10/09, 5:35pm
Microsoft unveils free Office Starter 2010
Microsoft this week said that it would venture into free productivity apps with a Starter Edition of Office 2010 for Windows. The special version will be free to use but will have feature-reduced versions of Excel and Word as well as ads that run in a sidebar with the app window. It will only come with a new PC rather than come as a download, but it will have an option to download a more complete version such as Home & Student Edition.
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10/01, 11:00pm
App now enables editing of DOC and XLS files
DataViz has launched the latest version of its Documents To Go app for the iPhone and iPod touch. Following through with the company's earlier promises, v2.0 adds full support for creating and editing Excel documents. The previous release limited users to just viewing the spreadsheet content.
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09/15, 3:15pm
Part of simplified Office lineup
Microsoft has announced a reorganization of its Office 2008 for Mac product lineup. The software now comes in just two main editions: Home & Student, and Business. The latter is new, adding a series of differences on top of the regular releases of Word, Excel, Entourage and PowerPoint.
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09/03, 11:10pm
Court says MS can sell Word until appeal is done
The US federal Court of Appeals today granted Microsoft a temporary stay on an injunction that would have banned sales of Word until the conclusion of an appeal against the successful lawsuit filed by Canadian firm i4i. Originally, the developer would have had to stop sales on October 10th and would have forced Microsoft to shut down sales of virtually all copies of Office unless it could plead its case.
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09/03, 6:20pm
Samsung redesigns netbooks with new software
Along with its X series updates, Samsung at the IFA show launched two new netbook updates. The N130 and N140 have the same rounded aesthetic as the new full-size notebooks and also bring basic productivity apps to a category that normally comes with little software. Both have a stripped-down version of Microsoft Office and streamlined backups to Microsoft's SkyDrive service, which can hold as much as 25GB of data online for free.
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08/25, 6:00pm
Quickscript goes beta
Axiotron has released the public beta version of Quickscript, a handwriting recognition application which can convert handwritten text and characters into digital type. The application recognizes 26 different languages including English, Korean, Japanese, and Arabic and can detect both printed and cursive writing. The program enables users to write in Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Pages, TextEdit and other applications that accept text input.
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08/19, 3:35pm
Microsoft Office on mobile
Although Microsoft has not disclosed any plans to bring its Office software to the iPhone as a native app, the company is working on a suite of Office Web applications that will support both desktop and mobile browsers, according to Ars Technica. The web-based tools will include Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote.
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08/13, 11:50am
New Office for Mac planned
Microsoft on Thursday announced plans to release a new version of Office for Mac sometime late in 2010. The update will feature a new application, Outlook for Mac, that will serve as a replacement for Entourage. The company is also set to include Visual Basic support once again, after the feature was removed from the Office 2008 release.
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08/11, 5:30pm
MS Nokia Office Tomorrow
Microsoft this evening said it and Nokia together would hold a conference call late tomorrow morning to unveil an "alliance" between the two firms. The two aren't specific about details. As the call will be led by Microsoft Business president Stephen Elop as well as Nokia's executive devices VP Kai Öistämö, however, it's the news may involve the addition of Office apps to Nokia's smartphones, especially its Eseries business models.
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08/06, 11:25pm
Microsoft Office update
Microsoft has released v12.2.1 of its Office application suite for Mac, aiming to fix an issue that prevents users from opening various types of documents. The bug affected programs such as Excel Workbook, PowerPoint Presentation, Word Document, Excel Template and PowerPoint Template. The latest version removes the bug, enabling users to open regular and macro-enabled XML documents and templates.
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07/28, 4:55pm
MS Office 2010 streaming
Microsoft recently announced the release of its Office 2010 Click-To-Run Technical Preview program for certain users with access to the office suite beta, allowing them to use Office programs while they are still downloading. The applications include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote and is meant for home, student and small business users, with Microsoft indicating it's a taste of things to come from the software giant. Office 2010 is still in the beta stage, and Microsoft is encouraging the limited number of testers to share their feedback after using the software.
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07/20, 10:20am
Office 2008 Service Pack 2
Microsoft has announced that Service Pack 2, a major cumulative update for Office 2008 for Mac, will go online at 10AM Pacific time, or 1PM Eastern. Aside from general reliability fixes, the software is said to bring a number of improvements, such as greater speed in Excel and Word. PowerPoint has gained two new features: a customizable default theme, and custom path animations.
