Monterey and Microsoft Office

[mrjimmy]

Hey all,

My wife just purchased a refurb Macbook Air and it came loaded with Monterey. She is a light user and only requires Word and Excel. Trouble is, neither work now.

It's unclear whether there are still versions that can be downloaded or if it's all subscription based through Office 365. She wants the former, definitely not the latter. She's basically at the point of sending it back do any insight would be greatly appreciated!

 

[mfpv]

She could use a free alternative such as LibreOffice.

Home | LibreOffice - Free and private office suite - Based on OpenOffice - Compatible with Microsoft

Free office suite – the evolution of OpenOffice. Compatible with Microsoft .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .ppt, .pptx. Updated regularly, community powered.

www.libreoffice.org

 

[Raz0rEdge]

If you want to stick with the one time purchase, you can get Office 2021 for $150 and that will work with Monterrey.

Compare All Microsoft 365 Plans (Formerly Office 365) - Microsoft Store

Find the right Microsoft 365 Family or Personal plan for all your devices. Includes AI-powered Office apps, 1 TB of cloud storage, and premium mobile features.

www.microsoft.com

Scroll down to the section marked Compare Microsoft 365 with Office and on the right column is the Buy Now for Office 2021.

But before you purchase, you should check out LibreOffice suggested by @mfpv and see if that suites your need well enough.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

It's unclear whether there are still versions that can be downloaded or if it's all subscription based through Office 365. She wants the former, definitely not the latter.

You can most definitely purchase a stand alone version of Microsoft Office 2021 (the most recent version) for the Macintosh. (See below for a link to where to purchase it at a deeply discounted price.)

Microsoft Office 2021 is compatible with Monterey:

Microsoft 365 and Office Resources

Get information about the version of Office you’re considering buying or are beginning to use.

www.microsoft.com

and Microsoft Office 2021 is even compatible with the very latest Apple Silicon processors (as well as the older Intel processors):

Microsoft 365, Office 2021, and Office 2019 support for Apple silicon - Microsoft Support

support.microsoft.com

The best news of all? You can get Microsoft Office 2021 for the Mac at a discounted price of only $30 !:

Office 2021 Home and Business for Mac (lifetime)

OFFICE 2021 HOME AND BUSINESS FOR MAC (LIFETIME) OFFICE 2021 HOME AND BUSINESS FOR MAC (LIFETIME) OFFICE 2021 HOME AND BUSINESS FOR MAC (LIFETIME) OFFICE 2021 HOME AND BUSINESS FOR MAC (LIFETIME) OFFICE 2021 HOME AND BUSINESS FOR MAC (LIFETIME) OFFICE 2021 HOME AND BUSINESS FOR MAC (LIFETIME)...

instantkeyz.net

Why is it discounted to only $30 (down from $150), you may ask? Because, as it's name indicates, it will be replaced imminently by an entirely new version. Should that make any difference to you? I don't see why it should. Is the "InstantKeyz" site that I gave you the link to for this deal legitimate? So far everyone from my user group who has purchased from them has been entirely satisfied, so they seem perfectly legit. Also, they aren't the only legitimate site that is clearancing Office 2021. But they do have the best price.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

"MFPV" mentioned, above, that there are free alternatives to Microsoft Office for the Mac, specifically mentioning LibreOffice. LibreOffice is impressive, but I don't think that it's the best free alternative to Microsoft Office. I think that this is:

FreeOffice: The best free alternative to Microsoft Office

FreeOffice, the best free alternative to Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) for Windows, Mac and Linux

www.freeoffice.com

I have installed FreeOffice on the computers of clients, and associates in my office, and most don't even realize that they don't actually have Microsoft Office on their Macs! FreeOffice is remarkably similar to Microsoft Office, and since it is FREE, there is no reason not to give it a try. If you don't like it, just trash it.

If you are wondering if there are other office suites for the Macintosh, or other word processors, THERE ARE! Some are even FREE. And some of the free ones come from Apple (i.e. Pages, Keynote, and Numbers.) Have a look at this comprehensive list:

Macintosh Word Processors

 

[IWT]

She's basically at the point of sending it back

Don't send it backyet

Office in any form is never native to a Macintosh computer.

You've had terrific advice about Office alternatives - some free, some at minimal cost. But those mentioned, and others, work very well on Macs.

Unless your wife is into very high-end needs, any/all of these will do the job just fine.

To return such a good computer solely on the absence of the "real" Office is to exclude all Macintosh computers, and that seems such a shame

Ian

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Office in any form is never native to a Macintosh computer.

I really don't think that this is correct. Ever since 1997 (and after the ill-fated Office 4/Word 6), Microsoft has had a separate business unit just for Macintosh applications and specifically for Office for the Macintosh. Since then, all versions of Office for the Mac have been Macintosh-native, and written specifically for the Macintosh (not from a codebase shared with Windows).

A Look at Microsoft’s Macintosh Business Unit

www.macworld.com

Macintosh Business Unit: 25 Years of Connecting Mac Users to Microsoft Productivity - Stories

MacBU upgrades Entourage and delivers new ways to collaborate with PC and Mac colleagues.

news.microsoft.com

Apple Productivity Experience Group - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[IWT]

Your points are well made, Randy. I, perhaps, used "native" in a different context than you.

No Macintosh computer comes with any form of "Office" pre-installed. That was what I intended "native" to indicate. It is not an Apple product.

But, of course, one can purchase "Office" as a standalone or on a subscription basis - and the product works extremely well on Macintosh computers.

Or, as you and others have pointed out over the years, there are several "Office substitutes" which, in the great majority of cases, do the job just as well.

Which were the points I was trying to make in response to:

She's basically at the point of sending it back

""Don't: try out the one-time purchase of Office or any of the "substitutes" before considering a return"".

I think we are agreed on that

Ian

 

[Rod]

MOFM 2016 onward, if you owned it previously, can be downloaded from Microsoft > My Account complete with CD Key and will run on Monterey I was running it before upgrading to the the current version.

 

[IWT]

Nice one, Rod.

Ian

 

[callmedory]

Similar question and need advice.

We're running Office 2008 and need to upgrade so I can upgrade to OS
Our MBP is running macOS Mojave 10.14.8.
Our iMac is running macOS Mojave 10.14.6.

I want to be able to get Monterrey, and subsequent OS upgrades/updates.

I used to be better at technical stuff, a couple of decades ago, but haven't kept up so need HELP!

Thanks in advance.

 

[chscag]

Just read through this thread and pay special attention to the replies from Randy.

 

[callmedory]

Just read through this thread and pay special attention to the replies from Randy.

Thanks!

 

[mrjimmy]

Incredibly helpful! Thanks everyone!