Microsoft unveiled the new version of the company's Office suite Microsoft Office 2019 today. The new Office 2019 will be released for Windows 10 (and newest LTSC of Windows Server) and Apple Mac OS X (most recent version according to Microsoft) only.

Commercial volume license customers may access Office 2019 starting today while all other customers, home users and businesses alike, will be able to buy and install the new version of Office in the "next few weeks".

Office 2019 is the new on-premises version of the Office suite that includes updates to Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Publisher, Visio, Access and Project (the last four are only available for Windows).

Office Server products, Exchange Server 2019, Skype for Business Server 2019, SharePoint Server 2019, and Project Server 2019, will also be released in the coming weeks.

Office 2019 Compared to Office 2016

Here is a list of important changes of Office 2019 when compared to the predecessor Office 2016:

Word 2019 : Black theme, learning tools, text-to-speech feature, improved inking support, accessibility improvements.

: Black theme, learning tools, text-to-speech feature, improved inking support, accessibility improvements. Excel 2019 : funnel charts, 2D maps, timelines, new Excel functions and connectors, publish Excel to PowerBI, PowerPivot and PowerQuery enhancements.

: funnel charts, 2D maps, timelines, new Excel functions and connectors, publish Excel to PowerBI, PowerPivot and PowerQuery enhancements. PowerPoint 2019: Morph transition feature, zoom capabilities to order slides within presentations, insert and manage icons, SVG and 3D models, improved roaming pencil case.

Morph transition feature, zoom capabilities to order slides within presentations, insert and manage icons, SVG and 3D models, improved roaming pencil case. Outlook 2019: Office 365 Groups support (with Exchange online account), focused inbox, travel and delivery summary cards, updated contact cards, and @mentions.

Missing Office 365 features

The following features are supported by Office 365 but not included in Office 2019:

Editor and Researcher in Word.

Tap in Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook.

Designer in PowerPoint.

Ideas and Data Types in Excel.

Real-time collaboration across Word, Excel and PowerPoint and @mentions.

Office 365 Message Encryption.

ATP in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneDrive for Business

Office Enterprise Protection.

Sensitive Label support in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.

Shared computer licensing

Included language packs

FastTrack options

Intune integration

What you need to know about Office 2019

1. There will be another on-premises version of Office

Microsoft revealed today that Office 2019 won't be the last on-premises version of Office; this means that the company will release another version of Office that is not cloud-based.

2. There is no MSI installer

Microsoft introduces the click-to-run installer with Office 2013. Users and administrators could install Office 2013 and 2016 using the click-to-run installer or the MSI installer.

With Office 2019, we’re moving the on-premises versions of Office to C2R to reduce costs and improve security. The advantages of C2R include predictable monthly security updates, up-to-date apps on installation, reduced network consumption through Windows 10 download optimization technology, and an easy upgrade path to Office 365 ProPlus.

Office 2019 supports only click-to-run installations. One of the main issues that admins and users may face is that the click-to-run installer installs all Office apps during installation. No problem if you plan to use them all but what if you don't need some of the apps?

The solution comes in form of the Office Deployment Tool that you can download from the Microsoft website. It is a command line tool to deploy click-to-run versions of Microsoft Office.

3. One-time payment, No subscription, and no feature updates

Office 2019 is available for a one-time payment. In other words: there is no subscription. Downside to this is that Microsoft decided to limit updates to security and quality updates.

The company states that Office 2019 won't receive new features after its release.

Office 2019 is a perpetually-licensed product similar to previous major versions. It will receive regular security updates but no new features after its release.

That's different from Office 365 ProPlus and other subscription-based products.

4. Support for older Office versions continues

There is no requirement to upgrade an earlier supported version of Office to the new Office 2019. Office 2013 and 2016 continue to be supported.

5. Office 2019 requires no Internet access when used

Office 2019 does not require an active Internet connection, or Internet at all, when it is installed. The product is fully installed on the system and can be used without active Internet connection because of that.

Updates are made available on the Internet but they can be "hosted on-premises for disconnected networks".

6. Office 2019 is supported for seven years

Microsoft revealed that Office 2019 includes five years of mainstream support and two years of extended support. The company notes that this is an exception to the 10-year fixed lifetime policy term and that seven years of support aligns it with the end of extended support for Office 2016.

7. You can't run Office 2019 and Office 2016 next to each other

Office 2016 and Office 2019 can't be run concurrently on the same operating system.

Resource links

Summary Article Name The new Office 2019 is here and it's Windows 10 exclusive (on Windows) Description Microsoft unveiled the new version of the company's Office suite Microsoft Office 2019 today for Windows 10, Mac OS X, and Windows Server. Author Martin Brinkmann Publisher Ghacks Technology News Logo

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