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07/13, 11:10am
MS Office Web and 2010
Microsoft today used its Windows Partners Conference to expand the details of Office 2010, including its web version. Initially considered separate, Microsoft now says Office Web is a counterpart to 2010 but will make it freely available to anyone with a Windows Live account. It will also be free to use on the local network for companies that buy volume licenses of Office 2010, though companies that just want the web app component will also have the option of a subscription.
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07/09, 3:30pm
MS Office Web Apps Monday
Microsoft's Monday event should mark a more formal debut for the company's Office Web suite, tipsters said on Thursday. Although announced nine months ago, the suite is now said by Neowin to be getting a demonstration. It's not known if Microsoft will commit to a public release at the gathering.
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06/11, 4:15pm
Dell store gets Microsoft
Dell on Thursday announced users can now purchase and download Microsoft software from its Dell Download Store, and has thus become the first non-Microsoft site to offer authorized downloads of the software giant's products. Available to US clients only, users can choose from Microsoft Office programs such as Word, Excel and Outlook as well as Publisher, Access and OneNote, among others.
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06/09, 8:40pm
Office 08 update
Microsoft on Tuesday released updates to several of its Mac programs; Office 2008 and Open XML Converter. The Office 12.1.9 update focuses on improved security by addressing a vulnerability that can be used to overwrite the computer memory with malicious code. Users that intend to install Entourage 2008 Web Services Edition for Mac must also install the update for compatibility. The release applies to users of Office 2008, Home and Student Edition, Special Media Edition, Word 2008, Excel 2008, PowerPoint 2008 and Entourage 2008.
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05/25, 11:25am
Palm Pre Leaked Guide
A leak of Sprint's guide to the Palm Pre for business late yesterday has revealed key details about the launch of the smartphone, including Sprint's attitude towards both the iPhone and T-Mobile G1. In its comparison unearthed by Engadget, the carrier touts less direct features as an advantage, including the built-in camera flash, a hardware keyboard and the Synergy feature that merges multiple contacts and calendars. Sprint also boasts the least expensive unlimited service with a $100 plan compared to the $150 for an iPhone on AT&T and $125 for T-Mobile.
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05/15, 11:05am
Mac PowerPoint fix delay
Microsoft has drawn criticism over the timing of a new security patch, targeting the company's PowerPoint presentation software. Windows users can now download update MS09-017, which addresses a zero-day vulnerability known to have been used in real-world attacks. The patch is moreover said to reduce the vulnerability of Office and PowerPoint in general, by removing a mostly irrelevant PowerPoint 4 converter. The creation of PowerPoint 4 files has not been supported since Office XP.
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04/15, 8:45am
Office 2008/2004 updates
Microsoft has released updates to both its Office 2008 and 2004 suites for the Mac. The Office 2008 12.1.7 and Office 2004 11.5.4 patches address issues with security and performance; among these are vulnerabilities which could be exploited with malicious code in order to overwrite a computer’s memory.
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04/14, 3:55pm
Office 2008 Mac trial
Microsoft has released a trial edition of Office 2008 for Mac. The download is free, but operates only for 30 days before a paid registration key is required, at which point it can be converted into either a Standard or Home & Student edition. Included as part of the trial are versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Messenger and the Entourage mail client.
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04/10, 2:35pm
MS Fined for Price Fixing
German antitrust regulatory officials today fined Microsoft 9 million Euros, or the equivalent of $11.8 million, for alleged price fixing on its Office suite. The American software developer was found responsible for unfairly setting the price of Office 2007 Home and Student illegally by talking to Microsoft about the price before promptly promoting the software together. An official commentary defends the verdict by noting that it was Microsoft's particular approach to the deal and not the act of agreeing to a price itself that broke the law.
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04/02, 3:25pm
Office coming to iPhone?
Some form of Office may indeed be headed to the iPhone, Microsoft's Business Division president has suggested. Stephen Elop made comments to the effect at this week's Web 2.0 Expo, cautioning that while people should "keep watching," nothing is on track for a near-future release. Microsoft has hinted at some form of Office support for the iPhone for over a year.
