Earlier this month, Microsoft finally released the latest version of Microsoft Office not tied to Microsoft 365, meaning you can now purchase access to the latest versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint with a one-time payment instead of spending money on a subscription.
With Office 2024, Microsoft promises improved performance, updated user interfaces, and more tools for data analysis and embedding images in Excel, along with support for new features across Office 2021. Explore all the new features in Office 2024 on this support page.
Office 2024 Without Outlook
Microsoft Office Home 2024 is the basic version designed for home users and students. It costs $149.99 and can be installed on a single Windows PC or Mac.
Microsoft Office Home 2024 is now available on Amazon
Microsoft describes the difference between a Microsoft 365 subscription (which Microsoft prefers users to use) and the locked-in Office 2024 suite as follows:
Microsoft 365 is a subscription that comes with premium apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher, and Access (Publisher and Access available on PC only). The apps can be installed on multiple devices, including PCs, Macs, iPads, iPhones, Android tablets, and Android phones. Microsoft 365 also comes with services like 1TB of storage on OneDrive, 60 minutes of Skype monthly, and chat and phone support from Microsoft. Through the subscription, you can get the latest versions of the apps and receive updates automatically when they occur.
Office 2024 is a one-time purchase system that comes with classic apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for PC or Mac, and does not include any of the services that come with a Microsoft 365 subscription. One-time purchases do not include the option for upgrades, meaning if you plan to upgrade to the next major release, you will need to purchase it at full price.
Office Home 2024 is also available directly from Microsoft for $149.99, so the price is the same whether you get it from Amazon or not.
Office 2024 With Outlook
Office 2024 is also available in a version that includes Outlook, called Microsoft Office Home & Business 2024. This version costs $249.99 and can be installed on a Windows PC or Mac, geared towards small businesses and other commercial uses.
Microsoft Office Home & Business 2024 is also available on Amazon
While Office Home 2024 includes Word, Excel, and PowerPoint only, Office Home & Business 2024 includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. As before, the main difference between this and Microsoft 365 is that you will only receive security updates, not feature updates.
Office LTSC 2024
Microsoft Office LTSC 2024 (with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneDrive, OneNote, and Access) has been available since September.
The LTSC version of Office 2024 is also a one-time payment option, but this option is explicitly designed for commercial use by larger companies. It is not intended for home users.
This article originally appeared on our sister publication PC-WELT and has been translated and localized from German.
