Microsoft has now released Office LTSC 2024, the new fixed release of Microsoft Office. It will serve as the base for the consumer-focused Microsoft Office 2024 package, which is expected to arrive soon.
Microsoft announced Office LTSC 2024 back in March, as the new Long-Term Servicing Channel release of the Office package and succeeding Office LTSC 2021. It’s intended as an alternative to the subscription-based Microsoft 365, without the feature updates and cloud integration. Office LTSC also doesn’t have support for any Copilot AI features, which normally need a Microsoft 365 subscription and a separate Copilot Pro subscription.
Office LTSC 2024 includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook (the classic version, not the new web-based Outlook), OneDrive, OneNote, and (on Windows) Microsoft Access. It can be installed on one PC or Mac at a time, and it does not unlock features in the Office mobile apps or web apps. It will be supported for five years with security fixes, but no new features will roll out.
Notably, Office LTSC 2024 does not include Microsoft Publisher, a desktop publishing application that was first released in 1991. Microsoft already confirmed that Publisher will be discontinued in 2026, but Office LTSC 2024 is supposed to receive support until sometime in 2029. Skype for Business also doesn’t seem to be sticking around in the 2024 package, presumably since most of its functionality has been moved to Microsoft Teams.
Microsoft is only selling Office LTSC to businesses and other organizations right now, mostly for workstations that can’t be updated or frequently connected to the internet. However, Microsoft did confirm again that the home version is coming soon, as Microsoft Office 2024. More details about the home version will be shared “in the coming weeks.”
The subscription-based Microsoft 365 will likely be the best deal for most people, especially since it works across multiple devices and includes cloud storage, but it’s nice to see Microsoft still providing the Office apps as one-time purchases anyway. We just have to wait a little bit longer for the home version of Office 2024.
Source: Microsoft 365 Blog