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03/16, 12:30pm
Win 7 RC Moved to May
Microsoft may have instituted one of its first few delays in releasing Windows 7, a translated version of a Russian leak shows. Although internal Microsoft sources had pointed to an April 10th date for the lone release candidate version of the new OS, the software is now reportedly slated for internal completion as an "escrow" build by the very end of April and wouldn't be publicly available until the end of May. The version is expected to be the last major test version before Windows 7 is completed.
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03/04, 10:05am
EU Softens MS Monitoring
The European Commission today said it would scale back its efforts to monitor Microsoft's compliance with a 2004 antitrust ruling that has forced the American software firm to provide code to third-party developers. In a statement, the European Union's legislative wing said it "no longer requires" a full-time monitoring agency to keep Microsoft in check and instead says it will rely on consultants as needed. The dedicated monitors had been in place since 2005.
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02/24, 12:55pm
No Office 14 until 2010
Presenting today in a "Strategic Update Meeting" mainly intended for financial analysts, Microsoft has additionally revealed that Office 14, the next anticipated version of its productivity suite, will not ship this year. Rumors had suggested that the software would launch by the end of 2009, in keeping with an accelerated launch for Windows 7. A single release candidate for Windows 7 is scheduled for April 10th, which may foretell a summer ship date instead of one in late 2009 or early 2010. A simultaneous Office release could help spur corporate upgrades.
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02/18, 10:05am
Pantech Matrix Pro at ATT
AT&T this morning added the Pantech Matrix Pro to its cellphone roster. The phone upgrades the design with a smaller but more upscale body that adds a larger 2.4-inch display and better materials. It also gets a full smartphone-class operating system and uses Windows Mobile 6.1 instead of the feature phone OS of the original Matrix; the switch gives support for full third-party apps and editing Office documents.
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01/22, 10:25am
Microsoft Q4 2008 Results
Microsoft today reported quarterly results that included a rare loss in its staple Windows and Office businesses. Although its revenue climbed slightly year-over-year to $16.63 billion this fall, the company's client group revenue dropped 8 percent in the same period along with an 11 percent drop in its net income, which sits at $4.17 billion. The company cites the poor world economy as a factor but specifically blames netbooks for the shortfall as buyers opted for the low-cost PCs, which often carry less expensive Windows XP Home licenses instead of Vista.
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01/16, 3:05pm
Office 14 screenshots
Microsoft recently provided testers with the alpha builds of its latest work suite, Office 14; as a result, screenshots have been leaked to the public, a report indicates. The images are specifically attributed to a Russian tester from wzor.net, and list a host of applications: Access 14, Excel 14, Groove 14, InfoPath Designer 14, InfoPath Filler 14, InterConnect 14, Outlook 14, OneNote 14, PowerPoint 14, Project 14, Publisher 14, Visio 14, Word 14 and SharePoint Designer 14.
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01/14, 12:45pm
Win 7 Office 14 Due Early
Both Windows 7 and its Office 14 companion suite are all but certain to ship in 2009, an internal Microsoft source tells SAI. The tip supports notions of an accelerated launch and asserts that Microsoft's insistence on an early 2010 target for either release is just a public front to manage expectations, as both software packages are near-certain to arrive later in 2009. Microsoft's new Windows chief is credited with the speed-up courtesy of his discipline in releasing software early.
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01/07, 1:20pm
MS on Office, Apple tax
Roughly 77 percent of American Mac users are running some form of Office for Mac on their computers, Microsoft's Mac Business Unit claims. The proportion is thought to be unusually high, particularly in light of Apple's first-party iWork suite, which offers functionality similar to Office and has been available for several years. Microsoft admits, though, that there is little to compare the 77 percent figure against, given that it has not conducted such studies in the past; similarly, there are no numbers available for countries outside the US.
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01/06, 3:40pm
MS at Macworld 2009
Using Macworld as a jumping point, Microsoft has announced two new pieces of Mac software. The first is the Document Collaboration Companion, a Cocoa-based tool which should simplify uploading and downloading to Office Live Workspaces as well as SharePoint-based collaboration utilities. Users will be able to check documents in and out, cache them offline, and access services such as a Document Library plus the SharePoint and Office Live Workspaces. A private beta is expected to become available in February, followed by a final release later this year.
