Office 2024 is about to launch: LTSC version is already available

LTSC version now available

As Microsoft announced yesterday in an entry on the Office team blog, Office 2024 LTSC is now available. Corporate customers who do not want to take out a Microsoft 365 subscription can use the LTSC version to get a version of the office suite that does not require an internet connection and the associated regular minor updates.

As part of Office 2024 LTSC, new versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneDrive, OneNote and, at least on Windows, Microsoft Access are included. Unfortunately, Microsoft has not yet published any detailed information about what new features Office 2024 has compared to the previous version Office 2021.

The Long Term Service Channel is no longer what it used to be

The main difference between the LTSC and Microsoft 365 versions of Office 2024 is that the former edition does not have new features added at irregular intervals throughout its life cycle. Instead, the range of functions remains essentially unchanged and only maintenance and security updates are provided. This edition is attractive for companies in some cases precisely because it reduces support costs.

The term “LTSC” stands for “Long Term Service Channel” and actually means that this Office version will be supported for the long term. However, Microsoft recently reduced support for Office 2021 from ten to just five years. The same applies to Office 2024 LTSC. The version that is supposedly supported for so long is therefore becoming less attractive compared to the continuously updated Microsoft 365 versions.

Ultimately, the support period only corresponds to what Microsoft offers for the versions of Office 2024 that are regularly distributed to end customers and companies. Another step backwards that was already taken with Office 2021 is the fact that a version of Office 2024 purchased as a standalone can now no longer be activated on three devices, but only on one.

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