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Office 2024: A Detailed Look at the New Features & Pricing

Microsoft has released Office 2024, the latest non-subscription version of their popular productivity suite. This version, available in three editions—Office Home 2024, Office Home & Business 2024, and Office LTSC 2024—brings new features for both individuals and businesses. However, it’s important to understand how it compares to the subscription-based Microsoft 365.

Unlike Microsoft 365, which requires ongoing subscription fees, Office 2024 is a “perpetual” version, meaning you pay a one-time fee and own the software. This article dives into what’s new in Office 2024 and how it stands against its subscription counterpart.

Office 2024 vs. Microsoft 365: Key Differences

Historically, the perpetual and subscription versions of Office have shared features initially, but Microsoft has shifted to prioritizing new features in Microsoft 365. While Office 2024 gets some of these features, it lacks many of the latest capabilities and will not receive future feature updates, only security fixes. This is a key distinction to consider when choosing between the two.

New Features in Excel 2024

Excel 2024 introduces several useful, though not revolutionary, additions:

• Dynamic Arrays: Charts now automatically update with new data without needing to manually adjust the data range.
• New Text and Array Functions: 14 new functions simplify text and array manipulation, including splitting, combining, and resizing.
• IMAGE Function: Easily insert web-based images into your worksheets. The images behave just like objects, letting you move, resize, sort, and filter.
• Performance Improvements: Enhanced speed and stability with better handling of multiple workbooks and independent calculations.

What’s New in PowerPoint 2024?

PowerPoint 2024 brings notable enhancements:

• Video Recording: Record your presentations with voice, ink gestures, and your camera, then export as a shareable video file.
• Closed Captions: Add closed captions to video and audio content within your slides.
• Microsoft Stream Integration: Insert videos from Microsoft Stream (on SharePoint) directly into your presentations.
• Cameo Feature: Integrate your live camera feed onto a slide with various formatting options, similar to adding shapes or objects.

Outlook 2024 Updates

Outlook 2024 comes with:

• Improved Search: Better search capabilities for messages, attachments, contacts, and calendar entries.
• Meeting Setup Option: Customize meeting start and end times to include breaks between sessions, preventing back-to-back meeting fatigue.

Office 2024: Additional Enhancements

Office 2024 also includes the following:

• New Default Theme: A new visual theme based on Windows 11’s Fluent Design principles, compatible with both Windows 10 and 11, with more consistent look across Office apps.
• OpenDocument Format (ODF) 1.4 Support: Increased file compatibility with ODF 1.4 support.
• Comment Reactions: React to comments in documents with a “Like” feature.
• Automatic File Recovery: In the event of a crash, Word will automatically reopen all documents you had open before the crash so you can pick up where you left off.

Office LTSC 2024: Commercial-Specific Features

Office LTSC 2024 includes additional features tailored for commercial use:

• Accessibility Ribbon: Enhanced accessibility tools.
• Android Integration: Ability to insert pictures directly from an Android device.
• OneNote Improvements: Better inking and drawing tools in OneNote for Windows.
• ActiveX Controls: These controls are disabled by default, but can be enabled by IT administrators.

Note: Microsoft Publisher is no longer included, and Microsoft Teams requires a separate download.

Office 2024 Pricing and Support

Office 2024 pricing remains the same as the previous version.

• Office Home 2024 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote): $150.
• Office Home and Business 2024 (All the above plus Outlook): $250.

Both versions are for single-person use. Office LTSC 2024 for businesses is available through volume licensing.

All Office 2024 editions come with five years of support, a reduction from previous versions of perpetual Office. This shift is part of Microsoft’s strategy to encourage users towards their subscription offerings.

Making the Right Choice for You

Choosing between Office 2024 and Microsoft 365 depends on your specific needs. Office 2024 is a good choice if you prefer a one-time purchase and don’t need the latest updates. Microsoft 365 is better for users who desire the most current features and cloud integration. Consider your budget, how often you need new features, and whether cloud services are essential to your workflows to make your decision.

Key Takeaways

Office 2024 offers a traditional, one-time payment option with some new features, particularly in Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. However, it does not include the ongoing updates and cloud integration of Microsoft 365. Your choice between the two should depend on how often you require feature updates and the importance of cloud integration to your workflow.

Keywords

• Office 2024
• Microsoft Office
• Microsoft 365
• Excel 2024
• PowerPoint 2024
• Outlook 2024
• Software License
• Perpetual License
• Productivity Software

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