Microsoft’s next standalone version of the Office productivity suite will be available on October 5, the same day the Windows 11 roll-out commences.
Office 2021 for PC and Mac is the first update in a couple of years and is somewhat of a reluctant release from the company, given it would much prefer to push users to the Microsoft 365 subscription plans.
Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) is constantly updated with new features, bug fixes and security updates for the likes of Word, Excel and PowerPoint, but requires users to pay a monthly or annual subscription fee.
The standalone option more or less arrives with the features it ships with, which the company hasn’t detailed in full just yet. Users will get all of the latest security updates and quality updates.
Office 2021 may mirror many of the new features promised by the Office LTSC version, which is released today. One of those features is dark mode (via The Verge), which 365 subscribers have had for a while now.
The Microsoft Office Long Term Servicing Channel version for Windows and macOS is an Enterprise version designed for businesses who haven’t yet gotten on board with the move to the cloud, or can’t receive regular updates for security reasons.
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Microsoft has previously said Office 2021 will have OneNote and Teams built in, support 32-bit and 64-bit and will be supported for five years.
“We… plan to release Office 2021 for personal and small business use later this year,” the company said in February. “Office 2021 will also be supported for five years with the traditional “one-time purchase” model. We do not plan to change the price for these products at the time of the release. We will announce more details about new features included in Office 2021 closer to general availability.”
Windows 11 is now less than a month away, while Microsoft has plenty in store on September 22, when it is hosting a Surface event to preview new homegrown hardware.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
