How to get the Office 2024 preview and why not to bother

Microsoft has released a preview version of Office 2024 LTSC. Here’s how to get it, what’s in the preview and why not to bother with the preview software.

Office 2024 is the next fixed price or perpetual license version of Microsoft Office that will be released later this year.

The newly released preview is for Office 2024 LTSC, which has even fewer features than Office 2024.  ‘LTSC’ or Long Term Servicing Channel versions are for commercial/volume license customers only.  Microsoft intends LTSC software for limited use in offline or special situations.

As a result, the current Office 2024 LTSC preview is not a good example of what will be in the consumer version of Office 2024.

The current preview release is almost indistinguishable from the current Office 2021. We wonder if the first preview of Office 2024 LTSC is really a base release with various features added (enabled) in later updates.

On top of all that, it’s preview software which means there’s a risk of bugs and troubles, just like any other ‘Insiders’ or beta software. All the reasons we’ve explained in Join the ‘Office Insider’ Movement: Uncover the Surprising Benefits and lesser-known Risks!

How to get Office 2024 LTSC preview

For all those reasons (the limited LTSC version, lack of new features and beta software risks) we do NOT recommend trying the Office 2024 LTSC preview.  More because it’s not worth the bother than any other reason.

If you do want to try the preview, don’t install it on a computer in regular use. Either a spare computer or better still, a virtual machine.

Microsoft has all the instructions here, with a lot of detail that applies to IT admins. Here’s what to do in short.

1. Install the Office Deployment Tool (ODT) and note what folder it’s installed to.
2. Make a configuration XML (plain text) file to tell ODT what to do.  Microsoft provides a sample file, below.
   • Remove the <Product ID …>  sections for Visio and Project if you don’t want them.
   • In the XXXX places paste in the MAK codes listed further down in the Microsoft instructions.
3. Save the XML file to the same folder as the ODT setup.exe program.
   1. Any name for the XML – we used PreviewLTSC.XML
4. Open a Command Prompt (with Admin access) box and change to the folder that has the Office Deployment Tool.
5. Run this command using whatever name you gave your XML file.
   setup.exe /configure PreviewLTSC.XML

Then wait while the software is downloaded and installed. Ignore mentions of “Microsoft 365” during the install.  You can confirm that Office 2024 LTSC was installed from the File | Account pane in any Office app.

All about Office 2024 for Windows and Mac (so far)

<Configuration>

  <Add OfficeClientEdition="64"  Channel="PerpetualVL2024">

     <Product ID="ProPlus2024Volume" PIDKEY="#####-#####-#####-#####-#####" >

         <Language ID="en-us" />

    </Product>

    <Product ID="VisioPro2024Volume" PIDKEY="#####-#####-#####-#####-#####">

        <Language ID="en-us" />

    </Product>

    <Product ID="ProjectPro2024Volume" PIDKEY="#####-#####-#####-#####-#####" >

        <Language ID="en-us" />

    </Product>

  </Add>

  <RemoveMSI />

  <Property Name="AUTOACTIVATE" Value="1" />

</Configuration>