This should drive you a bit less nuts this year.
Microsoft has announced a new one-time purchase version of Microsoft Office that will debut later this year for both Windows and Macintosh.
The company said it plans to release both a Long-Term Servicing Channel variant of Microsoft Office and a version designed for consumers and small businesses. Similar to the Office 2019 release, both versions are designed for those who don’t want to pay monthly for the cloud-based Microsoft 365 service.
Microsoft has stated that the LTSC version will feature new updates such as Dark Mode, accessibility improvements as well as Dynamic Arrays, and XLOOKUP support in Excel. While it’s likely to add these features into the consumer version of Office 2021, the company is holding off on adding any details until closer to the release date. Microsoft has also stated that it doesn’t plan to change the one-time purchase cost.
The company has also said that the support window for Office 2021 LSTC has been changed to five years, as opposed to the seven years that is typically provided. The cost will also increase by 10 percent.
The Office 2021 LTSC will become available as a preview version in April, but the consumer version won’t. Microsoft is eyeing a release in the second half for LTSC, though it isn’t clear if it’s planning the same for Office 2021.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
Via AppleInsider and Microsoft