Microsoft Office 2019 will be coming in 2018

Microsoft has confirmed that the next perpetual version of Office – that is, the pay-once-and-use-forever version – called Office 2019 will be released in the second half of 2018. Office 2019 includes perpetual versions of the Office apps, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, as well as server versions for Exchange, SharePoint, and Skype for Business.

Previews of the new apps will only ship mid next year, so we aren’t getting a lot of details regarding new features at the moment.

According to Microsoft:

 Office 2019 will add new user and IT capabilities for customers who aren’t yet ready for the cloud. For example, new and improved inking features—like pressure sensitivity, tilt effects, and ink replay—will allow you to work more naturally. New formulas and charts will make data analysis for Excel more powerful. Visual animation features—like Morph and Zoom—will add polish to PowerPoint presentations. Server enhancements will include updates to IT manageability, usability, voice, and security.

For the uninitiated, Microsoft sells perpetual versions of its Office apps to cater to customers who’re unwilling to commit to the subscription-based Office 365. They also cater to companies that aren’t ready to move to the cloud and prefer to keep their apps and servers on-premise. As it currently stands, customers on Office 365 need not worry about Office 2019, as their apps are always kept up to date.