The Mac hasn’t always been up to date when it comes to Office and perhaps, for old strategic business reasons.
However, the days of Microsoft knee-capping Mac versions of Office appear to be slowly drawing to an end as Office 2016 for Mac becomes imbued with the power and title of the 64-bit version.
Microsoft has been testing the Office 2016 for Mac 64-bit version for a little under a month now and it the company seems to be satisfied with the result enough to move the release out of its seemingly beta or Insider usage, to more general availability for Mac users.
As of today, August 22, 2016, all Mac users or more technically speaking, all Mac users on the what Microsoft internally refers to as the Production Channel can now get their hands on version number 15.21 of Office 2016 for Mac with 64-bit enabled.
The update brings an end to the continued development and support of 32-bit versions of Office being released to the Mac. Mac users, from here on out, will only be given the 64-bit version of Office as an option while Microsoft continues to spread the updated version out to all development channels.
With Apple doing away with support for 32-bit processing dating back to 2014 with OS X 10.7, Office 2016 for Mac as a 64-bit release has been a long time coming.
Unfortunately, for those looking to remain on the 32-bit version, Microsoft is not making the download process as smooth as just grabbing install bits from your local app store or Office website. Anyone looking to keep their 32-bit version of Office 2016 for Mac can follow the instructions here. For everyone else, head over to the Office Dev Center for more information and details. Let us know in the comments, which version prefer and why.