Originally published at: https://tidbits.com/watchlist/microsoft-office-2016-16-17/
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There’s a minor error in this article. Microsoft Office 2016 is at version 16.16.2. Version 16.17 is the first version of Microsoft Office 2019.
Is this true? I just looked on the Microsoft site and the only Mac version available for download is still Office 2016.
Yes, that’s because the standalone version is still 2016. 2019 is only available via Office 365 at the moment. Version 16.16 with a “boxed” license key will update to 16.16.2. With an Office 365 license it will update to 16.17.
Can you point us to something on the Microsoft site that says this? I can’t find any indication beyond the company releasing a preview of Office 2019 that anything has changed. None of the press coverage goes beyond that preview either.
Hi Adam! I’ve been looking (which frankly I shouldn’t do while at work) but haven’t found anything “official”. This is stuff I have heard from Microsoft’s Paul Bowden on MacAdmins Slack.
No worries—this is a pretty minor issue and I’m sure Microsoft will clarify somewhere along the way.
I have 365 Insider slow and it only updates to 16.16.2
The version of Office 2016 on the MS download page is listed as 16.17 – and they say that Office 2019 will be released in October.
I upgraded to version 16.17 (via Office 365) a couple of days ago, and there was no mention that I was upgrading to Office 2019, and when I check the version numbers on my Office 365 app it is 16.17
Of course, I can’t find anything in my Office 365 apps that says they’re Office 2016, either.
Also: don’t the application icons change whenever there’s a new version?
Not reliably.
I just ran the updater for Fast Insider builds and have been offered 16.8.0, which is update from 16.8 which was the previous version. The build numbers have increased though.
The release notes are here:
fI don’t see anything in there that indicates that I am now running Office 2019. But I don’t have time to click on all the links.
I’m running the outsider versions, anyway.
No, there doesn’t appear to be any visual distinction between Office 2016 and Office 2019. All I know is what I’ve heard from Microsoft directly. Not sure why it isn’t documented more thoroughly. I’m sure it will be at some point.
After nosing around some more on Microsoft’s web site and with some personal contacts, I think I can offer some clarification. Microsoft is doing some minor rebranding. Where before you would get Microsoft Office 2016 for Mac as either a purchased copy or an Office 365 subscription, going forward the subscription is simply called Microsoft Office 365 and the purchased (standalone, “boxed”) copy will be branded as Microsoft Office 2019 for Mac.
So as of September 11th the software has forked. The purchased (standalone, “boxed”) licensed copy updated to Microsoft Office 2016 for Mac 16.16.2. The subscription licensed version has updated to Microsoft Office 365 for Mac 16.17. Version 16.17 is the beginning of the 2019 codebase. The “boxed” Microsoft Office 2019 for Mac has not been released yet.
I wonder why they are still only offering me 16.16.2 on my subscription. Perhaps 16.17 is only going to business users first?
16.16.2 is not subscription based. I had licensed one “boxed” copy and a single Mac O365 subscription. My iMac grabbed the “boxed” license. I signed out of the applications, went to office.com and deactivated all my licenses (an old PC was hanging on to the O365 license), then downloaded and installed 16.17 and signed back in. 16.17 won’t grab a “boxed” license. Only a subscription.
I’ve never had a boxed copy, only subscription, for several years now.
I also have a O365 subscription but I got the update to 16.17 two or three days ago.
I’m not a business user, but an academic user, which may be the same thing in the eyes of MS.
That’s weird. You should have gotten 16.17. You may if you run Microsoft AutoUpdate again, or if it’s a glitch you may need to download the 16.17 installer from office.com like I did. But you shouldn’t have to log out like I did.
As @tomdar2 says, running the updater might be needed. And maybe MS rolls out updates gradually, as Apple sometimes does. I’d wait a day or two.