Microsoft Office 2021: New functions and different versions - overview

• Posted on 25 May 2022
• 0

Microsoft Office 2021 has already been released by Microsoft, making it the newest version of the Office products. The license is available both as On-Premise and subscription-based. Since the right Office version for each user depends largely on the tasks and needs they seek to fulfil, further in this blog you can read more about the different versions and the new features of the license.

Microsoft Office 2021 Volume vs. Retail vs. Subscription

Microsoft Office 2021 has various packages that belong to one of the three license types: Volume, Retail or Subscription. The first two are also classified as on-premise licenses for which the user pays only once at the time of purchase. Microsoft 365 is the subscription version of the one-time purchase licenses and depending on the purpose of use the user can choose between several application combinations. The subscription can be paid monthly or yearly.

Microsoft Office 2021 Retail

A Retail license can be installed only on 1 PC with the use of a unique activation key and as such is linked to the user rather than to the device. As the user can reinstall the retail license on another device, Retail licenses are favoured by private users and small companies.

Office 2021 Retail licenses are:
• Home & Student
• Home & Business
• Office Professional

Microsoft Office 2021 Volume

Volume licenses are preferred by bigger companies, as they allow remote work and better flexibility than the Retail versions. For example, with the same activation key, you can install a volume license on different devices, depending on the number of licenses you have purchased. Let’s say you buy 5 Office 2021 Standard licenses. For those, you will receive one key in the form of a MAK or KMS activation code that you can use to install the 5 Office 2021 Standard on 5 different devices. This feature allows companies to use an acquired volume license even when employees leave.

Office 2021 Retail licenses are:
• Office Standard
• Office Professional Plus

Microsoft 365 Subscription

Microsoft 365 is a subscription-based Office suite that provides abonnements for personal, professional, and educational use among others. For the installation and activation of the license, an internet connection is needed. Afterwards, the applications such as Excel, Word, and PowerPoint can be used offline. This means that you do not need internet access all the time to use Microsoft 365, however, after 39 days without an internet connection, a reduced functionality mode of the applications will be turned on. The reactivation of the apps occurs after you connect to the internet and log in to Microsoft 365.

Microsoft 365 licenses are:
• Microsoft 365 Personal
• Microsoft 365 Family
• Microsoft 365 Business

What is new in Microsoft Office 2021?

To begin with, all applications in Office 2021 have an improved interface with more neutral colour tones, softer corners and new ribbon tabs. This change is intended to simplify the visual aspect of the license. Microsoft also announced that users can expect new features in terms of linking, co-authoring, editing and translation, among others.

Collaboration features

With Office 2021 users can benefit from the improvement of multiple collaboration features. For example, now users can work on the same document simultaneously and make use of the real-time co-authoring feature. All of the co-authors will receive a notification whenever a file has been updated which in turn saves users time and unnecessary notes/emails. Additionally to this feature, now users can see other users’ activity in a particular document. Another improved feature of Office 2021, particularly in the programs Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, is collaboration through comments. This feature supports a smoother workflow and communication between different creators.

XLOOKUP

A new feature is also announced for Excel. The function is called “XLOOKUP” and is designed to retrieve things from a row, range or table. In case no match exists, the function retrieves the most approximate match to the input value.

LET function

Another Excel improvement is the LET function through which users can assign a name to a calculation result. With this feature, instead of writing the same calculation repeatedly, excel does not calculate the result every time but rather retrieves it through the name you have assigned and calculates it merely once.

Microsoft Search

With Office 2021 users can find easier what they are looking for with the help of a search tool. Besides support with functions and commands, users can also quickly retrieve information via the search engine Bing, for instance, definitions of words.

Overview of the Microsoft Office 2021 packages

Office Home & Student 2021

Microsoft Office 2021 Home & Student is the basic version of the Office series and therefore only includes the best-known and most-used applications, namely Word, Excel, OneNote and PowerPoint. The licence is usually used primarily by private users, as it can be installed on only 1 PC. Microsoft Office 2021 Home & Student can be acquired as an on-premise version and as such the licence does not expire and has no additional costs compared to the subscription-based version.

Office Home & Business 2021

Microsoft Office 2021 Home & Business can be used for both private and business purposes which explains why the package includes the additional application Outlook, compared to the base version Home & Student. It is important to note that this is a Retail version which allows the license installation just on 1 PC. The License does not expire and is perpetual.

Office Standard 2021

Microsoft Office 2021 Standard is a volume license that is mostly used by businesses. Next to the applications Word, Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access, Office Standard includes the app Publisher. Depending on the number of licenses purchased, the license can be installed on more than one PC through the same activation key.

Office Professional 2021

Microsoft Office Professional 2021 includes every application besides Skype for Business and as such is the second most elaborate version of the Office series. This license includes Word, Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access, and Publisher. Office Professional is mostly designed for professional use with multiple users, therefore many businesses chose this version. The difference between Microsoft Office Professional and Home & Business consists of the two last applications Access and Publisher. This is a perpetual license best suited for businesses, similar to the versions discussed above.

Office Professional Plus 2021

Office Professional Plus 2021 is the most extensive license from the Office series and as such, it is mostly intended for business purposes. It Includes all of the available applications - Word, Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access, Publisher, and Skype for Business. This is a volume and perpetual license. Companies that do not necessarily need all of these apps should take into consideration some of the other licenses such as Office Professional, Standard, or even Home & Business to avoid wasting resources.

Microsoft 365

With Microsoft 365, the user can choose between 2 versions for private use, namely Personal and Family and 4 versions for Business use. Through the subscription-based license, you can access your data from anywhere and get all the new features and regular updates, as long as you are connected to the internet. As the license is not tied to one device, it can be used on different devices such as PCs, tablets and smartphones. Microsoft 365 is compatible with macOS, iOS, Windows, and Android. The applications that you can access depend on your subscription plan. Additionally, adjustments to both the Microsoft 365 plan and the number of users can be implemented.