Office 2008 for Mac SKUs

Microsoft on Tuesday announced its expanded product line-up for the Universal version of Office 2008 for Mac, which is expected to be available on retail shelves on January 15th, 2008. The delayed product launch will include three separate Office 2008 for Mac products, including a Special Media Edition and a Home & Student Edition. The Office 2008 for Mac core suite ($400) includes Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Entourage along with Microsoft Exchange Server support and Automator tools, while the Office for Mac Special Media Edition ($500) combines Office 2008 applications with the Microsoft Expression Media digital asset management system. The special education and consumer version, Office 2008 for Mac Home and Student Edition ($150), provides the basics of Office 2008 for Mac for home and school users: it includes three user licenses for use by consumers and students but does not include connectivity to Microsoft Exchange Server or support for automated workflows.

The new Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition features the Office 2008 applications together with the Microsoft Expression Media digital asset management system, a digital assent management suite acquired from iView Multimedia earlier this year.

According to the company, Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition is designed for professional users who need Microsoft Exchange Server support as well as Automator tools and are looking for a single solution to meet their productivity and digital asset management needs.

All versions of Office 2008 for Mac support the new Open XML file format and are Universal applications that will perform natively on Power PC- and Intel-based Macs. Each version will be available in Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Swedish, and, for the first time, in the Nordic languages (Danish, Finnish and Norwegian).

“We built Office 2008 with the unifying goal of making it easier for Mac users to access the tools they need to get the job done — whether it’s creating a brochure for their business, managing their family schedule and finances, or finalizing a presentation to share between Macs and PCs,” said Craig Eisler, general manager of the Mac BU at Microsoft. “And, of course, Office 2008 for Mac will provide the document fidelity with the 2007 Microsoft Office system that our users need to stay connected with their friends and co-workers on PCs.”

As showcased at Macworld Expo 2007, Office 2008 introduces smart features such as Ledger Sheets in Excel 2008, My Day with Entourage 2008, Publishing Layout View in Word 2008 and SmartArt graphics in PowerPoint 2008. Entourage 2008 also features improved Windows Exchange Server support, with enhanced reliability and functionality.

“We’ve worked closely with Microsoft since it launched the first version of Office for Mac more than 20 years ago,” said Ron Okamoto, vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations at Apple. “Office delivers tremendous compatibility across platforms for Mac and PC customers, and we look forward to another great user experience with Office 2008 for Mac.”

Microsoft is also offering specially priced upgrade versions for legally licensed users of previous versions: Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac ($400) is $240 for the upgrade version or $300 for an upgrade to the Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition.

In addition, the company launched a new technology guarantee program that allows customers in select regions who purchase qualifying Office 2004 for Mac product(s) the ability to upgrade to a version of Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac for US$10 plus applicable taxes. [updated]

by MacNN Staff