Simplify Your Work: Office 2008 for Mac Details Revealed
New Special Media Edition provides powerful digital asset management tools.
PARIS — Sept. 25, 2007 — The Macintosh Business Unit (Mac BU) at
Microsoft Corp. today announced at the Apple Expo in Paris its product
lineup for the upcoming Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac release. The flagship
product, Office 2008 for Mac, is the core suite that includes Microsoft
Office Word 2008, Microsoft Office Excel 2008, Microsoft Office PowerPoint
2008 and Microsoft Office Entourage 2008 for exceptional productivity on
the Mac. A new combination for Mac users is Office 2008 for Mac Special
Media Edition, which features the Office 2008 applications together with
the Microsoft Expression Media digital asset management system. Office 2008
for Mac Special Media Edition is geared toward professional users who need
Microsoft Exchange Server support and Automator tools and are looking for
one product to meet their productivity and digital asset management needs.
Completing the product lineup is Office 2008 for Mac Home and Student
Edition, a specially priced version for users with basic productivity 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.”
Delivering the Industry Standard
Office 2008 for Mac features a leading suite of applications that Mac
customers rely on to get their work completed with Word 2008, Excel 2008,
PowerPoint 2008, Entourage 2008 and Microsoft Messenger for Mac. Mac users
can simplify their day by using powerful new tools and easily located
classic Office for Mac features. As showcased at Macworld Expo 2007, Office
2008 for Mac is designed to help users get more from their Macs by making
key functions accessible through a more intuitive design and by introducing
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 that are simple to use and yield powerful results.
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.”
A Suite to Meet Every Need
The Mac BU will offer two versions in addition to Office 2008 for Mac that
meet distinct user needs:
* Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition features the complete Office
2008 for Mac productivity suite specially packaged with a full version of
Microsoft Expression Media for Mac to empower the media-savvy Mac user with
smart digital asset management tools. Expression Media is a powerful and
customizable image management software application for importing,
annotating, organizing, archiving, searching and distributing users’
ever-growing collections of digital files.
* Office 2008 for Mac Home and Student Edition provides the basics of
Office 2008 for Mac for home and school users. This version includes three
user licenses for use by consumers and students but does not include
connectivity to Microsoft Exchange Server or support for automated
workflows.
Pricing, Availability and Technology Guarantee
Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac will be available in the United States
beginning Jan. 15, 2008, with global general availability in the first
quarter of 2008. There also are specially priced upgrade versions for
legally licensed users of previous versions.
* Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac, $399.95 (U.S.)* for the full retail
version; $239.95 (U.S.)* for the upgrade version
* Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac Home and Student Edition, $149.95 (U.S.)*
for the full retail version
* Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition, $499.95 (U.S.)* for
the full retail version; $299.95 (U.S.)* for the upgrade version*
Today also marks the start of the technology guarantee program that allows
customers in select regions who purchase qualifying Office 2004 for Mac
product(s) to upgrade to a version of Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac for
only the cost of shipping, handling and applicable taxes. More information
about the program specifics in various regions is available at local Office
for Mac Web sites.
About Microsoft Macintosh Business Unit
The Macintosh Business Unit at Microsoft is a leading developer of software
and online products for the Macintosh platform. The group comprises
approximately 180 full-time Mac product experts and is dedicated to
creating innovative software for Mac customers worldwide. For more than 20
years, Microsoft has developed award-winning software for the Mac. Current
products include Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac, a productivity suite that
includes the e-mail application and personal information manager Entourage
2004, Word 2004, Excel 2004, PowerPoint 2004 and Messenger for Mac 6.0.
More information about the Mac BU and Microsoft Macintosh products is
available at http://www.microsoft.com/mac.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in
software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize
their full potential.
* All prices are estimated retail prices and may vary by retailer.