Microsoft 365 - What Version of Office should I Install?

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For single-user computers, whether university-owned or personal devices, Office 365 is our preferred version to install.

Benefits of Office 365:

No upgrades needed, ever: IT will never have to push out a new version of Office 365. Customers will always have the latest features and updates, as well as security updates and bug fixes.
Install on multiple devices: customers can self-install on all of their devices, including university-owned and personal devices, sign in on up to 5 devices at a time, and remove devices they no longer use.
Easy to install: Simply visit office365.com and sign in as username@oregonstate.edu. Installation is quick and easy.
Publisher and Access included for PC users.

Reasons to install Office 2021 instead:

Shared computers: lab computer, classroom computer, checkout computer, department loaner, student worker shared computer.
Field or instrument computers: computers that will be off the network for a while or are never on the network. Office 365 requires an Internet connection every 30 days to renew its license. Office 2021 requires a VPN connection to OSU every 180 days to check in with the license server (this is the same time frame for Windows license activation).
Student employee computer: Student employees may have trouble setting up Outlook with Office 365 because they have to sign in to Office 365 as username@oregonstate.edu, but sign in to the computer and Outlook as se-username@oregonstate.edu.

Should I upgrade to Office 2021?

The best option is to install Office 365 (see above).
If your computer is on Office 2016 or Office 2019, you should upgrade to at least Office 2021; Office 365 is preferred.
There are no features in Office 2021 that are newer than Office 365. Office 365 will always have the latest features.