Microsoft Office 2024 was released as the successor to Office 2021. If you're already using Office 2021 — or shopping for a new license — should you go for the latest version?
Pricing
Both versions are sold as perpetual licenses — pay once and use forever, no subscription. At MICROMANS, the Office 2021 Professional Plus starts at €29 and the Office 2024 Professional Plus starts at €39. The price difference is small, so most buyers should go straight for 2024.
What's New in Office 2024
- Refreshed UI — Modernized ribbon, new icons, and better dark mode.
- Improved Excel formulas — Dynamic arrays, IMAGE function, LET, LAMBDA, TEXTSPLIT.
- PowerPoint Cameo — Embed your camera feed directly in presentations.
- Better collaboration — Co-authoring works smoothly in OneDrive-stored files.
- Mac & PC parity — Mac editions are nearly identical to PC editions.
Office 2021 Strengths
Office 2021 still does the job well. It supports all core apps: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook (plus Publisher and Access in Pro Plus). If you're on a strict budget, the Office 2021 Professional Plus is still a great deal.
Performance
Office 2024 is slightly faster than 2021, especially with large Excel files and PowerPoint presentations containing video. Memory usage is also more efficient.
Should You Upgrade?
Upgrade if you work heavily in Excel, present often, care about long-term support, or want a more modern UI. Stick with 2021 if you only use basic features and budget is tight.
Mac Editions
Mac users get a particularly good upgrade in 2024. The Office 2024 Standard for Mac is fully optimized for Apple Silicon and includes most features that were previously PC-only.
Conclusion
Office 2024 is a meaningful step forward. Given the small price difference at MICROMANS, we recommend going straight for 2024 — browse the full Office collection.