Microsoft Office 2021 release date, price, features, and everything you need to know

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• Microsoft Office 2021 release date, price, features, and everything you need to know

Office 2021, the latest version of Microsoft's iconic office software suite, is now available. With the company going live with its Microsoft 365 subscription plan, it seemed like we would never see another traditional version of Office again. But Microsoft has now confirmed that it will give users the ability to access the latest versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more for one price. The Office 2021 suite arrived on the same day as the company's new operating system, Windows 11, and follows the same pricing format as the previous edition. Here's everything you need to know about Office 2021, from release date and availability to pricing and new features.

Come to the point

What is it? The latest version of Microsoft's office software suite
When will it be available? October 5, 2021
How much does it cost? Office Home & Business 2021 - €149.99 / €119.99, Office Home & Business 2021 - €249.99 / €249.99
Who is the target audience? Office users who prefer one-time purchases to regular subscription rates

What is it?

Office 2021 is the latest edition of Microsoft's popular office software suite for PC and Mac. It includes favorites like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, as well as newer offerings like Teams. Although competition from Google Workspace has become increasingly fierce, Microsoft Office is still widely regarded as the most powerful suite of productivity tools on the market. The new bundle is now available for purchase.

Microsoft Office 2021 (Image credit: Microsoft)

Prices and availability

Microsoft Office 2021 is available in two versions: Office Home & Student 2021 and Office Home & Business 2021. The former is the cheaper of the two at $149.99/$119.99 and comes with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Microsoft Teams for PC and Mac. Office Home and Business 2021 costs €249.99 / €249.99. Other than price, the only difference between this plan and the cheaper option is the addition of the Outlook email service and the legal rights to use the applications in a business context. Both versions of the suite must be purchased per device.

Features

Unsurprisingly, the latest version of Microsoft's Office suite comes with a range of new features, detailed here. Beyond performance improvements across the board, highlights include support for OpenDocument (ODF) 1.3, new Excel features, a new presentation saving feature for PowerPoint, and updated translation functionality. At the top of all Office apps, users will also find a new smart search box, designed to help documents, commands, and specific pieces of text appear more easily. Finally, all apps received a visual update that aligns the user interface with Microsoft's new operating system, Windows 11. This means rounded corners, a new color scheme, and an updated ribbon interface.

Microsoft Teams in Office 2021 on Windows 11 (Image credit: Microsoft)

Office 2021 vs Microsoft 365: what's the difference?

The main difference between Office 2021 and Microsoft 365 is the way customers pay for services. Microsoft 365 follows the Software as a Service (SaaS) business model, where customers pay regular subscription fees to access Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, etc. Meanwhile, Office 2021 customers pay a one-time upfront fee in exchange for a lifetime license. Office 2021 has the potential to be cheaper in the long run, and apps still get the same kinds of online collaboration features as their Microsoft 365 counterpart. The downside to choosing Office 2021 over Microsoft 365, though, is that The feature set will only stay up to date for a limited time (that is, until the next version is released), so Microsoft 365 users will always enjoy the latest updates and features. . . Also, for companies that prefer to move their spending from CapEx to OpEx, Microsoft 365 is the obvious choice. If you want to compare elsewhere, we've also compiled a list of the best Office alternatives.