Microsoft announced that it would launch two one-time purchase versions of Office this year, including Office 2021 and Office LTSC.
Office 2021 will target personal and small business users and can cost nearly as much as Office 2019.
Office LTSC is perfect for enterprise customers that don't require the cloud power of Microsoft 365 or can't make use of the more feature-rich subscription form of Office.

Microsoft 365, previously referred to as Office 365, is the productivity suite that lots of people use. It's obtainable in Home and Enterprise versions. Microsoft 365 includes access to any or all the apps you might need for work, whether it's the most recent version of the Office suite of apps, cloud storage, or Skype access. Microsoft 365 includes multi-device support, meaning you can use all the apps on all your computers, whether it's Windows or Mac or cellular devices running iOS or Android.

However, some customers might not need everything. Or they may not wish to pay a monthly fee for access whenever a one-time license purchase will do. Microsoft just announced it'll still support those customers for the near future, whether they're home or enterprise users. Microsoft Office 2021 will launch later this year with a version called Microsoft Office LTSC targeting specific companies that don't need the power of the cloud that backs the Office 365 suite.

In a blog post on Thursday, Microsoft announced that Office 2021 for consumers and small business could be released later this season. It'll be supported for five years and will cost nearly as much as Microsoft Office 2019. The brand new release will support Windows and Mac, once again, and come with 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Microsoft hasn't announced all of the Office 2021 features, saying they'll be released later down the road. But Microsoft 365 will probably continue being the primary development focus for the company. Microsoft said as much when describing Office LTSC.

LTSC, short for Long Term Servicing Channel, will target those enterprise consumers who can't get on the cloud version or don't need it:

We have built Office LTSC for any limited set of specific situations: regulated devices that cannot accept feature updates for years at any given time, process control devices on the manufacturing floor that are not attached to the internet, and specialty systems that has to stay kept in some time and require a long-term servicing channel.

Office LTSC will be 10% more costly than ever before and will get 5 years of support. However it won't get all of the features of Microsoft 365 - here's an example from the novelties included in this one-time purchase version of Office:

Without access to the cloud, Office LTSC will include only a subset of the value found in Microsoft 365 Apps, building on the features included in past releases. New Office LTSC features includes accessibility improvements, capabilities like Dynamic Arrays and XLOOKUP in Excel, dark mode support across multiple apps, and gratifaction improvements across Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint. The following version of Office will not ship using the Skype for Business client app, which will be available as a download within the Microsoft Download Center. It'll ship using the Microsoft Teams app, allowing people to enable and trial this experience if they so choose.

Microsoft also adds that the subscription productivity suite "will continue to get the latest innovations in modern collaboration, advanced security, and intelligent capabilities and ship them every time they are available."

Office LTSC is going to be available alongside a Windows 10 LTSC version, and each of them is going to be released in the other half of the year.