Microsoft has officially announced two new versions of the Office 2021 suite for those unwilling to adopt the Microsoft 365 subscription. It will be available later this year for regular consumers and commercial customers (LTSC) on Windows and macOS.
Another perpetual version of Office is a clear sign that many consumers and businesses are not ready to move to Microsoft’s cloud. The company says it experiences massive migration to Microsoft 365 services, but some companies and specific industries cannot adopt software models with regular monthly changes.
Office 2021 is not the last perpetual release. Microsoft promises to release another version in the future and changes how it prices and supports its software. From now, Office LTSC will get five years of mainstream support instead of the typical seven. Also, Microsoft increased the price for Office Professional Plus, Office Standard, and individual apps by 10 percent for commercial users. Prices for consumer users and small businesses remain unchanged.
Office 2021 LTSC Preview will be available in April, but there is no consumer preview in the pipeline. Its global launch is scheduled for some time in 2021, and Microsoft plans to align Office 2021 LTSC with the new version of Windows 10 LTSC.
Microsoft does not say which features will be available in Office 2021. You can expect to see the changes that currently available in Microsoft 365 for both consumers and businesses, like enhanced dark mode, improved accessibility features, etc.
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