When can I buy Office 2021? Will it work on my PC?
Last week, Microsoft already made available to users a version of its new office suite, the LTSC. This version, we remember, stands out for having a long-term support designed so that, during its life cycle (5 years) it will only receive bug fixes and security patches, nothing new. It is a version designed for companies, for users who cannot risk that a function may give them problems. This edition is now available to all users.
The full version of the suite will arrive in a couple of weeks, along with Microsoft’s new operating system, Windows 11. That is, next October 5, 2021. From that day on, users who want to buy this new version of Office will be able to do so through the usual means, such as the Microsoft Store or in specialized stores.
As for the requirements In order to use these programs, although there is no official information, as it is an updated version of Office 2019, without too many new features, it is expected that these requirements are not very different. Surely with a 1 GHz CPU, 4 GB of RAM and 4 GB of hard disk space we will have more than enough.
How much? Can I update my Office 2019?
One of the controversies that revolved around this new office suite at the time of its official announcement came about the price. Microsoft announced a substantial price hike of up to 10% on most editions, both personal and professional, of the suite. In this way, the edition «Home and student»Will stay around 150 euros, while the edition «Home and business»Will revolve around 250 euros. The license, of course, will be valid for life, and we will not have to renew or pay for it again.
Users who already have an Office 2019 license They will be able to continue using this version without problems despite the launch of the new 2021. Of course, we must bear in mind that Microsoft does not offer license updates for its suite, so we will not be able to jump to the new version 2021 saving us some money. The only way to enjoy the Office 2021 news is to pay for the full license, nothing more.
Office 2021 vs Microsoft 365, which is better?
Office 2021 is the new version of the suite that, compared to the 2019 version, releases some novelties interesting such as, for example (among many others):
- New appearance.
- New dark modes.
- Search bar.
- Performance improvements.
- Support for the OpenDocument 1.3 format.
- New Excel formulas.
- New features and functions in PowerPoint.
However, although they are news for users of the previous version, Microsoft 365 users have already had all these news for a long time. And they even have news and improvements that, for now, will not reach users of the new 2021 version of the office suite.
The Microsoft 365 benefits there are many, starting with the short-term price, having the programs always updated and enjoying other services such as 1 TB of cloud storage. But it also has drawbacks regarding single-payment licenses, such as that it never ends up being ours and, in the long run, it will be more expensive. In addition, we can make use of Office Online and use Word, Excel and PowerPoint from mobile devices.
So which one should I choose? In the end, it will be up to us. If we want to always be up to date, and have 1 TB of storage space in the cloud we can bet on Microsoft 365. We can easily find keys on Black Friday or Amazon Prime Day of 18 months for less than 50 euros (to share with 5 other people). But if we prefer to buy once and forget about everything else, even if that means that in the long term we will be outdated, then it is worth buying the full license.
And, if we have Office 2019, and we do not miss anything, the truth is that we recommend you continue with it and not spend the money on the 2021 version that hardly brings news.
