Office 2021 apparently announced!

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John Gray
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Office 2021 apparently announced!

Post by John Gray »

Now that Microsoft Office 2021 is announced, and will soon/eventually become available to mere mortals, please could I ask advice of Those Who Know! :scratch:

My only real reason for sticking with [32-bit] Microsoft Office 2010 (at the moment) is because there is no competitor to Outlook. Otherwise I would probably go with LibreOffice Writer and Calc.

I don't really want to go with Microsoft 365, so that I can keep everything local to my PC, and not get monthly bills.

My (initial) questions about Office 2021 are:
1) would be better to go for Office 2021 than 2019? Presumably Yes.
2) is it now advised to go to 64-bit Office 2021 rather than the 32-bit version?
3) can I still avoid using a Microsoft account, and stick with a local account?
4) does Outlook 2021 still work off PST files, which presumably can transfer straight across from Outlook 2010?
5) are there any obvious problems or snags in converting from Outlook/Word/Excel 2010 to ditto 2021? (The old "MOVE CORRESPONDING" in Cobol, if I remember that right!)

And will the removal of basic authentication in early November have any effect on POP3 emails in Outlook 2010?

Thanks!
John Gray

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StuartR
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Re: Office 2021 apparently announced!

Post by StuartR »

  • I still see no reason to go for the 64 bit version, unless you have huge Access databases or Excel workbooks.
  • I log in to everything except for Office using a local account, I use my Microsoft account for logging in to Office 365 only.
  • I store all office files locally, I do not use OneDrive
  • The latest version of Outlook uses a PST file that has been in use for a long time, but I let Office upgrade the PST file occasionally
  • I pay a single annual fee of £79 for every computer in the house, and my (adult) kids have access to their own 5 installations each from the same account.
StuartR


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HansV
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Re: Office 2021 apparently announced!

Post by HansV »

I agree with Stuart.

Microsoft is continually adding and updating features in Microsoft 365. Excel, for example, has powerful new functions such as SORT, FILTER and UNIQUE (you can probably guess what they do) and a totally new way of handling arrays.
Office 2019 was "frozen" in late 2018; it has received bug fixes and security updates, but no feature updates, so it is now 3 years behind Microsoft 365.
Office 2021 will include most of the features introduced in Microsoft 365 during that period.
Best wishes,
Hans

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kdock
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Re: Office 2021 apparently announced!

Post by kdock »

And I agree with Stuart and Hans.

While you need a Microsoft account to manage your subscription and install O365, you do not have to save anything in the cloud. You don't have to be continually logged into MSFT, either, but you do have to log in occasionally (once a month?) in order to reassure MSFT that you have an actual live subscription. I just go ahead and work logged in.

But I don't use OneDrive. Not only have I turned it off as the recommended Save location, I've turned it off.
No OneDrive.jpg

So while I don't generally like subscription software, it's been working out pretty well. Having just made the switch from 2010 myself, there are still differences I'm getting used to. But it's not anywhere near as disorienting as going from toolbars to ribbons.

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Argus
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Re: Office 2021 apparently announced!

Post by Argus »

If the only option was the cloud, I think we would have heard, and still would be hearing, quite a roar.

As for perpetual licenses, for obvious reasons, being frozen at some point and not receiving feature updates, that's how we have used software for decades. Perhaps a steady cash flow has triggered some innovation at Microsoft.
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DaveA
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Re: Office 2021 apparently announced!

Post by DaveA »

We also do NOT use the cloud storage and I pay a annual fee not the monthly one.
We also have O365 on several machine for the on subscription.
I am so far behind, I think I am First :evilgrin:
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BobH
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Re: Office 2021 apparently announced!

Post by BobH »

John,
Have you tried Mozilla Thunderbird as your email client? If so, what are your objections to it?
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John Gray
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Re: Office 2021 apparently announced!

Post by John Gray »

No, Bob - I've use Outlook since (at least) Office 97, and have about 50K messages (since 2005) and lots of contacts saved in my current PST file. I will have to look for a comparison between the operation of Thunderbird and Outlook!
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BobH
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Re: Office 2021 apparently announced!

Post by BobH »

^^^
Searching for import email to Thunderbird from Outlook found several hits including this one.

I have not tried this. I've been using T-bird for at least a decade.
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DaveA
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Re: Office 2021 apparently announced!

Post by DaveA »

It all depends on when the subscriptions expires vs. when one dies.

Have a read at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/off ... 2362da6b2f
I am so far behind, I think I am First :evilgrin:
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John Gray
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Re: Office 2021 apparently announced!

Post by John Gray »

Thanks, Dave - good link!
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HansV
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Re: Office 2021 apparently announced!

Post by HansV »

Office 2021 was officially released today (5th October, 2021)
Best wishes,
Hans

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John Gray
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Re: Office 2021 apparently announced!

Post by John Gray »

Yes, I saw it on Amazon earlier.
* £120 for Word, Excel and PowerPoint
* another £130 if you want to add Outlook

(Look at all the following products which are desperately trying to look like the real Microsoft...)
Last edited by John Gray on 05 Oct 2021, 19:27, edited 1 time in total.
John Gray

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HansV
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Re: Office 2021 apparently announced!

Post by HansV »

Microsoft really wants you to get Microsoft 365!
Best wishes,
Hans

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SpeakEasy
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Re: Office 2021 apparently announced!

Post by SpeakEasy »

Sadly Office 2021, like 2019 before it, is not available on the Microsoft Home Use Programme