News
Office 2008 for Mac Coming in January
Office 2008 for Mac will be available in the U.S. beginning next Jan. 15.
Office 2008 for Mac will be available in the U.S. beginning next Jan. 15. That was one of a number of announcements made today at the Apple Expo in Paris, in addition to pricing and product versions.
Originally expected to be shipping in the second half of 2007, Microsoft in August announced the delay, citing quality control as the reason for the holdup.
The core suite remains the same, and includes Word 2008, Excel 2008, Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2008 and Microsoft Office Entourage 2008. It will work natively in both Power PC- and Intel-based Macs.
A new offering is Special Media Edition, which includes the core suite and adds the Expression Media digital asset management system. Expression, in addition to asset management, includes a new media encoder and Automator tools for an improved workflow.
In addition to the core suite and Media edition, a lower-priced version will be available: Office 2008 for Mac Home and Student Edition. The main difference is that it will not allow connectivity to an Exchange server, making it virtually useless on a Windows network.
The new suite will support Microsoft's Open XML document format, which is the standard format for Office 2007, Microsoft's offering for the PC market. Office 2007 dropped last Jan. 30.
Office 2008 for Mac will cost $399.95 for the full retail version, and $239.95 for the upgrade product. The Media Edition will come in at $499.95 for full retail, and $299.95 for the upgrade. The price drop is substantial for the Home and Student Edition, at $149.95 for the full retail offering.
It's been a long time coming for the update. The last version, Office 2004 for Mac, was released in May 2004.
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Keith Ward is the editor in chief of Virtualization & Cloud Review. Follow him on Twitter @VirtReviewKeith.