Microsoft will launch two new versions of Office later this year, the company announced on Thursday. Office 2021 will be available on Mac and Windows PCs in the second half of the year and, like Office 2019 before it, will be an immediate purchase. There is no need for a Microsoft 365 subscription.
The company did not say what new features consumers could expect, but noted that it plans to support Office 2021 and Office LTSC, the corporate version of the launch, for five years and has promised to share more details about features near the launch. According The Verge’s Tom Warren, the LTSC variant will include improvements such as dark mode support and accessibility improvements. Most of these features must also reach the consumer version of the software.
What we do know for sure is that Office 2021 and Office LTSC will ship with OneNote included and will support 32-bit and 64-bit systems out of the box. In addition, Microsoft does not plan to increase the price of consumer software. While Microsoft obviously prefers people to take advantage of their 365 subscription, it recognizes that the service doesn’t make sense to everyone. And although the cloud is where the company invests many of its resources, it is still committed to serving these customers.