AppleInsider StaffThe latest version of Microsoft Office will be available in more than 100 countries at the end of October. Two editions will be available for purchase: Office for Mac Home and Student 2011, starting at $119, and Office for Mac Home and Business 2011, starting at $199.
Microsoft said the new pricing and edition options available with Office for Mac 2011 are closer to the software's Windows counterpart. In addition, customers who purchase Office 2008 for Mac will be able to upgrade to Office 2011 at no cost through the Microsoft Office for Mac Technology Guarantee Program.
"We develop Office for Mac to give you the tools to create great-looking and compatible documents — with options to pick the right edition for your Mac needs," said Eric Wilfrid, general manager with the Macintosh Business Unit at Microsoft. "More than ever before, Office 2011 brings the familiar productivity tools and features of Microsoft Office to a suite of applications that work great on the Mac."
The 32-bit software suite will be available in 13 launguages: Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Spanish and Swedish. Two new languages were also added to the mix for this year's update: Polish and Russian.
Customers who buy Office 2008 for Mac between Aug. 1, 2010 and Nov. 30, 2010 at Microsoft or an authorized reseller are qualified for a free upgrade to the latest version. Customers can register online and must submit a form with their product key and dated sales receipt by Dec. 31, 2010.
Starting at $119, Microsoft Office for Mac Home and Student 2011 includes Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Messenger. A Family Pack will also be available for $149, with three installs.
For $199, Microsoft Office for Mac Home and Business 2011 includes Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Messenger, and also adds Outlook into the mix. The return of Outlook will be an application written from the ground up in Cocoa for Mac OS X. A family pack for the Business edition of Office for Mac 2011 will run $279, with two installs available. Home and Student customers can also upgrade to the higher-end product through the online upgrade functionality.
Finally, authorized academic stores will also sell a discounted version of the suite, dubbed Microsoft Office for Mac Academic 2011, for higher education students, staff and faculty. For $99, users get one installation including Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Messenger and Outlook.
For more, see AppleInsider's extensive coverage of Office for Mac 2011:
Office for Mac 2011 to feature co-authoring, ribbon interface
Road to Office 2011 for Mac: A New Hope
Road to Office 2011: New looks, support for Exchange, VBA
Microsoft officially unveils key Office 201 for Mac features
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60 Comments
Those prices seem very competitive.
That lower price tells me that Apple's pricing pressure with iWork ($79) is starting to scare Mafia$oft.
In the interest of fairness, I will say that the Mac version of Office has really improved over that last couple of years. Now, I don't puke a little into my mouth every time I look at.
An extra $80 to get outlook? A bit steep....
It's pretty lame that on the Apple store website (at least in Denmark), MS Office only shows up if you specifically search for it - if you just browse under the Productivity category, only iWork shows up. Not only that, but the Home/Student version is about 50% more expensive than it is at any other retailer...
Apple.dk doesn't even offer Adobe lightroom - I guess they're trying to save Aperture in a similar fashion.
Those prices seem very competitive.
That lower price tells me that Apple's pricing pressure with iWork ($79) is starting to scare Mafia$oft.
In the interest of fairness, I will say that the Mac version of Office has really improved over that last couple of years. Now, I don't puke a little into my mouth every time I look at.
Finally the prices make a bit more sense. The Office for business Mac users was outrageously priced... And the home and student edition "force bundled" 3 home/student licenses so individual users ended up paying more.
Certainly iWork has put some strong pressure on Microsoft. The hideousness that is PowerPoint laid bare by the elegance of Keynote.
However, more affordable Office = more Mac purchases = more Office for Mac purchases.
Now when can we ever get rid of Office completely, that is another question.