Unveiling the Future: The New Microsoft Office 2024

Update: On October 1, 2024, Microsoft released Microsoft Office 2024 for consumers in two editions: Office 2024 Home ( known in previous versions as Home & Student) and Office 2024 Home & Business. Office LTSC 2024 was made available to existing volume-licensed customers on September 16, 2024, and was released for general sale also on October 1, 2024.

Excitement is building as tech enthusiasts eagerly anticipate the release of Microsoft Office 2024.

Earlier this year, the leading vendor in productivity software announced the launch of a new Office product in their Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC). The commercial preview of the LTSC 2024 release began in late spring, with general availability to follow later in the year.

Along with Office LTSC 2024, designed for specific use cases, Microsoft plans to release an on-premises Office 2024 version for end consumers in the latter half of this year.

Office LTSC 2024 and Office 2024 will be device-based “perpetual” licences, sold as the traditional “one-time purchase” model and supported for five years under the Fixed Lifecycle Policy.

As soon as the products are available for general sale, you’ll find them in the LicenceDeals store!

Why release a new on-premises Microsoft Office 2024?

We all know that software vendors constantly push customers toward the subscription model, and many of them have reduced or discontinued offering perpetual licensing products. Microsoft is no exception to this policy and has emphasised cloud-based Microsoft 365 subscriptions for years.

However, there are cases where the cloud-based, always-online model cannot work, and Microsoft is well aware of this. So, the long-term servicing channel comes into use in such situations as manufacturing devices not connected to the internet, medical testing machines with apps that must stay locked, regulated devices, computer labs, submarines, etc.

As an on-premises product, the new Office 2024 version will not offer the extra services and the cloud-based capabilities of Microsoft 365 plans, including real-time collaboration, AI-driven automation, or cloud-backed security.

But what will be new? Let’s delve into what customers can expect from this upcoming Office 2024 release.

What's new in MS Office 2024 for customers?

Microsoft Office 2024 promises to bring a range of new features and enhancements to streamline productivity and creativity for users. From improved performance and accessibility to enhanced security, the latest version aims to cater to the evolving needs of modern workplaces.

The new features for Office LTSC 2024 known so far are: 

• Outlook: New meeting creation options and search improvements

• Automatically add an online meeting link to all invitations; Choose the default online meeting provider directly in the Outlook settings;
• Share direct links to specific sheets of an attached Excel workbook so that participants can quickly access relevant data;
• Search across multiple accounts with combined results from all configured mailboxes; Recursive searches in folders and subfolders; Improved search interface;
• Smarter email organisation;
• Integrated task management;

• Excel: Enhanced data analysis, new functions and usability improvements

• New formulas and charts: TEXTSPLIT (splits text into multiple columns/rows), TEXTBEFORE / TEXTAFTER ( retrieves the text before/after a specified delimiter), VSTACK / HSTACK (combines data ranges vertically or horizontally); REGEXTEST, REGEXEXTRACT, and REGEXREPLACE (test, extract, or replace text using regular expressions);
• A new button has been added to explore the details of values in a pivot table;
• Introduction to Dynamic Charts and Arrays;
• Improved performance, collaboration and accessibility;
• Sleeker interface with dark mode;
• New templates and AI-powered insights for trend spotting, faster decisions and formula suggestions;

• PowerPoint: Tools to be more innovative and to impress

• Dynamic content options;
• Improved animation features and tools to engage the audience;

• Advanced collaboration tools: 

• Integrated chat;
• Improved version history;

• Enhanced built-in security features: 

• Advanced data protection;
• Privacy controls to ensure information remains safe and compliant with industry standards;

• Customisable interface: 

• Customisable themes, toolbars, and preferences to work.

While Office 2024 offers many significant improvements over the previous Office releases, as an on-premises product, it will not provide the cloud-based advanced features reserved for Microsoft 365 subscribers.

So, what will be unavailable for on-premises Office 2024 users? Without an MS 365 subscription, there are:

• No real-time collaboration features;
• No AI-driven automation in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint;
• No mobile access for editing Office documents on the go;
• No advanced features such as dictation in Word, an editor in PowerPoint, data types in Excel, suggestions in Outlook, online storage, and deployment via Intune;
• No access to the Copilot AI assistant;
• No cloud-backed security and compliance capabilities.
• No constant updates and improvements.

And while the perpetually licensed versions of Office can interact with additional Microsoft services like OneDrive, Office LTSC 2024 is officially a “disconnected product.” It operates only offline to suit specialised environments like labs or factories.

One of the key highlights of Office 2024 is its focus on accessibility, performance, and security improvements, making it easier for teams to collaborate and complete their work projects from anywhere without an internet connection requirement. Users can look forward to some AI-powered tools to help automate tasks and simplify complex workflows.

Applications included in Microsoft Office 2024

The overall goal of Office 2024 is to increase efficiency, productivity, and teamwork for both individual users and companies.

The suite of applications included in Microsoft Office 2024 is expected to remain robust, featuring the well-known Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access and OneNote. Users can also anticipate updates to these core applications, including new templates, design features, and performance optimisations.

The novelty is that Microsoft Publisher will be discontinued and not included in the 2024 version, and the Teams app is now available only as a standalone purchase product.

Expected MS Office 2024 Editions

Microsoft typically offers different editions of their Office suite to cater to varying user needs.

Office LTSC 2024, intended for commercial customers and public authorities to use in exceptional circumstances, will be available in the following editions: Office LTSC Professional Plus, Office LTSC Standard and Office LTSC Embedded. Microsoft has also indicated that the prices of these packs and the individual apps will be increased by up to 10% when they become generally available.

Although there is no official information yet, Office 2024 for consumers will likely come in the well-known editions from previous versions, such as Home & Student (now called Home), Home & Business, Professional, and Professional Plus, tailored to different segments based on their requirements and usage patterns.

Office 2024 System Requirements

To ensure a smooth user experience, Microsoft Office 2024 won’t defer too much from previous versions regarding system requirements. While specific details are yet to be officially announced, users can expect that there may be some new prerequisites for hardware configurations and compatible operating systems to leverage all its features effectively.

The next version of Office will be available for both Windows and Mac machines. Office 2024 will be supported on Windows 10 and 11 devices (with Arm-based devices requiring Windows 11 only) and offered in 32- and 64-bit versions. Other Windows system requirements include 4 GB of RAM and 4 GB of available disk space.

The Mac version requires 4GB of RAM, at least 10 GB of available disk space, and an Intel or Apple Silicon (M1, M2, etc.) processor. It will be supported on the three most recent versions of macOS.

What to expect from the Office 2024 vendor

Microsoft has redefined how we work and create. The diversity of Microsoft Office applications and tools caters to different workflows and tasks, making it a universal solution for various user ranges. That’s why, MS Office is the ultimate productivity software for students, professionals, businesses and public organisations.

Despite its focus on the subscription model, Microsoft cannot turn its back on the specific use cases where on-premises products are needed. As a result, the new Office 2024 is on the horizon. Moreover, the company has committed to releasing at least one more standalone Office version in the coming years.

Stay tuned to Licencedeals.com for more updates on this highly anticipated release! We promise more information in the next few months.