One-time purchase Microsoft Office 2021 coming to Mac on Oct. 5

AppleInsider · October 1, 2021 4:15PM

Microsoft has announced that the new version of Office -- which includes word, Excel, and PowerPoint -- will be released for Mac users on Oct. 5.

Credit: Microsoft

The Office 2021 suite, available as a one-time purchase, will bring many features previously only available on the Microsoft 365 subscription. That includes Microsoft Teams video calling, real-time document collaboration, and a new user interface. Other additions include new data types, functions, translation and editing features, support for more graphic formats, and overall performance and stability improvements.

"The past year and a half have proven it's more important than ever that our tools provide the flexibility to connect and create together virtually," Microsoft wrote. "This is why in both Microsoft 365 and Office 2021 we're including Microsoft Teams for personal use so you can engage with anyone at any time, whether it's chat, calls, or video. We're also incorporating many of the collaboration features already available to Microsoft 365 subscribers into Office 2021."

Microsoft 365 costs $69.99 per year for individuals, or $6.99 a month, although Microsoft 365 deals are available.

The one-time purchase Office 2021 suite offers an alternative to the subscription model. Customers can buy the Home or Student variants of Office 2021 for a one-time purchase $149.99. Office Home and business 2021 is available for $249.99, which includes additional features and the rights to use the apps for business purposes.

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waveparticle · October 1, 2021 4:26PM

Does the license apply to multiple machines I and my family work on?

rob53 · October 1, 2021 4:46PM

waveparticle said:

Does the license apply to multiple machines I and my family work on?

Doubt it, just like Office 365 required a family plan. I also have to wonder how many updates Office 2021 would include for the initial charge. Tell me it's five years worth and it'd be worth it, but tell me only until Office 2022 or 2023 comes out and they charge a high upgrade fee or force you to pay list price again and it's not worth it.

mknelson · October 1, 2021 5:35PM

rob53 said:

waveparticle said:

Does the license apply to multiple machines I and my family work on?

Doubt it, just like Office 365 required a family plan. I also have to wonder how many updates Office 2021 would include for the initial charge. Tell me it's five years worth and it'd be worth it, but tell me only until Office 2022 or 2023 comes out and they charge a high upgrade fee or force you to pay list price again and it's not worth it.

Based on Office 2019 and 2016 it will be only one installation for one user on one computer per retail box. They will do bug fixes for a certain period after the release of the next version. There is no upgrade price. You just have to buy the new box - which is a fraction of the price of Office X for example.

One weird thing - Microsoft is only adding new features to 365 updates. The retail boxed versions just get bug fixes.

*and to add to the fun, Microsoft is only allowing installs and update on the latest 3 Mac OSes.

rotateleftbyte · October 1, 2021 5:43PM

mknelson said:

One weird thing - Microsoft is only adding new features to 365 updates. The retail boxed versions just get bug fixes.

Most users never use more than 75% of the features of Office as it stands. IMHO, they (MS) is trying to milk us as much as possible for our $$$ but delivering very little that is of interest to the bulk of users.

I keep one License just so that I can ensure that any docs I produce print properly when sent to others. LibreOffice is getting close but some things are still a work in progress.

sbdude · October 1, 2021 10:35PM

Glad they figured out the individual user is over the subscription bs.

bluefire1 · October 1, 2021 11:29PM

What’s the difference between Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Office Suite? I currently have Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel on my MacBook Pro but I’m not familiar with 365.

rob53 · October 2, 2021 3:16AM

rotateleftbyte said:

mknelson said:

One weird thing - Microsoft is only adding new features to 365 updates. The retail boxed versions just get bug fixes.

Most users never use more than 75% of the features of Office as it stands. IMHO, they (MS) is trying to milk us as much as possible for our $$$ but delivering very little that is of interest to the bulk of users.

I keep one License just so that I can ensure that any docs I produce print properly when sent to others. LibreOffice is getting close but some things are still a work in progress.

I think 75% is more than a bit high for the majority of users. Funny thing is I can open Word documents from 2004 in Pages and they look just fine. (Just opened a letter to my old boss tonight.) Of course, there are things Pages won't open. The only reason I have it is so family members can open and save Word files for work. Microsoft hasn't really added much to Word since the beginning but have added functionality to Excel, which also has very specific things other apps can't copy, while Powerpoint has always sucked big time. Of course my opinion never mattered at work because most people were stuck using stupid PCs with all Microsoft software on it.

moonerhoosier · October 2, 2021 4:08AM

I've been stuck using Microsoft Office on PC for 15 years. I am a recent Mac convert because I had it with Microsoft's half-baked, poorly-executed garbage that they can never seem to get right. After downloading Excel for the Mac (1GB app, just for Excel, mind you -- talk about bloat), my expectations were tempered. If Microsoft can't write apps that work reliably on their own OS, after 30+ years, it only makes sense they can't do it on Mac either (even though it was originally made for the Mac). And sure enough, they proved themselves right. Excel is just as much garbage on the Mac as it is on the PC. At least they are consistent.

Seriously though, $150 for this garbage, alright I get it. People are stuck using it, I get it. I'm sure they too have wasted hours and days either trying to get it to work, or recreating work that it lost. It's a sad state of affairs that Microsoft has become the accepted standard. My experience in using a Mac again has been nothing but joy -- except when I need to use a Microsoft app. So why in the world doesn't Apple make a seriously competitive office suite anymore? I tried using Numbers, it's just not there. MS wants $150 for this garbage. I'd pay $500 for an Apple office suite if it was designed by the same team who does macOS and I could get to lunch time without losing work or having something stop working.

