Office 365/2019 change from 32-bit to 64-bit with little warning

12122012

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https://office-watch.com/2019/office-365-2019-change-from-32-bit-to-64-bit-with-little-warning/

Microsoft Office 365/2019 installation is about to change in a big way for all users – home and business. The default is changing from 32-bit to 64-bit software in mid-January 2019. Microsoft is giving little warning of the change despite the compatibility risks to customers.
An important change in the way Office is installed by default.

Yet Microsoft has chosen to communicate this vital change very poorly and without proper clarity.

The situation is confusing because Microsoft has chosen NOT to openly talk about the change. Microsoft loves to say that their blogs are a way to openly communicate but the Office blogs are silent on this important choice.

For some reason Redmond thinks it’s better to hide the switch to 64-bit and hope no-one notices or complains.

Office 365 administrators received warning about this in the Office 365 Admin Centre – which isn’t a lot of help to regular users Even admins themselves might have not noticed the change (we’ve copied the Admin notice below).
What is affected?

While it’s not stated, this only applies to Office 365/2019 for Windows. Office for Mac has already been 64-bit for some time.

While the Office 365 Admin statement seems to only apply to Office 365 ProPlus and Office 2019 for business customers it appears to also apply to Office 365 for consumers (Home, Personal, University).
Office 365 Home / Personal / University too

Microsoft’s web page about choosing Office 32-bit vs 64-bit has been quietly changed, seemingly in advance of the changeover to a 64-bit default.

The updated page says “64-bit version is automatically installed”.

office-365-2019-change-from-32-bit-to-64-bit-with-little-warning-25543.png
 
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