Microsoft 365 Vs Office 2016 Mac

20-05-2021

Microsoft 365 Vs Office 2016 Mac

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Existing Office 2016 for Mac customers will be seamlessly upgraded to 64-bit versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote as part of the August product release (version 15.25). This affects customers of all license types: Retail, Office 365 Consumer, Office 365 Commercial, and Volume.

Applies to:Office for Mac, Office 2019 for Mac, Office 2016 for Mac

There are two basic ways that you, as an admin, can deploy Office for Mac to users in your organization:

Provide your users with the installer package file, and have them install Office for Mac for themselves
Download the installer package file to your local network, and then use your software distribution tools to deploy Office for Mac to your users

If you have an Office 365 plan, you can provide your users with instructions on how to download and install Office for Mac for themselves. To install Office for Mac, a user has to be administrator on the Mac or know an administrator account name and password.

But, if you deploy Office for Mac for your users, you have more control over the deployment, including which users get Office for Mac and when. To plan your deployment, review the following information.

Download Office for Mac to your local network

The easiest way to download Office for Mac, and ensure you're always getting the most current version and build, is to download directly from the Office Content Delivery Network (CDN) on the internet. Here are the links to the installer packages for the Office suite, which contains all the applications:

Office for Mac (for Office 365 plans)
Office 2019 for Mac (for retail or volume licensed versions)
Office 2016 for Mac (for retail or volume licensed versions)

Note

Installer and update packages for individual applications are also available on the Office CDN. For links to those, see Most current packages for Office for Mac.
The same installer package is used for Office for Mac and Office 2019 for Mac. How you activate the product determines whether you get the features for Office for Mac or the features for Office 2019 for Mac.
Unlike Office 2016 for Mac, the installer package for Office 2019 for Mac isn't available on the Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC).

Deploy Office for Mac to users in your organization

Office for Mac uses the Apple Installer technology for installation. That means you can use the software distribution tools that you normally use to deploy software to Mac users. Some of the most common tools are Jamf Pro, Munki, and AutoPkg. You can also use Apple Remote Desktop and AppleScript.

Important

There are changes in Office for Mac to improve security, including implementing Apple app sandboxing guidelines. These changes mean that you can't customize the app bundle before or after you deploy Office. Don't add, change, or remove files in an app bundle. For example, even if you don't need the French language resource files for Excel, don't delete them. This change prevents Excel from starting. Even though you can't customize app bundles, you can configure preferences for each app.

Additional deployment information for Office for Mac

Whichever deployment method you decide to use, the following information can help you plan your Office for Mac deployment.

What's new: Before you deploy, review the information about what's new for admins in Office for Mac. This includes information about system requirements, language support, and new features.
Side-by-side installation: You can't have Office 2016 for Mac and Office 2019 for Mac installed on the same computer. Also, you can't have Office for Mac (from an Office 365 plan) along with either Office 2016 for Mac or Office 2019 for Mac (both of which are one-time purchase versions) installed on the same computer.
Deploying individual apps: Installer package files for individual applications are available on the Office Content Delivery Network (CDN). For links to those, see Most current packages for Office for Mac.
Activation: To use Office for Mac, it needs to be activated. Before you deploy, review the information about how activation works in Office for Mac.
Uninstalling: If you need to uninstall Office for Mac, you can follow these steps to completely remove Office for Mac. Unfortunately, there is no program to uninstall Office for Mac automatically.
Office for Mac 2011: Support for Office for Mac 2011 ended on October 10, 2017. All of your Office for Mac 2011 apps will continue to function. But, you could expose yourself to serious and potentially harmful security risks. To completely remove Office for Mac 2011, follow these steps.
Upgrading to Office 2019 for Mac: If you're a volume licensed customer, you can upgrade to Office 2019 for Mac without uninstalling Office 2016 for Mac. You just need to download the 2019 version of the Volume License (VL) Serializer from the Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC) and deploy it to each computer running Office 2016 for Mac. If you need to go back to Office 2016 for Mac after you've upgraded, follow these steps.
Version numbers Version numbers of 16.17 or higher for retail or volume licensed installs indicate you have Office 2019 for Mac. Office 2016 for Mac has version numbers of 16.16 or lower. Since the 'major' version (16) hasn't changed between Office 2016 for Mac and Office 2019 for Mac, application settings, including policies, preferences, and preference domains are similar between the two versions. Also, add-ins and other extensibility solutions that are compatible with Office 2016 for Mac will most likely be compatible with Office 2019 for Mac or will require minimal testing.

Requirements

To use Office for Mac 2016, you must have:

Mac OS X 10.10 or later
One of the following subscriptions:
- Office 365 Enterprise E3
- Office 365 Business
- Office 365 Business Premium
- Office 365 ProPlus
- Office 365 ProPlus for Students
- Office 365 ProPlus for Faculty
- Office 365 Midsize Business
- Office 365 Small Business Premium

Note: Office 2016 for Mac for Office 365 operated by 21Vianet is not offered through the Apple store.

Download and install Office 2016 for Mac

From your Mac, sign in to Office 365 operated by 21Vianet with your work or school account.
Go to Settings > Office 365 Settings > Software.
On the Software page, under Install Office 2016 for Mac, select Install to begin downloading the installer package.
Once the download has completed, open Finder, go to Downloads, and double-click Microsoft_Office_2016_Installer.pkg.
On the first installation screen, select Continue to begin the installation process.
Enter your Mac login password to complete the installation.

After Office 2016 for Mac is installed, Word 2016 for Mac opens so you can activate Office and confirm your subscription. You should only have to do this once.

Review the Word 2016 for Mac What's New screen, and then select Get started.
On the Sign in to Activate Office screen, select Sign In, and then enter your work or school account.
After you sign in, you may see an alert asking for permission to access the Microsoft identity stored in your keychain. Select Allow or Always Allow to continue.
On the next screen, choose an appearance for your Office installation, select Continue, and then select the Start Using Word button to open the app and complete the Office 2016 for Mac activation.

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