Microsoft to release Office 2021 for Mac, Office LTSC soon

Office 2021 for Mac will support both Apple Silicon and Intel-based Macs and will require at least 4GB of RAM and 10GB of storage space.

Microsoft (REUTERS)

American multinational technology conglomerate Microsoft will be releasing a preview version of its upcoming Office 2021 for the Mac and Office LTSC this week.

According to The Verge, while Office LTSC (Long-Term Servicing Channel) will be designed for commercial customers, both versions will be perpetual versions of Office that won't rely on subscriptions or the cloud.

Microsoft had announced its plans for Office 2021 back in February, and a Windows version as well, which won't be available in preview, but will be released later this year.

Office 2021 for Mac will support both Apple Silicon and Intel-based Macs and will require at least 4GB of RAM and 10GB of storage space. It's designed to be a static release of Office, but during the preview, there will be monthly updates that could include new features. Once Office 2021 for Mac is final and released, no new features will be added.

Its current improvements include:

- Line Focus, this feature removes distractions to let Word users move through a document line by line.

- XLOOKUP, an Excel feature that lets you find things in a table or range by row.

- Dynamic array support in Excel, which has new functions for dynamic arrays in spreadsheets.

- Record a slide show with narration in PowerPoint.

As per The Verge', Microsoft's Office LTSC variant will also include things like dark mode support, accessibility improvements, and the same Dynamic Arrays and XLOOKUP features found in Excel 2021 for Mac. Office 2021 for Windows will include similar features.