Excel has formulas that immediately return an array of values, a function that assigns names to the results of calculations so that you can use those names in a formula, a function that returns the relative position of an item in a range of cell, and customized views for individual sheets.

Microsoft 365 subscribers saw these features added gradually over the past two years. Keep mind that these will be new only if you’re coming from an earlier perpetual-license version. If you’re upgrading from the 2019 version, here’s a list of the major new features. You don’t have to worry about learning a new interface. For example, in the Office 2021 desktop apps, you can now coauthor documents in real time, complete with clear visual indicators of who else is collaborating on the document and where they’re making changes.Įxcept for the newly slotted-in features, Office 2021 looks mostly like the 20 versions. Some features formerly only available in Office’s browser-based version are now available in the desktop apps. If, however, you’re using an older perpetual-license version, such as Office 2019, Office 2016, or earlier versions, you’ll find new and mostly improved features that you may decide are worth having-more about those in a moment. If you’re already using Office apps through a Microsoft 365 subscription, you won’t find any surprises in Office 2021.

Here we cover Office Professional 2021 for Windows, but much of it applies equally to Office for Mac, which also now comes in a perpetual license version.

If you’re a corporate IT manager or just don’t like subscriptions, you’ll prefer the perpetual-license version. You also miss out on generous OneDrive online storage and other extras. When you buy the perpetual license version, you get security updates every few months, but you don’t get the monthly jolt of new features that Microsoft provides to subscribers. Microsoft also offers Office as a subscription called Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365), which requires you to pay for it by the month or year. Best Malware Removal and Protection Software.

Microsoft office suite professional