Keeping Microsoft Publisher Working Beyond 2026

[lan101]

I have a few clients that would be heartbroken if they couldn't use Publisher once it goes away in 2026.

From my understanding if they use Office 365 now you can grab a 2021 office perpetual license but need to run it under a different user account.

Since office 2021 licenses still seem to be out there in the wild for now I figured that was probably the best way for people use 365 to continue once it goes away.

Just wondering if that's the best option or if anything I'm missing on that. Basically cannot run 365 and 2021 together on the same user account is my understanding of it.

Thank you.

 

[britechguy]

Just wondering if that's the best option or if anything I'm missing on that. Basically cannot run 365 and 2021 together on the same user account is my understanding of it.

That's not quite correct. With a couple of careful gyrations it's perfectly possible to run both on the same machine for the same Windows user. From Copilot:
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Yes, you can install both Office 2021 and Microsoft 365 on the same computer, but there are some limitations to keep in mind. Generally, these versions cannot coexist under the same user profile due to potential conflicts in program files and updates. However, if you create separate user profiles for each installation, you can switch between them to access the different versions.

Alternatively, if one of the products is installed using MSI (common for volume-licensed products), they can run side-by-side. Keep in mind that even with these setups, you might encounter occasional issues.

Would you like guidance on setting up separate profiles or exploring other options?
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From Perplexity.ai: Can you install Microsoft Office 2021 and M365 on the same computer for a single Windows user?

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

A bit over a year ago I had a client who is on 365 biz prem...ask for a Publisher license, got it for him via volume licensing through the CSP..which attaches the key into the 365 tenant.
But could never get it to register/activate.
Ended up just...dropping the project, they gave up...and I gave up.
Hadn't run across the "different user profile" trick..but honestly that'd have been impractical.

 

[lan101]

That's not quite correct. With a couple of careful gyrations it's perfectly possible to run both on the same machine for the same Windows user. From Copilot:
----
Yes, you can install both Office 2021 and Microsoft 365 on the same computer, but there are some limitations to keep in mind. Generally, these versions cannot coexist under the same user profile due to potential conflicts in program files and updates. However, if you create separate user profiles for each installation, you can switch between them to access the different versions.

Alternatively, if one of the products is installed using MSI (common for volume-licensed products), they can run side-by-side. Keep in mind that even with these setups, you might encounter occasional issues.

Would you like guidance on setting up separate profiles or exploring other options?
----

From Perplexity.ai: Can you install Microsoft Office 2021 and M365 on the same computer for a single Windows user?

Yeah that's basically what I read earlier on it...so I was thinking another user would do the trick. I told specific client it would be an experiment and they would be the guinea pig lol.

 

[lan101]

A bit over a year ago I had a client who is on 365 biz prem...ask for a Publisher license, got it for him via volume licensing through the CSP..which attaches the key into the 365 tenant.
But could never get it to register/activate.
Ended up just...dropping the project, they gave up...and I gave up.
Hadn't run across the "different user profile" trick..but honestly that'd have been impractical.

Yeah I agree definitely impractical for most cases having 2 separate accounts for that.