Microsoft has announced that Office LTSC (Long Term Servicing Channel) 2024, a volume-licensed and perpetual version of Office for Windows and macOS users, is now available for commercial and government customers.
Office LTSC 2024 is designed for organizations with devices without internet connectivity and requiring long-term support, such as specialty systems like medical equipment.
It has fewer features than the Microsoft 365 Apps suite and refines features introduced in previous iterations. Notable enhancements include improved performance, security, and accessibility across the platform, expanded meeting creation options and better search capabilities in Outlook, and a long list of new Excel features, including Dynamic Charts and Arrays.
Additionally, the Microsoft Teams app is now available as a separate download, and Office LTSC 2024 no longer bundles Microsoft Publisher, which will soon be retired after October 2026.
“Office LTSC 2024 offers a locked-in-time version of familiar productivity tools, updated with a subset of the features that have been added to Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise over the last three years,” Microsoft said today.
“Office LTSC 2024 will be supported for five years under the Fixed Lifecycle Policy, and – like prior versions – will be deployable alongside Microsoft 365 Apps using a common set of tools to enable customers to more easily manage hybrid environments.”
The new release includes access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneDrive, OneNote, and the Microsoft Access (Windows Only) classic desktop apps installed on 1 Windows or macOS device.
Office LTSC 2024 only gets security updates, comes with device-based licensing only, and does not require an internet connection for activation and license validation.
“Office LTSC 2024 is available to existing commercial and government volume-licensed customers today, along with new on-premises versions of Project and Visio,” Microsoft added.
“These products will be generally available to all customers on October 1. We will share more about Office 2024 for consumers in the coming weeks.”
Microsoft first announced Office LTSC 2024 in March and released a commercial preview for Windows and macOS users one month later, in April 2024.