Microsoft has announced the arrival of new versions of Office 2021 in the coming months. Microsoft Office 2021 for consumers and Office LTSC for businesses. These office suites are designed to incorporate the latest news for those who do not want to subscribe to Office 365 and the Microsoft cloud, they already warned about it in September of last year. It will be available later this year, according to the company.
At the moment Microsoft has not given many details about what Office 2021 will incorporate. However, it will be a version similar to Office 2019 in operation. In other words, it will be based on offering the news developed in recent and upcoming months in exchange for a single, fixed license, without having to pay a subscription.
The Office for those who reject the cloud
Since these versions are created in parallel to offer users an alternative to the Office 365 cloud, there is not much news compared to what was already known and available in Office 365. That is, there is no reason to wait for changes important in the interface that are not already known.
Among the news that users can expect from Office 2021 we find the dark mode for Word, Excel, PowerPoint apps and the rest of the office suite. Microsoft has introduced this mode in its Office 365 version previously and thus adds to the trend of operating systems and important apps that have already incorporated it in the last two years.
Despite the great tendency to work remotely and with collaborative tools, Office in many occasions continues to be local for some jobs. That is where Office LTSC (Long-Term Servicing Channel) comes into play, which is aimed at companies looking for a stable and supported version in exchange for a single license and not with monthly or annual payments. This is especially useful in some sectors and companies where it is not possible to be constantly training staff with news and changes in the work tool. The main change in Office LTSC is that it goes from having 7 years of support to only 5 years of support.
Office 2021 and Office LTSC will be launched in the second half of this 2021. Microsoft has not yet specified exact dates or prices for the two Office licenses. What is clear is that it will arrive for both Windows and macOS, in 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Microsoft will also release a preview version of Office LTSC in April, there will be no Office 2021.
