Friday, February 19, 2021

Microsoft Announces Office 2021

Microsoft has announced Office 2021. Basically, it's a standalone version of the Office suite, intended for customers who don't want or can't use Office 365, the cloud-enabled subscription version of Office.

Like the version that came before it, Office 2019, Office 2021 is Microsoft’s standalone option for folks who don’t want to buy a subscription for the company’s cloud-enabled Microsoft 365. Office 2021 is set to roll out sometime later this year for both Mac and Windows, Microsoft 365's corporate VP Jared Spataro said in a company blog post on Thursday. Meanwhile, Office LTSC will be available as a commercial preview beginning in April on both Mac and Windows, with a full release slated for later this year.

Microsoft will provide support for both products for five years, a slight downgrade from the seven-year warranty it’s offered with previous Office products. Each will come with OneNote and ship with both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. The one-time purchase pricing will remain the same for both personal and small business users, though there will be a 10% price increase for Office Professional Plus, Office Standard, and individual Office app purchases.

Office 2021 will be released sometime later this year. At this point, there are few details on new features.

As for me, I'm still using Office 2013. I wouldn't mind using a more current version, but I have no compelling reason to upgrade. If I was using Word more, I would consider it just to get dark mode in documents. Security updates will be released for Office 2013 until 2023, so there is no absolute need to upgrade until then.

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