Microsoft today announced two new versions of Office: an Office 2021 version for consumers and Office LTSC for commercial customers. Office 2021 will be available for Windows and MacOS later this year, and similar to the previous version of Office 2019, it is designed for those who do not want to subscribe to the cloud-powered Microsoft 365 variants.
Microsoft does not yet give a full explanation of all the features and changes in Office 2021, but the variant of Office LTSC (long-term operating channel) includes things like support in the dark mode, improved accessibility and features like Dynamic Arrays and XLOOKUP in Excel. Office 2021 includes similar features.
Also, do not expect any major changes in the UI here. Dark mode is the obvious change visually, but Microsoft will still focus most of its interface and cloud-powered features on the Microsoft 365 versions of Office first.
Office LTSC is a clear recognition from Microsoft that, however, not all of its business customers are ready to go to the cloud. “It’s just about trying to meet customers where they are,” explained Jared Spataro, head of Microsoft 365, in an interview with The edge. ‘There are definitely a lot of customers who have moved to the cloud in the last ten months. It really happened a lot. At the same time, we definitely have customers who have specific scenarios where they do not feel they can move to the cloud. ”
These specific scenarios include regulated industries where processes and programs cannot change monthly, or manufacturing plants that rely on Office and want a time-out. Microsoft is also committing a perpetual version of Office for the future, but that changes prices and how these new versions will be supported.
Office LTSC has now only been supported for five years instead of the seven that Microsoft normally provided for Office. Prices for Office Professional Plus, Office Standard and individual applications are also rising by 10 percent for commercial customers, while Office 2021 pricing for consumers and small businesses remains the same.
The Office LTSC support schedule is more closely aligned with how Windows is supported, and Microsoft is also adjusting the release schedules for both Office and Windows more closely. Both the next versions of Office LTSC and Windows 10 LTSC will be released in the second half of 2021. “They will be set up carefully, although we do not yet have the details for the Windows version,” says Spataro. “The idea is to bring them closer together so businesses can use and manage it on a similar kind of cadence.”
Microsoft now plans to release a preview of Office LTSC in April, with a full version later this year. However, the consumer Office 2021 variant will not be available in the preview. Both new Office variants are also offered with OneNote and include 32-bit and 64-bit versions.