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12/26, 1:25pm
Apple rankings at Amazon
Two Apple-related products performed extremely well at Amazon during the holiday season, the latter company has announced. Tracking orders from November 15th through to December 19th, the online retailer notes that one of the bestselling electronics items was the second-generation iPod touch, specifically in its 8GB capacity rather than 16 or 32GB. Apple's chief competition was split between a 52-inch red Samsung TV, and Acer's Aspire One netbook.
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12/19, 5:50pm
DealNN: Garmin GPS
Today's DealNN deals include a wide selection of items from GPS units to iPods. For today only (12/19/09) Newegg.com has reduced the price on the Garmin StreetPilot c330 GPS unit from $199.99 to $79.99. The 120GB iPod classic is priced at $219.97 with free shipping at Amazon.com. Two deals on Transcend memory products are currently featured at TigerDirect.com: the 8GB JetFlash flash drive is $14.99 and the 4GB Micro SDHC memory card is priced at $8.99. Get a free 12 month subscription to Mac|Life magazine with the purchase of Office 2008 for $159.98 at MacMall.com. J&R.com has reduced the price on the Polk Audio miDock iPod speaker system from $79.95 to $39.95.
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12/09, 10:55pm
BatchOutput DOC 2
Zevrix has released the latest version of its automated PDF output program for Microsoft Office, BatchOutput DOC 2. The update allows users to split multi-page documents into single-page PDF files. Variable output-file names are configurable to include dynamic page numbers, user names, dates or other values. PDF file sizes and resolutions can be optimized, while users can take advantage of the Mac OS X Quartz filters. Encryption and password protection is now supported for PDF files, with options for different security levels.
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12/09, 8:15pm
Office for Mac updates
Microsoft has released updates to its Office 2004 and Office 2008 software for Mac. Office 2004 11.5.3 is claimed to offer enhanced stability and performance. A bug has been fixed that had previously caused the program to quit unexpectedly when a document was opened. Several vulnerabilities have also been addressed, now preventing an attacker from crafting a malicious Word, Excel or RTF file that could be used to take complete control of a victim's computer.
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12/02, 5:15pm
DealNN: MacBook, iBook
Today's deals at DealNN include a variety of Apple products at reduced prices. Starting at $59.98 is the second generation 2GB iPod shuffle in green at 6ave.com. BuyDig.com has reduced the price on Microsoft Office 2008 to $99 from the MSRP of $430. The refurbished 1GHz iBook G4 is available at Buy.com for $329. MacConnection.com is offering the new aluminum 2.0GHz MacBook for $1149 after mail in rebate.
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11/17, 12:05pm
StarOffice 9 final release
After brief period of beta testing, Sun says it has released the final version of StarOffice 9, its work suite aimed directly at competing with Microsoft Office. Unlike the Microsoft software, StarOffice is open-source, being based on OpenOffice 3.0; StarOffice 9 is also the first version of Sun's program to be coded natively for the Mac, and allows users to read Microsoft's Open XML format, though not save in it.
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11/14, 8:55am
Microsoft Online Store
Addressing a gap in its site versus Apple and others, Microsoft has opened up the simply-titled Microsoft Store. The site marks the first online location for the company to sell Office and individual apps, Windows, peripherals such as mice, and all Xbox 360 hardware and software in one place; it also brings in factory-stock Zunes that would normally be left to the company's Zune Originals page. Every app or device gets the same level of support as if it were bought elsewhere, Microsoft says.
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11/11, 4:10pm
ResizeIt, TinkerTool
Mailings 1.9.45 ($25) is a batch emailing application that can send any web page or plain text document with attachments to several recipients. Mailings simplifies the task of bulk emailing and has features such as logging, progress monitoring, scheduling, error recovery and throttling. The update has addressed a bug that caused an aborted mailing to occasionally remain scheduled to send again. [Download - 4.8MB]
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10/31, 3:50pm
New MacBU GM
In the latest staff restructuring at Microsoft, Eric Wilfrid has been appointed to be the new general manager of its Mac Business Unit (MacBU), as announced on the Mac Mojo blog. He will serve as a replacement for Craig Eisler, who has been promoted to a new position within Entertainment and Devices. Eric was one of the original team members of MacBU that helped build Mac software after the unit's inception in 1997.
