Microsoft Office 2021 Releasing on October 5, 2021 for Windows and Mac

UPDATE: Microsoft has officially announced the General Availability (GA) of Office 2021. The next version of Office suite will be released on October 5, 2021.

Microsoft has announced details about the upcoming version of popular Microsoft Office suite. It’ll be called Office 2021 or Office LTSC (Long-Term Servicing Channel) and will be released to public in second half of 2021.

When Microsoft released Office 2019, it was considered as the last perpetual-license version of Office suite but now it seems Microsoft will keep continue releasing perpetual-license versions of Office suite in future. Perpetual-license versions are those which are purchased forever. In other words, once you purchase them, you own them forever. On the other hand, subscription-based versions such as Microsoft 365 can be used for a limited time period only. Once the subscription expires, you need to renew it or purchase it again.

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Many people don’t want to purchase Microsoft 365, a subscription-based model. That’s why Microsoft decided to release next perpetual-license version of Office suite i.e. Office 2021.

Office 2021 for personal and small business use will be released later this year in second half of 2021. It’ll be supported for five years with the traditional “one-time purchase” model. According to Microsoft, there will be no change in the price for new Office products.

Microsoft_Office_Excel_Dark_Theme_Mode.png

PS: If you want to have similar dark mode UI in Office apps and other programs as shown in above screenshot, following article will help you:

[Windows 10 Tip] Enjoy Dark Theme in All Websites and Software Programs

What is Included and Not Included in Office 2021?

  • Dark mode support across multiple apps
  • Performance improvements across Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint
  • Accessibility improvements
  • Capabilities like Dynamic Arrays and XLOOKUP in Excel
  • Skype for Business client app will NOT be included. It’ll be available as a download in the Microsoft Download Center.
  • Microsoft Teams app will come included
  • OneNote app will come included

We’ll need to wait for few months to know more details about new features included in Office 2021 as Microsoft will announce them closer to general availability.

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Office 2021 will be released for Windows and Mac operating systems. Both 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64) versions will be available for download. Since previous version of Office i.e. Office 2019 was released exclusively for Windows 10 only, Office 2021 might also follow the same.

If you are eagerly waiting to test drive the upcoming Office version, here is a good news for you. Microsoft will start releasing Preview versions of Office 2021 in April 2021.

Microsoft will also provide additional information about the next version of on-premises Visio, Project, Exchange Server, Skype for Business Server, Project Server, and SharePoint Server in the coming months.

Also Check:

[FAQ] Microsoft Office 2019 Features List and System Requirements

Published in: Microsoft Office

About the author: Vishal Gupta (also known as VG) has been awarded with Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award. He holds Masters degree in Computer Applications (MCA). He has written several tech articles for popular newspapers and magazines and has also appeared in tech shows on various TV channels.

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