Seriously Apple, get on it. I know I'm not the only one so sick and tired of Microsoft shoving coal up our orifices and making us feel like we're getting diamonds. It's getting the point of being 'priceless' to have a good alternative to MS. The FOSS stuff is fine but it just doesn't have the polish Apple can do. Unlike MS, Apple actually thinks about the work flow from the user's point of view. I'm about to change careers if I have to use MS Office much longer, especially with the path they are going. I'm an IT manager and I have to deal with 50 peoples' problems, so I see it all. I got so sick of it, my company wouldn't buy me a Mac so I bought one myself. I would love to be able to completely cut ties with MS.

MplsP · October 2, 2021 11:08PM

rotateleftbyte said:

mknelson said:

One weird thing - Microsoft is only adding new features to 365 updates. The retail boxed versions just get bug fixes.

Most users never use more than 7.5% of the features of Office as it stands. IMHO, they (MS) is trying to milk us as much as possible for our $$$ but delivering very little that is of interest to the bulk of users.

I keep one License just so that I can ensure that any docs I produce print properly when sent to others. LibreOffice is getting close but some things are still a work in progress.

There - fixed it for you! Office is the epitome of bloat ware. There have been precious few useful features added in the last 10 years; Microsoft had to resort to a subscription model because no one would pay for a new version that gave them nothing useful.

I wish Apple would bring their office suite up to snuff. I prefer it to MS office but it’s far behind in terms of features and there’s no easy way to natively work on office docs. Google docs actually works better in that regard, you’re just forced to use it online.

I’ve tried open office in the past but wasn’t impressed with it, perhaps I need to give it another go.

Alex_V · October 3, 2021 2:01AM

moonerhoosier said:

So why in the world doesn't Apple make a seriously competitive office suite anymore? I tried using Numbers, it's just not there. MS wants $150 for this garbage. I'd pay $500 for an Apple office suite if it was designed by the same team who does macOS and I could get to lunch time without losing work or having something stop working.
Seriously Apple, get on it.

I think you should give Apple office suite a good try. Unfortunately, I can’t speak about Numbers as I don’t use it. I’m a teacher, so I use Excel for mark sheets, out of habit and because I can easily find sample formulas online (I can never remember them). Pages and Keynote are elegant, simple and will do almost anything I want. When I need anything anything better—advanced typography, more precision etc., I use Adobe InDesign. I don’t bother with Word and PowerPoint anymore. Plus, I recently prepared an entire Keynote presentation on my old iPhone SE, out of desperation because my Mac was in for service. That app alone, on a tiny screen, will do the business.

HobeSoundDarryl · October 4, 2021 2:06PM

Apple iWork can be a great Apple-centric substitute for MS Office... especially in terms of READING/VIEWING things created in Office apps. However, the challenge in fully substituting iWork is on the WRITING side. Basically fancier Word/Powerpoint/Excel creations may READ in just fine, edit just fine but then WRITE out such that when opened back in Office apps, they fail to retain formatting/design/look. Very simple documents will work just fine. But complicate/fancy them and the output generally won't exchange well.

Thus, if you use Macs for work- like I do- and you have Windows-centric clients, the very best option for file exchanging is to get Office in Windows too. Bootcamp has been terrific at making ONE computer do both jobs in a complete way for many years... but now that Apple is dumping Intel and thus Bootcamp, the need for a Windows computer for these situations will grow once Intel Macs with bootcamp conk/retire. For well over a decade all Macs have basically been 2 computers in 1 box... and that has been VERY HELPFUL to those who use Macs for work (with Windows-oriented clients). Now the split back to probably needing a separate Windows computer is approaching quickly again.

Office for Mac is MUCH better as retaining formatting/fancy design elements on export... but even it tends to lack complete compatibility with the much more mainstream Office for Windows apps. So if one has needs to exchange fancy/complex design documents with Windows people, neither iWork nor Office for Mac is a complete solution. The latter is naturally better at it than the former. But if you don't want "you messed up our document" gripes from Windows-using clients, you had better at least CHECK your exported files in Office for Windows apps.

If documents to be exchanged are relatively simple things, iWork can stand in very well. But all you need is one higher-design document to edit and then export back to Office formats to derail that option as THE one solution for us Mac people. I'm a huge fan of the iWork apps. I do wish they could fully cover this issue even for more complex creations.

waveparticle · October 4, 2021 4:34PM

I don't like to use Microsoft Office suite. The simple reason is I am not a professional user. They have features that only professional users need. If you are not a professional user there is absolutely no reason you need to spend over one hundred dollars per year on each machine. Apple iWorks app is plenty enough for my needs.

lonestar1 · October 4, 2021 9:14PM

As a former Microsoftie, let me say, this is unfortunately typical of Microsoft marketing. It’s only going to confuse customers.

If you’re a home user, should you buy the Home Edition, the Home and Business Edition, or Office 365? Or maybe the Student Edition, since your kids will also use it?

Home and Business comes with “rights to use the apps for business purposes”? So, the housewife who wants to make flyers to advertise her homemade brownies needs to buy that one? How is Microsoft going to enforce that, anyway? Does the Home edition have some sort of AI, like an advanced version of “Clippy”, that comes up and says, “It looks like you’re creating a business document. Would you like me to upgrade you?”

And Microsoft Teams is now marketed to home users as well as business? Well, that isn’t confused at all, is it? It’s not like Teams was specifically marketed as a business tool for years.

danvm · October 5, 2021 12:31PM

waveparticle said:

I don't like to use Microsoft Office suite. The simple reason is I am not a professional user. They have features that only professional users need. If you are not a professional user there is absolutely no reason you need to spend over one hundred dollars per year on each machine. Apple iWorks app is plenty enough for my needs.

The $100 MS 365 plan includes the Office suite and 1TB for each of the 6-users. That's $16 per user per year. IMO, that's a great price, considering the storage included.

One-time purchase Microsoft Office 2021 coming to Mac on Oct. 5

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