Microsoft Office For Mac Changes & Versioning Shenanigans

Standard

Today, not only was Mojave released but Microsoft released Microsoft Office 2019 for Mac (sort of).

Below, I will try to explain the qualifier above & some other bits & bobs.

Versioning

So, let’s dive right in:

  • Office 2016 is on 16.16.x
  • Office 2019 starts at 16.17.x
  • Office 365 can be both 16.16.x & 16.17.x

Operating System Requirements

Microsoft have also announced an n-2 support policy, as per the article here.

And as such:

Office 365? Well, see above.

Volume License Serialiser

As blogged before, Microsoft bundle a Volume License Serialiser with Office Suite media downloaded from the Volume Licensing Service Center.

For 2016, there have been 2 versions of the Volume License Serialiser:

  • v1: 32-bit serialiser, has to be installed after Office.
  • v2: 64-bit serialiser, can be installed before or after installing Office 2016.
NOTE: The above will only serialise Office 2016

Within the Volume Licensing Service Center today, you should see the below:

This includes:

  • v3: 64-bit serialiser, can be installed before or after installing Office 2019.
NOTE: The above will only serialise Office 2019

And, just to make things clear. All 3 serialisers write out the same file: /Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.office.licensingv2.plist

Wait, what?

So, the below is an attempt to explain the above.

 Office 2016 (16.16.x)Office 2019 (16.17.x)Office 365
macOS 10.10 – 10.11YesNoOffice 2016 apps (16.16.x)
macOS 10.12+Yes*YesOffice 2016 apps (16.16.x) / Office 2019 apps (16.17.x)**
Volume License Serialiser 1-2YesNoN/A
Volume License Serialiser 3NoYesN/A

*Mojave  support requires a 16.6.2+ update

**As per: https://support.office.com/en-gb/article/upgrade-your-macos-to-access-new-office-365-for-mac-features-f6efc6b6-90f8-4e69-82dd-d0de32a111aa?ui=en-US&rs=en-GB&ad=GB

As part of the upcoming September 2018 update, Office 365 for Mac users on macOS 10.12 or later will receive an update from the Office 2016 for Mac client to Office 2019 for Mac in order to maintain access to new feature releases and updates. Office 365 customers remaining on older macOS versions with Office 2016 for Mac will receive mainstream support, but not new Office 365 features.

tl;dr

macOS 10.10-10.11 deploy 16.16.x

macOS 10.12+ deploy 16.17.x

After which, if wanting to volume license you’ll need to apply the correct Volume License Serialiser.

AutoPkg

If you’re using AutoPkg, (& if not, why not?), please also read this post from Anthony Reimer.

Patch

If you’re using Jamf’s patch, double check your definitions as there are a number of discussions on these changes on Jamf Nation:

2 thoughts on “Microsoft Office For Mac Changes & Versioning Shenanigans

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.