Microsoft has revealed a number of important details about the new version of Office coming later this year. Among these is a particularly pleasing announcement for those who don’t want to sign up for a recurring subscription.
The commercial preview of Office LTSC 2024, Microsoft said in a blog post, will be released in April ahead of a general release later in 2024. Office LTSC, or Long-Term Servicing Channel, represents the version of Office intended for commercial and government use in specialist and niche uses where devices may not be able to access the internet, or where software updates are not desired: in manufacturing or medical testing labs, for example. It is not sold in stores and is only available for volume purchases.
However, the blog post also addresses the more conventional consumer version of Office 2024, which will also arrive later this year. Importantly for Apple users, Microsoft confirmed that this will feature a Mac version that will arrive alongside the Windows version, and will be available as a “device-based ‘perpetual’ license, supported for five years.” This means that you’ll be able to buy Office for Mac 2024 and the related individual apps for a one-time flat fee and get updates until 2029.
Microsoft has been somewhat inconsistent with its Office release schedule, with recent versions coming in 2021, 2019, 2016, and 2011. The release of Microsoft 2024 as a standalone purchase is significant as it’s been unclear whether Microsoft would release another non-subscription version.
While the LTSC versions of Office will see price hikes “up to 10% at the time of general availability,” the consumer versions are expected to stay the same, currently $150/£119 (Home and Student) and $250/£249 (Home and Business) for Microsoft Office 2021. (Note however that Microsoft does not guarantee the same pricing. It merely says “We do not plan to change the price for these products at the time of the release.”)
As ever, Microsoft makes it abundantly clear that it would greatly prefer for customers to go for a subscription model. Throughout the blog post, there are references to the superior feature set, security, AI capabilities and so on offered by Microsoft 365/Office 365. The company even touts its suitability for some situations where the LTSC version might seem the obvious choice, such as on submarines. (For a more objective view, we weigh up the pros and cons of buying Office on a subscription or an outright basis in our Microsoft 365 vs Office 2021 buying guide.)
This is understandable because software companies love recurring revenue. But we suspect that many users will prefer one-off purchases for many years to come, and for these potential customers, this will be good news indeed.
