office 365 for IT Pros book is available in the Amazon Kindle store. Please be aware that customers who buy Kindle books do not receive the same frequency of update notifications due to limitations with Amazon’s publishing processes. We ask Amazon to notify purchasers when we post updated files to the Kindle publishing process, but Amazon makes the call as to when and if they tell people that new files are available. This article offers some good tips as to how to fetch Kindle updates.
We can’t offer Kindle subscribers the same kind of upgrade offers from one edition to another as we can for PDF/EPUB subscribers. Amazon takes 70% of the book price and that removes a lot of flexibility. It is possible to read PDF files on Kindle and this is a way to preserve the ability to get updates faster and receive offers for new releases. Other how-to articles about transferring PDFs to Kindles are found here and here. It’s also much easier to search the PDF than it is to look for something in a Kindle eBook. These are the reasons why we only offer the PowerShell book for Kindle.
Some have also suggested that if you want to read on Kindle, you should use the Caliber eBook program to convert the EPUB file to MOBI format. There are also many online sites that will do the job, including these: Convert-Online and Zamzar. Or you can email the PDF to your Kindle as described above.
Q: How do I get updates for the Kindle version?
If you buy a Kindle version from Amazon, you can download free updates from Amazon.com. You do this from the Amazon site by going to Manage Content and Devices, select the book, and click on Update Available. Amazon can sometimes be slow at making updates available through this route (they want to avoid lots of extra downloads, so they force authors to go through hoops before they release an update). If an update doesn’t show up, you might have to ask Amazon support to delete the entry in your list and get a refreshed copy of the book.
Q: What are the big differences between the 10th and 11th (2025) editions of Office 365 for IT Pros?
Apart from being an opportunity to remove old material, restructure the book slightly, and introduce new content, the important thing about a new edition is that it gives us the platform to document changes over the coming year. For instance, during the lifetime of the 2025 edition (11th), we anticipate that we will cover the development of AI services like Microsoft 365 Copilot and how AI affects working with Office 365 apps. See our article for more information.
Q: Can I upload Office 365 for IT Pros to Google Play?
A: You can. We recommend that you upload the PDF version to Google Play as some people have had problems processing the EPUB version. Bizarrely, if you convert the EPUB to MOBI format and back again to EPUB using an online file converter like https://www.online-convert.com, Google Play is happy to load it.
Q: Why does Office 365 for IT Pros Include so many Hyperlinks
We deliberately use curated hyperlinks to bring readers to authoritative sources of information so that we don’t need to include that information in the book. There’s no point in us including information that’s available elsewhere when that information is maintained by an authoritative source.
Q: Is a print version of Office 365 for IT Pros available?
A: No, we have no plans to offer a print version of the book. Due to the frequent updates to eBook content we have found that it would be impossible to maintain updates for a print version as well. Furthermore, customers who purchase a print copy would not be able to receive the updates that eBook customers get.
Q: Can I print the PDF version of the book?
A: Absolutely, if you have enough paper to hand. The current book is around 1,200 pages long, so it takes a lot of paper and ink to print – but you can do it and some people do.
Q: What if I think something is missing from Office 365 for IT Pros?
A: We welcome all feedback from readers, whether it be a mistake that we made, a topic that you think should be covered in more detail, or some topic relating to Office 365 that we are missing in the book. In all instances, you can send email to bookcomments@office365itpros.com to share your comments and ideas. We’ll consider your input and decide if we can fit in the coverage alongside the nearly 1,400 pages of content in the main and PowerShell books. If we do go ahead and accept a request to cover a new topic, it’ll appear in a future update that we will make available to all current subscribers.
Q: Why should I buy a book like Office 365 for IT Pros – isn’t everything about Office 365 free to read on the Internet?
A: It’s true that a lot of information about Office 365 is available to read free of charge on the internet, including the fine material published on this site. We don’t intend to compete with what you can read from Microsoft or in blogs. What we offer is curated, up-to-date information that we think is important and valuable. We apply our own insight and experience to that information to highlight things that we believe Office 365 administrators and architects should understand, and we provide a lot of practical advice. And we keep on updating the material to make sure that it takes account of changes Microsoft makes to Office 365 (most, if any, blogs don’t do this, so they can be horribly outdated and just plain wrong). You have to put your own value on that work. We think that $49.95 is pretty reasonable. Think of it this way. If you employ a consultant to help with Office 365, they’ll probably charge you a considerable daily fee. Let’s use $1,000/day as an example – our book is 5% of that fee, and it’s updated all the time. We think you’ll get more value out of the 5% you spend with us (seven experienced MVPs) than the first 5% of a consultant’s day with you (24 minutes of an eight-hour day).
Another way of looking at the issue is to consider how long it would take anyone to figure out some of the scripts that we include in the book. If a single script saves you a couple of hours of work, the book has paid for itself. And we have lots of scripts in the book.
Q: I bought an older version of Office 365 for IT Pros. What can I do to upgrade?
When a new edition is published, it contains significant amounts of new content (such as brand new features in Office 365). To make the transition easy, we offer subscribers a discount to upgrade to the new edition during the first few months after the publication of the new edition. Once this time has passed, the upgrade offer lapses and we’re afraid that you must buy a brand new copy.