Microsoft Office 2019 Explained

Microsoft Office 2019
Developer:Microsoft
Released:[1]
Ver Layout:stacked
Operating System:Windows 10 v1809 or later
Windows Server 2019 or later[2]
Platform:IA-32, x64, ARM, Web
Language Count:102
Language Footnote:[3]
Genre:Office suite
License:Trialware, software as a service
Replaces:Microsoft Office 2016 (2015)
Replaced By:Microsoft Office 2021 (2021)
Microsoft Office 2019 for Mac
Developer:Microsoft
Operating System:macOS Sierra or later[4]
Platform:x64
Language:English, Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian (Bokmål), Polish, Portuguese (Portugal), Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish
Language Count:27
Language Footnote:[5]
Website:hide
Replaces:Microsoft Office 2016 (2015)
Replaced By:Microsoft Office 2021 (2021)

Microsoft Office 2019 (second release codenamed Office 16) is a version of Microsoft Office for both Windows and Mac.[6] It was unveiled on April 27, 2018, for Microsoft Windows and June 12, 2018, for macOS, and launched on September 24, 2018.[1] Some features that had previously been restricted to Office 365 subscribers are available in this release.[7] Office 2019 retains the same major version number of 16, making it the second perpetual release of Office 16. Unlike other versions of Microsoft Office, Office 2019 will only get two years of extended support, which means that support for Office 2019 will end on October 14, 2025.[8]

History

Microsoft Office 2019 was officially released on September 24, 2018, for Microsoft Windows and macOS, following a preview phase earlier that year. Office 2019 was designed for users who preferred a perpetual license model, offering a one-time purchase option, in contrast to the subscription-based Office 365 (now Microsoft 365). While it includes essential productivity tools, Office 2019 does not receive future feature updates beyond its initial release.[9]

Development and Release

On April 27, 2018, Microsoft launched the Office 2019 Commercial Preview for Windows, providing enterprise customers and IT professionals with early access to the new suite.[10] The Commercial Preview allowed these users to test the product in professional environments and provide feedback, which helped Microsoft refine the final release. This version was particularly aimed at businesses preferring a traditional licensing model instead of adopting Microsoft's subscription-based Office 365 service.

The macOS version of the Office 2019 Commercial Preview followed on June 12, 2018, continuing Microsoft’s support for cross-platform users.[11] By offering the preview on both major operating systems, Microsoft ensured that its new features and functionality could be tested across diverse environments.

Following this preview phase, the official stable release of Office 2019 was made available to the public on September 24, 2018. Unlike Office 365, which provides regular cloud-based feature updates, Office 2019 was designed to remain static in terms of feature development, making it an attractive option for users who preferred a stable, non-evolving platform for productivity.[12]

Updates and Support

Although Office 2019 does not receive feature updates like Office 365, Microsoft regularly releases security and quality updates for the suite. These updates are typically provided once a month on Patch Tuesday (the second Tuesday of each month), ensuring that the software remains secure and reliable.[13] Users are able to manually check for updates to keep their Office installations current.

The mainstream support phase for Office 2019 extends until October 10, 2023, after which extended support will continue until October 14, 2025. During the extended support phase, Microsoft will still provide critical security updates but will not offer new features or non-security patches.

Reception

Office 2019 received attention for offering a non-subscription alternative to Office 365, which attracted users preferring a more traditional licensing model. However, it was also noted that the suite lacked some of the advanced, cloud-based features available in Office 365, which receives regular updates with new functionalities.[14]

New features

Office 2019 includes many of the features previously published via Office 365, along with improved inking features, LaTeX support in Word, new animation features in PowerPoint including the morph and zoom features, and new formulas and charts in Excel for data analysis.[15]

OneNote is absent from the suite as the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) version of OneNote bundled with Windows replaces it. OneNote 2016 can be installed as an optional feature on the Office Installer.[16] [17] [18]

For Mac users, Focus Mode will be brought to Word, 2D maps will be brought to Excel and new Morph transitions, SVG support and 4K video exports will be coming to PowerPoint, among other features.

