Microsoft has confirmed that the standalone version of Microsoft Office For Mac 2021 will be released on October 5th. Microsoft Office 2021 For Mac will be compatible with macOS Catalina, Big Sur and Monterey.
Microsoft Office For Mac 2021 will also be compatible with the latest Apple Silicon M1 chip Macs.
The release coincides with the release of Microsoft 365 which is a new Cloud service that succeeds Office 365 and will be associated with Windows 365 which allows Mac users to access Microsoft Office and use Windows on a Mac in the Cloud.
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The standalone Home and Office version of Microsoft Office For Mac 2021 will cost $149.99 and include standard Office applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Outlook plus Microsoft Teams.
There are also some improvements in Microsoft Office 2021 such as natural Read Aloud voices in Microsoft Word and animated GIF support in PowerPoint to spice up those dry presentations.
Real Time authoring will also be available in Microsoft Office For Mac 2021 to bring it line with Office365.com.
Microsoft Office For Mac 2021 faces stiff competition from Microsoft 365 however which will be closely associated with Windows 365 which enables Mac users to use Windows 11 on a Mac in the Cloud.
The ability to run Windows 10 or Windows 11 in the Cloud using Windows 365 is currently only available to Windows 365 Enterprise customers but is due to be rolled out to smaller businesses in Fall 2021.
Microsoft is promoting Microsoft 365 harder than the desktop version of Microsoft Office 2021 because it gives users access to Microsoft Office 2021 as well as 1TB of Cloud storage and added security features.
However, because it’s subscription only starting at $6.99 per month, Microsoft is still releasing the standalone version of Microsoft Office 2021 for those that just want to pay a one off fee to use a desktop version of Office For Mac.
You can read more on what Microsoft 365 will offer to Mac users here.