Office 365 users can now create code-free websites without ever having to leave the confines of the program thanks to a partnership with Wix.com.
Office 365 subscribers will be able to select Wix.com to create and then launch an online presence from within the platform and it's even open to subscribers that already host a domain using Office 365 (which makes us wonder whether this has anything to do with Microsoft's decision to kill Sharepoint's Public Website feature).
Wix offers small businesses and individuals an extensive tool to create websites with hundreds of templates to choose from, a drag-and-drop website editor, mobile and e-commerce integration, and the chance to input business management apps from the Wix App Market.
Office 365 is a subscription-based alternative to the desktop-based version of Office, which is same way that Windows in the future after it announced plans to offer "Windows-as-a-service" through continuous updates to the platform.
Goodbye Design Manager?
Wix's website creator is code-free platform and has upwards of 59 million users already, and its ease-of-use will see it become a big winner amongst small businesses that want to create an online presence from inside Office 365.
Office 365 already includes a Design Manager to allow businesses and organisations to create custom made web pages for public sites and it's unclear whether Wix's inclusion will mean that we say goodbye to Microsoft's own offering.