Despite being released in the same month, the new Office user interface in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook is only available to Office 365 subscribers, not perpetual Office 2019 licenses.[19] [20] [21]

Office 2019 for Mac received updates until October 10, 2023, when it reached the end of support and stopped receiving updates.

Editions

Traditional editions

Microsoft Office 2019 has the same perpetual SKU editions aimed towards different markets. Like its predecessor, Microsoft Office 2019 contains Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote and is licensed for use on one computer.[22] [23]

5 perpetual SKU editions of Office 2019 were released for Windows:

Unlike its predecessor, both Windows version retail & volume versions use the Click-to-Run (C2R) for installation.

Like its predecessor, three traditional editions of Office 2019 were released for Mac:

Deployment

macOS installations can be acquired from the Microsoft website or the Mac App Store.[25]

For Office 2013 and 2016, various editions containing the client apps were available in both Click-To-Run (inspired by Microsoft App-V) and traditional Windows Installer setup formats. However, Office 2019 client apps only have a Click-to-Run installer and only the server apps have the traditional MSI installer. The Click-To-Run version has a smaller footprint; in case of Microsoft Office 2019 Pro Plus, the product requires 10 GB less than the MSI version of Office 2016 Pro Plus.[26]

Volume licensing versions of Office 2019 cannot be downloaded from Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center and must be deployed using configuration.xml and running Office Deployment Tool (ODT) from command-line.[27]

