Windows 11 Professional with Office 2021 Professional Plus

About this release

Setting up a machine normally means two jobs: install the system, then install the office suite, then go back and configure both. This image does the whole thing in a single pass. Boot from the stick, answer the setup questions once, and the machine arrives at a desktop with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access and Publisher already in place and configured.

The system side is the Professional edition, which carries group policy, remote desktop hosting, drive encryption, virtualisation and domain join. The suite side is the complete 2021 Professional Plus line with the modern Excel function set, dynamic arrays, dark mode across the applications and the full Outlook client. Neither half is a trimmed version of itself.

The image also relaxes the firmware checks that stop the current generation installing on otherwise capable hardware. Machines that fail the platform module and processor list tests but have plenty of memory, a fast drive and a working graphics card install and run here perfectly well, which keeps a lot of serviceable computers out of a skip.

Everything else is the ordinary setup experience. Display language and regional format chosen at the start, driver coverage broad enough that network and storage come up on most hardware without hunting, and a choice between a clean install that wipes the target partition and an upgrade that keeps files and applications where they are.

What it does

System and suite in one pass

The machine reaches a working desktop with the office applications already installed.

Professional feature set

Group policy, remote desktop hosting, drive encryption, virtualisation and domain join.

Complete Professional Plus suite

Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access, Publisher and OneNote included.

Relaxed firmware checks

Installs on capable hardware that fails the current platform module and processor requirements.

Multilingual

Display language and regional format chosen during setup.

Clean or in place install

Wipe the partition or upgrade keeping files and applications.

Changed in this version

• Image refreshed with the current cumulative updates for both halves folded in.
• Updated storage, network and chipset drivers.
• Suite configuration completes faster on the first login.
• Setup handles mixed drive configurations more reliably.

System requirements

Install order

1. Write the image to a USB stick with a tool that produces bootable media.
2. Back up the target machine before you begin.
3. Boot from the stick and choose display language and edition.
4. Choose clean install or upgrade, then let setup run through to the desktop and let the suite finish configuring on first login.

Worth knowing before you start

File details