Which version for my users: Office 2016 or Office 2019?

Microsoft has launched different versions of the Office suite. To provide you with objective comparison elements and help you make your choice between Office 2016 or Office 2019 that will equip your employees' workstations, it is interesting to study the technological and functional differences between the perpetual license (on-premise) versions 2016 and 2019. The analysis of the technical prerequisites of the versions will also guide your choice based on the hardware upgrades you may need to consider when choosing between Office 2016 or Office 2019.

Brief history of Office 2016 and Office 2019 versions

The Office suite Office 2016 is the oldest version, marketed from 2015 with a standard support end date scheduled for 2020. Office 2019 is the latest version; it was marketed starting in 2018 with a standard support end date scheduled for October 2023. These two on-premise versions mark a turning point in the history of the Microsoft Office suite. The 2016 version, optimized for Windows 10, offers a new experience with a more advanced collaborative dimension. It provides the ability to collaborate online with document co-authoring, real-time document sharing with OneDrive, and accessibility of shared documents from any environment and any device, whether desktop or mobile, including smartphones and tablets, and via a web client... The Office 2019 version also includes extended features and a rich portfolio of applications. It is remarkable because it is announced as the last perpetual version of Microsoft's Office suite.

What applications are available in Office 2016 and Office 2019 versions

Office 2016

Depending on the editions (we only consider the Standard, Professional, and Professional Plus versions), Office 2016, available for download, includes basic applications such as Word (word processing), Excel (spreadsheet), PowerPoint (presentation software), OneNote (digital notebook), and specific applications such as Outlook (email client), Publisher (desktop publishing software), Access (relational database), and Teams (collaborative communication software deployed in SaaS mode). Real-time document sharing and collaborative work are possible thanks to online cloud storage with the OneDrive application. The Office 2016 deployment can be enriched with related applications such as SharePoint 2016 (collaborative platform), Project 2016 (project management software), and Visio 2016 (diagram software), etc.

Among the strengths of Office 2016, it is worth noting the implementation of automatic saving routines that improve application performance and limit system errors, the universal compatibility of images and videos, and intelligent help and search tools.

Among the strengths of Office 2016, it is worth noting the implementation of automatic saving routines that improve application performance and limit system errors, the universal compatibility of images and videos, and intelligent help and search tools.Office 2019

The Office 2019 license (only supported by Windows 10 and 11) is available in Standard, Professional, Professional Education, and Professional Plus editions. This approach only considers business versions. It is available for download, simplifying deployment for your organization's users. The main innovation of this Office 2019 version lies in the Click-to-Run installation function that replaces the usual Windows Installer.

This Office 2019 version includes the same application portfolio as Office 2016, namely Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher, Access, and Skype for Business (Teams). You can similarly complement the Office suite with SharePoint 2019, Project 2019, and Visio 2019 applications. In each of these applications, new features are deployed, particularly in real-time collaborative work, speech synthesis, and new charts for Excel. Despite its proximity to Microsoft 365, this 2019 version does not benefit from all the functional innovations implemented in the on-demand Office 365 version.

The technical prerequisites for Office 2016 or Office 2019 versions

The choice between Office 2016 or Office 2019 is primarily dictated by a functional requirement, but you also need to consider the hardware component of your IT infrastructure. This way, you can evaluate the cost or benefits achieved depending on whether you integrate Office 2016 or Office 2019.

The prerequisites for installing the Office 2016 license in 32 or 64 bits are for Windows a processor with x86 or x64 bits, running at 1 GHz, 2 GB of RAM, and 3 GB of hard disk space. In terms of environment, the Office suite can be installed on a PC equipped with Windows 7, 8, 10. For Apple, an Intel processor, 4 GB of RAM, and 6 GB of hard disk space are required.

The prerequisites for using Office 2019 are for Windows a processor running at 1.6 GHz with 2 cores, 4 GB of RAM, and 4 GB of hard disk space. For Apple, an Intel processor, 4 GB of RAM, and 10 GB of hard disk space are required.

Given the proximity of the two versions and the required technical prerequisites, in most cases, the choice between the Office 2016 or Office 2019 version should lean towards Office 2016. This version will allow you to save on second-hand licenses and extend the life of your IT equipment.