Microsoft has announced today the release of Office LTSC 2021, the new perpetual version of Office for commercial and government customers. Office 2021, the new consumer perpetual version of Office will also launch next month on October 5, which is also the release date for Windows 11.
Office LTSC 2021 and Office 2021 are both targeting customers who don’t want to get Office via a Microsoft 365 subscription. The LTSC version is also tailored for organizations with PCs that can’t receive feature updates or connect to the Internet.
“Office LTSC will provide a locked-in-time version of familiar productivity tools. While it offers performance improvements and expanded accessibility, it will not offer the cloud-based capabilities of Microsoft 365 Apps like real-time collaboration and AI-driven automation in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, as well as security and compliance capabilities that give added confidence in a hybrid world,” explained Jared Spataro,” Corporate Vice President for Microsoft 365.
New features in Office LTSC 2021 and Office 2021 for consumers include Dynamic Arrays for Excel, an improved Recording feature in PowerPoint, and Translator and ink support in Outlook. The apps also received a visual refresh with a modernized Start experience and redesigned tabs in the ribbon.
Spataro confirmed today that Office LTSC 2021 and Office 2021 won’t be the last perpetual releases, but that the company will keep working to make its Microsoft 365 more attractive for customers. “Microsoft 365 offers the most productive and secure Office experience available, and we’re regularly adding new features, including innovations in collaboration, AI, security, and more,” the exec emphasized.
You can learn more about how to deploy Office LTSC 2021 in your organization on this page. For consumers, Microsoft plans to share more details about Office 2021 very soon.
