Microsoft Office 2024 reportedly in development

Microsoft reportedly plans to release a new perpetual license version of its productivity suite next year, dubbed as Office 2024.

This comes as a surprise as the Redmont giant shifts its focus on subscription-based Microsoft 365 service (previously Office 365). This service offers the same Office apps including Word, PowerPoint, and Excel in exchange of a monthly or annual fee.

One advantage the Microsoft 365 brings is its users—on both consumer and enterprise—can expect the latest versions of these apps.

However, subscription-based model isn’t everyone’s preference. And Microsoft appears to finally realize the lingering demand for standalone Office. This is especially crucial for people and organizations who prefer a perpetual license for Microsoft Office rather than recurring subscription fees.

XDA Developers first discovered the Office 2024 within an internal preview build of Microsoft Office through the Click-to-Run (C2R) release API.

Office 2024 is expected to release as late as Q3 or Q4 next year and will likely incorporate the existing features and functionalities available in Microsoft 365.