I run MS Office local apps on my 2018 MBP 15" 6-core. They are slow. I agree the M1 will never make them feel better. Neither will the M2 or M3. They will always be slow.
If they were ever going to be fast, they would already be fast. They are a software problem unto their own.
Searching on the Costco website has a 2-3 second delay between each entry for me.
I think there are two routes to making software faster for users: 1) intense education of developers and rewarding them properly for keeping software responsive, and 2) only letting them develop on 5-10 year old hardware. I'm not really sure 1) would work with many teams, but I'm pretty sure 2) would.
If they were ever going to be fast, they would already be fast. They are a software problem unto their own.