Nov 25, 2019 The ONLY reason why I use MS Office for Mac is for 100% file compatibility when I will be sharing the resulting file with a person who uses MS Office. Although other suites claim near 100%. We compare Microsoft 365 and Office 2019 for Mac and share the cheapest way to get Office for Mac. Open Menu Search. Another compatibility issue is with M1 Macs. Microsoft Office compatibility with the new machines (it's messy at the moment) and whether to buy an Apple Silicon Mac. Most programs are made for a specific CPU chip like Intel or now Apple M1 aka Apple Silicon. It's not a simple thing to run an existing program on a totally new type of main processor. Nerd note: Apple M1 is an ARM chip. Microsoft and Apple are better together A new Office 365 feature shows one way in which the Apple/Microsoft partnership helps you get things done.
- Apple Compatibility With Microsoft
- Apple And Microsoft Office Compatibility Software
- Apple Compatibility With Microsoft Office
There were fresh salty tears from Microsoft fans overnight as the company posted an Arm version of its Office suite. For Mac users.
A tweet from Microsoft principal software engineer Erik Schwiebert told Mac Office insiders to start their engines and, sure enough, a fresh Universal build for those picking up Apple's latest and greatest chippery dropped a few hours later.
MSFT plans to push a Universal build of Mac Office 2019 to the Beta Channel (formerly 'Insider Fast') by the end of today.
We don't have a public date or version for a final release; this is an initial peek for customers to test on hardware they may be acquiring this week... :)
According to Apple, 'a universal binary runs natively on both Apple silicon and Intel-based Mac computers, because it contains executable code for both architectures.' So no troubling of the Rosetta translation layer.
While very much 'an initial peek', the impending arrival of a universal build of Mac Office 2019 has generated a little gnashing of teeth from some Windows users, noting that Microsoft appeared to be favouring platforms other than its own.
It does, after all, have form. Just ask the Windows Phone users who glumly watched competing platforms prioritised while their own favoured mobile operating system withered and died. Even those with new Surface Duo devices have had to look on as Samsung phones were the first to gain multi-app support in Microsoft's Your Phone.
It is fair to say that Windows on Arm has not been the highest priority for Microsoft. Its own browser, Chromium Edge, arrived late to the game and developer darling Visual Studio Code has only turned up in recent months.
A fully native version of Office has yet to put in an appearance, although Microsoft 365 will deposit a release 'optimized to run on a Windows 10 PC on an ARM-based processor' if asked.
Those wishing to run the perpetual licensed version of Office 2019 will unfortunately have to go down the full Intel emulation route, which is currently 32-bit only (although Microsoft has said that 64-bit support would be turning up in the not too distant future.)
Users with long memories will recall the Surface RT devices of yesteryear that featured a fully native version of Office as well as numerous compatibility issues.
The more hybrid approach of today (for Office 365), where some system components run natively while others maintain the backward compatibility to which Microsoft is committed, should avoid a repeat of the RT fiasco even if all the performance gains of a fully native Arm version of Office has yet to be realised. For that, it seems, you'll need an Apple Mac. ®
Apple Compatibility With Microsoft
The latest Microsoft 365 and Office 2019 updates make the productivity suite fully compatible with macOS Big Sur and Apple Silicon — but it is not native code for the M1 processor.
The latest release of Microsoft's Office suite of apps including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, and OneDrive can be installed on devices that are based on the Apple Silicon architecture. For the best experience, install the November 2020 build 16.43, or newer.
Beyond Apple Silicon compatibility, the new release includes the 'latest optimizations for macOS Big Sur' which is expected to be made available on Thursday afternoon.
Microsoft says that the Apple Silicon updates have feature parity with the previous versions. It also says that the first launch of each Office app will take a bit longer, as macOS is generating optimized code for the Apple Silicon processor — confirming that the code isn't native to Apple Silicon, and is relying on Rosetta 2 for operation.
There does not appear to be any discrete download at this time. The new updates are available through the Microsoft Update utility in macOS.
A Microsoft 365 subscription comes in business, personal and family versions. The business version costs from $5 per month per user, and the personal edition is $6.99 per month.
The latest Microsoft 365 and Office 2019 updates make the productivity suite fully compatible with macOS Big Sur and Apple Silicon — but it is not native code for the M1 processor.
The latest release of Microsoft's Office suite of apps including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, and OneDrive can be installed on devices that are based on the Apple Silicon architecture. For the best experience, install the November 2020 build 16.43, or newer.
Beyond Apple Silicon compatibility, the new release includes the 'latest optimizations for macOS Big Sur' which is expected to be made available on Thursday afternoon.
Microsoft says that the Apple Silicon updates have feature parity with the previous versions. It also says that the first launch of each Office app will take a bit longer, as macOS is generating optimized code for the Apple Silicon processor — confirming that the code isn't native to Apple Silicon, and is relying on Rosetta 2 for operation.
There does not appear to be any discrete download at this time. The new updates are available through the Microsoft Update utility in macOS.
A Microsoft 365 subscription comes in business, personal and family versions. The business version costs from $5 per month per user, and the personal edition is $6.99 per month.
Apple And Microsoft Office Compatibility Software
Microsoft recently announced that it was officially ending support for Office 2016 for Mac on October 13, 2020. Apple Silicon compatibility in Office 2016 is questionable.
Apple Compatibility With Microsoft Office
AppleInsider has affiliate partnerships and may earn commission on products purchased through affiliate links. These partnerships do not influence our editorial content.