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10/30, 3:35pm
Office 2008 12.1.4 update
Having only recently released major patches for both Office 2004 and 2008, Microsoft has posted a new, minor patch for the latter edition of its work suite. Though installed for the whole of Office, the v12.1.4 update specifically addresses a problem within the Entourage mail client. Under copies of v12.1.3, Exchange accounts operating from within Entourage were rendered unable to send meeting invitations or responses.
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10/28, 4:35pm
Microsoft Office Web
Microsoft today backed up the unveiling of Windows 7 with Office Web, the company's first ground-up, web-based production suite. The online apps include simpler versions of Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Word that share a similar interface to Office 2007 and will let users both edit and view documents anywhere they have a broadband Internet connection. Microsoft explains that the feature will give users a consistent experience and access to Office even on mobile devices with advanced web browsers.
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10/15, 4:35pm
Office 2004/2008 updates
Microsoft has released updates for the two most recent editions of its Office for Mac suite, 2004 and 2008. Office 2008 12.1.3 makes a variety of changes, most notably several reliability fixes. Apps in the suite should no longer close spontaneously, and documents with PDF images should not lose or relocate the images when opened within Windows. Other changes include a fix to a malware threat, and a host of tweaks to each individual program. Entourage, for instance, should no longer duplicate calendar events within Outlook 2007 or Outlook Web Access. The patch is a 154.4MB download.
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10/13, 11:05am
OpenOffice 3.0 goes final
Following extensive beta testing, the developers of OpenOffice have released the completed version of its v3.0 productivity suite. The software covers a variety of tasks, including spreadsheets, word processing and presentation work; editions are also available for a variety of different operating systems. The v3.0 update is said to be particularly important for the Mac, as users can now install a native client that does not require X11.
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09/16, 3:35pm
Spellex ships MacMedica
Spellex has announced MacMedica, a medical and pharmaceutical spellchecker for Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac. The software verifies the spelling of medical terminology, and provides various options whenever a mistake is detected. It works side-by-side with the Standard English dictionary, allowing a user to search both concurrently.
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09/16, 11:35am
WebMessenger Mobile app
CallWave says it has released a new version of WebMessenger Mobile, tailored specifically for the iPhone and iPod touch. The software serves as an extension of Microsoft's Office Communications Server, which handles synchronous communications such as VoIP, instant messaging and conferencing, and links it with contact data from Active Directory.
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08/29, 3:05pm
Excel 2008 gets Solver
Solver for Excel 2008 has arrived ahead of its mid-September prediction, via Frontline systems, according to the Mac Business Unit blog, Mac Mojo. Solver for Excel 2008 brings linear programming to Excel 2008, allowing Solver users to finally move from the Excel 2004 versions they had to run to utilize the add-in's abilities. Solver allows businesses and schools to execute programs in Excel, determining capacities, minimums/maximums and scheduling loads.
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08/18, 12:30pm
MS Faces China Antitrust
Microsoft could face antitrust action in China based on a new law, according to claims made by a local firm on Monday. Software firm Evermore's chief executive Gus Tsao says that a new measure against monopolistic behavior passed on Friday would potentially allow firms to accuse Microsoft of abusing its position by tightly integrating Office with Windows, preventing Evermore's upcoming EIOffice 2009 and other competing office suites from offering a similar level of features.
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08/12, 6:45pm
Office 2008, 2004 updates
Microsoft Tuesday released updates for Microsoft Office 2008 and 2004 for Mac . Office 2008 v12.1.2 contains "several changes to improve stability and performance" and includes "fixes that an attacker might use to overwrite the contents of a computer's memory by using malicious code." Office 2004 v11.5.1 also includes bug fixes and security improvements, according to Microsoft's website.
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08/12, 3:00pm
Microsoft Office discount
Microsoft has announced that users who buy a Mac computer before September 8th are eligible a special 30 percent discount on Office 2008 for Mac. The offer applies to all three versions of the Office 2008 suite -- standard, Special Media and Home & Student -- allowing customers to save between $15 and $150 on their purchase. It is only available at participating Apple resellers, of which a full list can be found by visiting the promotions website.
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