Microsoft will release a new version of Office this week, designed for users who don’t want to subscribe to Microsoft 365. Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Outlook.
Office 2024 includes many of the updates Microsoft has delivered to Microsoft 365 subscribers over the past few years. Microsoft last released a standalone version of Office in 2021, and the new Office 2024 version includes improvements to core applications as well as accessibility and UI changes.
Office 2024 has a new default theme that adopts Microsoft’s latest Fluent Design principles and is consistent with the visual changes of Windows 11. Potential accessibility issues in email.
The biggest changes in Office 2024 are in Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. Microsoft has added a new function in Excel for working with text and arrays in worksheets, as well as a new IMAGE function that can pull images from the web. Excel 2024 can now also reference dynamic arrays in charts, which update automatically instead of having fixed data points. Microsoft claims that the overall speed and stability of Excel 2024 should also be improved.
In PowerPoint, Microsoft has added a cameo feature that allows you to insert live camera images into slides. PowerPoint also has new recording studio features that include recording capabilities for narration, animation, transitions, and inking. You can also add closed captions or subtitles to video and audio files in your slides to make your presentation more accessible.
Outlook 2024 includes search improvements so you get more relevant results for messages, attachments, contacts, and calendar items. The latest Outlook version also includes more meeting options, including the ability to automatically shorten meetings. Mac users can also customize left and right swipe gestures in Outlook.
In Word, Excel and PowerPoint, you can now easily insert images from your Android mobile device, and Microsoft also supports OpenDocument Format (ODF) version 1.4, which includes various new improvements. Word and PowerPoint also include the ability to like and react to comments in files.
Word 2024 users can also resume working sessions if your PC crashes. Word automatically opens any files you had open before your computer crashed, lost power, or before Word closed unexpectedly. OneNote 2024 users will also get new inking and drawing experiences.
Microsoft says Office 2024 will require a Microsoft account and an internet connection, but if it’s anything like Office 2021, you’ll only need an internet connection to install the suite, activate it and get any security updates. Office 2024 will work on Windows 10 and 11 as well as the three latest versions of macOS.
Office 2024 will be available in two different editions. Office Home 2024 costs $149.99 and includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote for PC or Mac. If you want Outlook, you’ll need to buy the $249.99 version of Office Home and Business 2024, which also includes the right to use the apps for business purposes.
