Microsoft released the first version of Office LTSC 2024 commercial edition of the new office suite in a stand-alone format and for local installations, which is now available in preview for Windows and macOS.

When Microsoft announced the new suite in March, it already noted that the first version to arrive would be the version for the commercial and business sectors. And here it is. The Long Term Service Channel (LTSC) version comes with the same license and usage rights as the previous Office LTSC 2021 and is specifically designed for organizations that use devices that are not frequently updated or connected to the Internet.

Office LTSC 2024, first release

Microsoft will distribute the suite in different versions, which will include the main applications of the productivity suite, Word word processor, Excel spreadsheet, PowerPoint presentations, database, Access and others such as Outlook email client. Note that it won’t include Publisher (a discontinued app) or Teams, which will be offered as separate downloads.

Versions and applications which are part of the first preview include:

• Microsoft Office LTSC Professional Plus 2024 (includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote and Access).
• Microsoft Office LTSC Standard for Mac 2024 (includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote).
• Microsoft Project Professional 2024.
• Microsoft Visio Professional 2024.

In addition to features found in previous versions of Office, Microsoft introduces Office LTSC 2024 “It will also have a subset of new features already available in Microsoft 365 apps for business”. New features have not been announced, and in any case, the local version will have limitations compared to the cloud version that Microsoft recommends.

And as an on-premises product, it won’t offer the cloud capabilities of Microsoft 365 apps, such as real-time collaboration. They won’t even have AI technologies which are added to the cloud version and which are the main part as we see in new versions of Windows. In addition to the current commercial version, Office LTSC 2024, Microsoft will release a consumer edition in 32-bit and 64-bit versions and for PCs with Windows and macOS operating systems.

Microsoft will support a set of s software updates for five years from the launch of the stable version expected at the end of 2024. Like the previous ones, it will be distributed under the traditional single purchase model. This week we informed you about the end of support for Microsoft Office 2016 and 2019 as of October 14, 2025.