Microsoft has once again proven that it’s not entirely abandoning its loyal customers who prefer the traditional “buy-once, own-forever” model for software. The company has officially launched Office 2024, the latest standalone version of its popular productivity suite.

While Microsoft has been aggressively pushing its subscription-based Microsoft 365 service, Office 2024 offers a refreshing alternative for those who aren’t keen on paying monthly or yearly fees. This new release includes familiar apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, along with a few additional features and enhancements.

What’s in the box?

• Office Home 2024: Includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote for $149.99.
• Office Home & Business 2024: Adds Outlook and commercial usage rights for $249.99.

For businesses and organizations, Microsoft has also released Office LTSC Professional Plus 2024, which includes an Access database management app. Additionally, Project 2024 and Visio 2024 are still available as standalone products.

Office 2024 incorporates most of the changes introduced since the release of Office 2021 three years ago. You can find a detailed list of new features on Microsoft’s website. However, it’s important to note that unlike the Microsoft 365 versions, the perpetually licensed versions won’t receive ongoing feature updates, real-time collaboration capabilities, or features related to the Copilot AI assistant.

Microsoft will officially support Office 2024 with bug fixes and security updates until October 9, 2029. This is a five-year support window, which aligns with previous standalone versions of the software suite.

The new apps are compatible with both Windows 10 and Windows 11. However, Microsoft has clarified that official Windows 10 support will only last until October 14, 2025, after which it will reach its end-of-support date. For Mac users, Office 2024 supports the three most recent versions of macOS – Ventura, Sonoma, and Sequoia.

While Office 2024 marks the latest standalone release, Microsoft has hinted that it plans to continue offering these versions in the future. This means we can expect at least one more standalone release after Office 2024.