Microsoft Launches Office 2019 For Windows And Mac

If you’re one of those users who bought an individual releases of Microsoft Office as it was released, it might interest you to learn that Office 2019 is out for PC and Mac—It’s the company’s newest on-premises version of the software suite if not the very last. Naturally, this perpetually licenced version of Office exists alongside Office 365, which is a cloud- and subscription-based version available for corporate and individual users.

According to a blog post by Microsoft, the commercial volume-license version of Office 2019 is available starting today. However, the consumer version will be available in the next few weeks. It’s interesting to note that Office 2019 is supported on Windows 10 only. It is not supported on older versions like Windows 8.1 and Windows 7. Office 2019’s MacOS support, however, includes versions 10.14, 10.13, and 10.12.

Office 2019 will include a roaming pencil case and ribbon customisation across all Office apps. Microsoft is also bringing focus mode to Word, alongside a new translator, and accessibility improvements. Morph transitions, SVG and 3D model support, play in-click sequence, and 4k video export are all coming to PowerPoint.

Image: Powerpoint 2019

“Office 2019 is a valuable update for customers who aren’t yet ready for the cloud,” Spataro wrote in a blog post. “While the cloud offers real benefits in productivity, security, and total cost of ownership, we recognise that each customer is at a different point in their adoption of cloud services … Each time we release a new on-premises version of Office, customers ask us if this will be our last. We’re pleased to confirm that we’re committed to another on-premises release in the future.”

Image: Excel Sheet 2019

The update is designed for businesses and consumers that haven’t opted into Microsoft’s Office 365 service with monthly feature updates. Office 2019 is essentially a subset of features that have been added to Office 365 over the past three years, and it includes updates to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Project, Visio, Access, and Publisher.

Alongside these individual feature updates, Exchange Server 2019, Skype for Business Server 2019, SharePoint Server 2019, and Project Server 2019 will also be released for businesses in the coming weeks. Office 2019 itself will be available first to commercial volume license customers today, followed by consumer and other business customers in the next few weeks.