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The Microsoft Office 2024 office suite allows you to use Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote without paying for a Microsoft 365 subscription. All of these programs are among the best at what they do, so this is a great value for Windows and macOS users working on just one machine. The Home version provides everything independent professionals and students need to be productive, while the Home & Business tier is ideal for businesses that want stable apps that will continue to receive security patches. Just don’t expect any cloud storage or major feature updates. Microsoft Office 2024 earns our Editors’ Choice award alongside Microsoft 365 because it makes the company’s premium office apps more affordable in the long run.
How much does Microsoft Office 2024 cost?
If you want Microsoft Office on just one PC or Mac, you can choose between the Home ($149.99) and Home & Business ($249.99) tiers. The former gives you “classic 2024 desktop versions” of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote on Windows 10 or 11 or one of the last three versions of macOS, while the latter (which I tested) adds Outlook and is suitable for commercial use . Microsoft promises security updates for these apps, but not much else. Note that there is no upgrade path from either level; if a new standalone version is released, you must pay full price to upgrade.
Business users can order volume licenses of the Office Long Term Service Channel (LTSC), designed for systems not connected to the Internet. The only significant difference with the LTSC versions of Office apps is that they include an accessibility band that keeps them compliant with government and corporate accessibility requirements (such as compatibility with screen reader software).
Alternatively, individuals can pay $69.99 each year for a Microsoft 365 Personal subscription. This includes perks such as the ability to install Office apps on multiple devices, 1 TB of OneDrive storage, ongoing feature updates, and the Microsoft Access database software for desktops.
I prefer to stay current with a Microsoft 365 subscription, but there are plenty of reasons for a one-time purchase. For example, you never have to worry about losing access to your apps if your subscription unexpectedly expires. You also won’t have to deal with any of Microsoft’s potentially unsettling changes to apps’ interfaces and features. For example, in recent years the company has replaced the old Find dialog with the Navigation Pane and the Spell Check dialog with the Proofing Pane.
Alternatives to Office 2024
Of course, Microsoft Office is not the only office suite available. The online-only Google Workspace (not to be confused with Google Docs Editors) has its benefits for collaboration. Google’s apps are easy to navigate and work seamlessly with Gmail and web forms, but they don’t handle large files as well or run as smoothly as Microsoft’s apps. Otherwise, LibreOffice carries the torch for the open source and government compliance crowd, and Apple’s streamlined iWork suite is available to Apple device users at no cost. Also, look to Corel WordPerfect Office if that’s what your law office or business uses, or be tempted to save a little money with SoftMaker Office.
However, most people are still better off with an Office 2024 license or a Microsoft 365 subscription. Yes, Microsoft Word can be very annoying when it unexpectedly formats your documents in ways that you can’t figure out how to undo. But its document format is ubiquitous, and no other competitor is nearly as capable. Using regular expressions (advanced wildcards) in the search and replace function or leaning on style management to make consistent documents easy to build and maintain can e.g. save hours of work. All the other Office apps have similar benefits.
How to get Office 2024
It took me a few minutes to figure out that I had to go to the Services and Subscriptions section of my Microsoft account page and scroll down two full screens to the list of product purchases to download the software. There you will find an install button. Alternatively, you can return to the place where you purchased the license to download via an install button.
For installation, you can choose the default option (this installed 32-bit Office on my 64-bit Windows 11 system), specify a 32- or 64-bit installer, or choose a 5 GB disk image for offline installations. I tried the offline installer out of curiosity, but found that it didn’t actually use the software on the desktop image when my system was online. Regardless of how you install it, Microsoft Teams will appear on your system if it’s not already there.
What is it like to use Office 2024?
If you’re using Office 2021, the previous standalone version, Office 2024 won’t hold any big surprises. The new apps just have more uniform interfaces that better complement Windows 11. They default to “Use system setting,” meaning they match either the light or dark theme of your operating system. If you want, you can switch to the colorful choice to add a splash of style.
If you’re happy with the 2021 version, the new features in 2024 probably won’t convince you to upgrade. And as far as I can tell, all the new features in Office 2024 are already available to Microsoft 365 subscribers.
Among the updates is support for the latest OpenDocument format (ODF 1.4), a change that adds compatibility with LibreOffice and other non-Microsoft apps. In terms of collaboration, you can now use a Like button to show approval of others’ comments across apps. Excel adds dynamic charts that automatically update when an array resizes and recalculates, unlike traditional charts that are only attached to data points that existed when you created the chart. Excel also lets you add images to spreadsheets via copy/paste or a new image function, as well as getting new text manipulation features. Word gets the existing Office 365 feature that automatically reopens documents after Windows or Word shuts down unexpectedly. However, not all Office 365 features are part of the LTSC versions; you’ll need to drill down into Microsoft’s documentation for more details.
Word, Excel and PowerPoint remain excellent
As mentioned, the apps you get with an Office 2024 license are the same as those with a Microsoft 365 subscription. We cover all of these apps more fully in our review of the latter, but highlight just a few findings about the most important ones here.
Word is the world’s most powerful word processor. It doesn’t quite have the graphical brilliance of Apple’s Pages, but it does come with drawing tools and well-designed, color-coordinated themes. You can insert images into Word (and Excel and PowerPoint too) directly from an Android phone, just as iPhone users can insert images directly into Apple’s Pages, Numbers and Keynote apps.
Excel has always been the colossus of spreadsheet apps, and it continues to increase its lead over the competition. Apple’s Numbers spreadsheet has a unique design that lets you create multiple tables on a single sheet and the most useful and attractive interface for entering data, but it only works on Apple hardware and isn’t nearly as powerful. Keep in mind that the Windows version of Excel offers features that are not in the macOS version. You can e.g. do not create a column of full names by simply typing a name from a first name column followed by a name from a last name column and then move down one cell and start typing the next name.
PowerPoint is pretty much the same as it was in previous versions, but you can now use the Insert Cameo feature to add a live camera feed to a slide and record a presentation or slide with a feature called Recording Studio. PowerPoint’s only rival is Apple’s Keynote, but anyone who uses Word or Excel will prefer PowerPoint’s familiar interface, just as anyone who uses Apple’s Pages or Numbers will prefer Keynote.
Rating: Permanent access to Premium Office apps
Microsoft’s Office apps are still the standard for everything from writing long documents to crunching numbers, and Office 2024 gives you the latest versions for a reasonable one-time price. You miss out on cloud storage and future feature updates compared to a Microsoft 365 subscription, but that’s a fair trade-off for the ability to use these apps to their full extent forever. Both Office 2024 and Microsoft 365 are Editors’ Choice winners because they deliver the same great apps for students, office workers, and other professionals. The only real question is how you will pay for them.