macOS Support

Office 2019 for Mac
macOS versionLast supported releaseLast update release date
macOS 11 Big Sur16.77.1 (23091703)September 19, 2023
macOS 10.15 Catalina16.66.2 (22102801)October 31, 2022
macOS 10.14 Mojave16.54 (21101001)October 12, 2021
macOS 10.13 High Sierra16.43 (20110804)November 10, 2020
macOS 10.12 Sierra16.30 (19101301)October 15, 2019
OS X 10.11 and 10.1016.16.27 (Office 2016)August 14, 2018
All releases can be downloaded from Microsoft's Update history for Office for Mac page.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Office 2019 is now available for Windows and Mac . Microsoft 365 Blog . . September 24, 2018 . September 24, 2018 . October 3, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181003213924/https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2018/09/24/office-2019-is-now-available-for-windows-and-mac/ . live .
  2. Web site: System requirements for Microsoft Office . . . September 24, 2018 . March 19, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230319155426/https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/microsoft-365-and-office-resources?ms.officeurl=systemrequirements%3fms.officeurl%3dsystemrequirements&rtc=1 . live .
  3. Web site: Language Accessory Pack for Office 2016. Office.com. Microsoft. 25 February 2016. February 15, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170215025941/https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Language-Accessory-Pack-for-Office-2016-82ee1236-0f9a-45ee-9c72-05b026ee809f. live.
  4. Web site: System requirements for Microsoft Office. Microsoft. https://web.archive.org/web/20190109120241/https://products.office.com/en-us/office-system-requirements. January 9, 2019. October 11, 2023.
  5. Web site: What languages is Office available in?. Microsoft. https://web.archive.org/web/20190407090005/https://support.office.com/en-us/article/what-languages-is-office-available-in-26d30382-9fba-45dd-bf55-02ab03e2a7ec?ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US#ID0EAACAAA=Mac. April 7, 2019. October 11, 2023.
  6. Web site: Warren . Tom . Microsoft Office 2021 will launch on October 5th . live . September 16, 2021 . The Verge . September 16, 2021 . en . April 17, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220417200716/https://www.theverge.com/2021/9/16/22677113/microsoft-office-2021-launch-date-office-ltsc .
  7. News: Microsoft is releasing Office 2019 next year. Warren. Tom. 26 September 2017. The Verge. Vox Media. September 26, 2017. September 30, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170930094153/https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/26/16366150/microsoft-office-2019-features-release-date. live.
  8. News: Changes to Office and Windows servicing and support. Caldas. Bernardo. 1 February 2018. Windows IT Pro Blog. 29 August 2018. Microsoft. Spataro. Jared. August 29, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180829000243/https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Windows-IT-Pro-Blog/Changes-to-Office-and-Windows-servicing-and-support/ba-p/151509. live.
  9. Web site: Spataro . Jared . 2017-09-26 . The next perpetual release of Office . 2024-09-26 . Microsoft 365 Blog . en-US.
  10. Web site: updated . Dan Thorp-Lancaster last . 2018-04-27 . Office 2019 preview now available for commercial users . 2024-09-26 . Windows Central . en.
  11. Web site: Office 2019 for Mac Preview is ready for commercial customers . 2024-09-26 . TECHCOMMUNITY.MICROSOFT.COM . en.
  12. Web site: Spataro . Jared . 2018-09-24 . Office 2019 is now available for Windows and Mac . 2024-09-26 . Microsoft 365 Blog . en-US.
  13. Web site: October 2018 updates for Microsoft Office - Microsoft Support . 2024-09-26 . support.microsoft.com.
  14. Web site: David Nield . 2018-10-10 . Microsoft Office 2019 review . 2024-09-26 . TechRadar . en.
  15. Web site: What's New in Office 2019 . support.microsoft.com . . 13 December 2020 . January 2, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210102213553/https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/what-s-new-in-office-2019-5077cbbe-0d94-44cc-b30e-654e37629b0c . live .
  16. News: The best version of OneNote on Windows. Devereux. William. 18 April 2018. Microsoft Office 365 Blog. 19 April 2018. Microsoft. May 21, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190521115821/https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Office-365-Blog/The-best-version-of-OneNote-on-Windows/ba-p/183974. live.
  17. News: Microsoft Office 2019 kills off OneNote desktop app in favor of Windows 10 version. Warren. Tom. 18 April 2018. The Verge. Microsoft. April 19, 2018. September 10, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190910181102/https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/18/17252312/microsoft-office-2019-onenote-windows-10-app. live.
  18. News: Frequently Asked Questions about OneNote in Office 2019. Office.com. 1 August 2018. Microsoft. September 10, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180910164958/https://support.office.com/en-us/article/frequently-asked-questions-about-onenote-in-office-2019-6582c7ae-2ec6-408d-8b7a-3ed71a3c2103. live.
  19. Web site: What's new in Office 365. support.office.com. November 15, 2018. November 15, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181115113253/https://support.office.com/en-us/article/what-s-new-in-office-365-95c8d81d-08ba-42c1-914f-bca4603e1426. live.
  20. Web site: What's New in Office 2019. support.office.com. November 15, 2018. November 15, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181115113030/https://support.office.com/en-us/article/what-s-new-in-office-2019-5077cbbe-0d94-44cc-b30e-654e37629b0c. live.
  21. Web site: Microsoft rebuilding the Office interface to align it across Web, mobile, and desktop. Peter. Bright. June 13, 2018. Ars Technica. November 15, 2018. November 16, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181116085339/https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/06/office-getting-a-new-consistent-interface-across-web-desktop-and-mobile/. live.
  22. Web site: Choose Microsoft Office Products. Office. Microsoft. October 2, 2015. September 14, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180914203454/https://products.office.com/en-US/buy/compare-microsoft-office-products?tab=opc. live.
  23. Web site: Choose Microsoft Office Products. Office. Microsoft. October 2, 2015.
  24. Web site: Compare Microsoft Office Volume Licensing Suites. Office. Microsoft. October 2, 2015. June 19, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190619215054/https://products.office.com/en-us/business/microsoft-office-volume-licensing-suites-comparison. live.
  25. Web site: Microsoft Office now available on Apple's Mac App Store. Warren. Tom. 2019-01-24. The Verge. 2019-02-01. February 2, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190202041712/https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/24/18196087/microsoft-office-apple-mac-app-store-download. live.
  26. Web site: Office 2019 perpetual volume license products available as Click-to-Run. 27 April 2018. Support. Microsoft. February 9, 2018. April 22, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180422103924/https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/4086177/office-2019-perpetual-volume-license-products-available-as-click-to-ru. live.
  27. Web site: Deploy Office 2019 (for IT Pros) . Microsoft Docs . January 21, 2021 . November 12, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201112034130/https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/deployoffice/office2019/deploy . live .