The latest macOS, v12 called ‘Monterey’ is out now. Which Microsoft Office for Mac will work with the new operating system for Mac computers? Should you update to Monterey now or wait a little while?
In short, any Office for Mac which works with ‘Big Sur’ macOS v11 is OK with ‘Monterey’.
Office for Mac that work with macOS Monterey
That means the following releases of Office for Mac are compatible:
- Office 365 for Mac
- Office 2021 for Mac
- Office LTSC for Mac
- Office 2019 for Mac.
Microsoft’s general policy is for Office to support the current and last two versions of macOS. That now means:
- Monterey (v12)
- Big Sur (v11)
- Catalina (v10.15)
and for the moment Mojave (v10.14) is also supported but won’t be in a few months.
Should you update to Monterey?
Yes, but not yet. The new OS has only been publicly available for about a week (from 25 October 2021).
Apple is sure to release an update with bug fixes and tweaks (there’s already a beta release of a Monterey update).
Unless there’s something compelling you need in Monterey, we recommend waiting a few months.
It’s the same advice we give to Windows users about major updates … wait and let other people be the guinea pigs.
What’s in macOS Monterey?
- New – Shortcuts and TestFlight
- Universal Control, use a single keyboard and mouse to interact across multiple Macs and iPads at once., Check for compatibility of Mac and iPads.
- Planned introduction of “Expanded Protections for Children” which will apply cryptography to detect and help limit the spread of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) online by scanning the user’s iCloud photos and Messages attachments.
- This has been controversial, to put it mildly, but Apple is persisting with it against their own usual focus on customer privacy.
- Another redesign of the Safari browser
- Support for AirPlay content received from iOS and iPadOS devices, as well as from other Macs. Again, check for compatibility of Mac and iPad hardware.
- FaceTime improvements. At last, you can share the screen. SharePlay feature to experience music or TV simultaneously and in sync with others.
- Live Text to copy, paste, translate and lookup text in Photos, Screenshot, Quick Look, and Safari.
- Different modes to filter Focus notifications across iPhone, iPad and Macs.
- Low Power Mode option for more recent MacBook and Macbook Pro.
- Time Machine backup tweaked to exclude more system files
- Change the mouse pointer’s colors
- Factory reset the device from the System Preferences.
- Tips notifications
- Notes now allows #hash tags (e.g. #boyfriend, #friend ). With a matching Tag Browser and Smart Folders see tagged notes.
- Quick Notes make a note within any app via the Fn + Q shortcut or a hot corner.
- Apple Maps now has a 3D globe, with better mountain, desert, and forest detail.
What’s NOT in Monterey?
There are a few features dropped from Monterey.
- The bundled PHP interpreter
- Photo Booth doesn’t have custom Quartz Composer filters and plugins.
Huge news for Office Mac users – font embedding finally arrives!
Office for Mac now supports M1 chips directly
All about Office 2021 for Windows & Mac
