Commercial Preview of Microsoft Office Long Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) is Now Available

This post has been republished via RSS; it originally appeared at: Microsoft 365 Blog articles.

Today we’re pleased to announce the commercial preview of Microsoft Office Long Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) for Windows and Office 2021 for Mac. The next perpetual version of Office for commercial customers is built specifically for organizations running regulated devices that cannot accept feature updates for years at a time, process control devices that are not connected to the internet in manufacturing facilities, and specialty systems that must stay locked in time and require a long-term servicing channel. Office LTSC will provide the familiar productivity tools you have experienced with Office 2019, now with faster performance and expanded accessibility. You can preview Office LTSC and Office 2021 for Mac starting today. 

 

Office LTSC will include features from past Office releases as well as a subset of new features already available in Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise. As we announced in February, Office LTSC, like Windows 10 LTSC, will be supported for five years and continue being governed by the Fixed Lifecycle Policy. To learn more about other changes for Office LTSC read our February announcement. 

 

Office LTSC will be deployed using Click-to-Run exclusively, just like Office 2019, so IT admins can take advantage of modern deployment technology to help reduce costs. Office 2021 for Mac will use the standard Apple Package format (pkg) - the same technology that we have used for previous perpetual releases, including Office 2019 for Mac and Office 2016 for Mac. To understand additional system requirements for Office LTSC and Office 2021 for Mac, read the FAQ. 

 

Microsoft 365 Apps continues to deliver the most productive and most secure Office experience, offering the lowest Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for deployment and management. In another recent announcement, we shared how Microsoft 365 Apps can also be used in organizations with employees going offline for longer periods of time or using shared devices or workstations. However, Office LTSC will be a valuable upgrade for customers who need to keep their Office Apps on-premises.  

 

This is the first in a series of preview announcements for the on-premises wave, and in the coming months we’ll also announce commercial previews for SharePoint and Project Server. For instructions on how to install the Office LTSC and Office 2021 for Mac preview, go here 

 

Continue the conversation by joining us in the Microsoft 365 Tech Community! Whether you have product questions or just want to stay informed with the latest updates on new releases, tools, and blogs, Microsoft 365 Tech Community is your go-to resource to stay connected!

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