Microsoft Office 2021 will launch alongside Windows 11, and without a subscription
Microsoft has announced in a blog post that Windows 11 and Office 2021 will arrive simultaneously, with the company already the former's launch date for October 5. Apparently, Office 2021 is practically identical to Office LTSC 2021, a software suite that the company already distributes to business customers.
The company states that Office 2021 will be available in the following versions:
- Microsoft Office Home and Student 2021
- Microsoft Office Home and Business 2021
- Microsoft Visio Standard 2021
- Microsoft Visio Professional 2021
- Microsoft Project Standard 2021
- Microsoft Project Professional 2021
Office 2021 will not be a Windows 11 exclusive, and will be available for macOS and Windows 11. Additionally, Microsoft will continue to offer 32-bit versions, should you need a 32-bit version of Office 2021. Microsoft's MSRP remains as it was for the 2019 edition too, so you need not purchase a Microsoft 365 subscription for the next version of Office.
Unfortunately, Microsoft has not provided much information about what features to expect with Office 2021 compared to its predecessor. However, it has confirmed that Office 2021 will ship with a new standard font, XLOOKUP, Dynamic arrays and Instant Search, among other changes. You can keep track of Microsoft's changes on its 'What's new in Office 2021' website.
Source(s)
Microsoft via Tom's Guide
