Microsoft offers free 30 day trial of Office for Mac
In contrast to smaller developers such as Pixelmator, which have embraced the new Mac App Store enthusiastically, Microsoft (along with Adobe) hasn't released any titles through the Mac App Store yet.
It has released Windows Live Messenger and Bing search apps in the iOS App Store, in addition to the new iPhone OneNote, a note taking component of Office for Windows that hasn't ever been ported to the Mac.
Were Microsoft to release Office for Mac through the App Store, it would likely become a top selling title, much as iWork has on the iPad and Mac App Stores. There are some modifications Microsoft would need to make however, including not being able to install background processes, needing to be self contained, and being unable to use undocumented, private APIs.
For the time being, Office for Mac is only available from conventional resellers on physical disc media or direct download from Microsoft, with Amazon offering the best price for the Home and Student package.
Product | Retail | Direct Download | Amazon | MacMall | Buy.com | MacConnection | B&H | Discount |
Microsoft Office 2011 Mac | ||||||||
Home & Student | $119.99 | N/A | $99.99 | $99.99 | $115.99 | $119.95 | $114.99 | $20.00 |
Home & Student (Family Pack) | $149.99 | $149.99 | $124.25 | $125.51 | $127.45 | $142.13 | $125.99 | $25.74 |
Home & Business | $199.99 | N/A | $174.99 | $174.99 | $177.99 | $189.95 | $173.99 | $26.00 |
Home & Business (2 Pack) | $279.99 | $279.99 | $228.43 | $228.43 | N/A | $250.80 | $227.99 | $52.00 |
30 Comments
Great - So I install it, hate it then I have all this crap left behind when I try to uninstall it.
No thanks.
BTW: This appears to be a portion of the previous article reposted - whats up?
I hope Microsoft and the other big players rebel, maybe that will wake apple up. The lack of trial versions is one of the largest functionality holes in the iOS app store, and now that flaw has been ported to the mac.
It's not like apple can't fix this– all they need to do is provide an API that lets apps reference back to the app store when people want to upgrade their trial to a full version. Hopefully once Lion rolls around we'll see this, otherwise I'm going to still keep downloading trials from websites rather then the app store (defeating the whole purpose.)
iWork has gotten to the point where I really don't need Office anymore. I just open all my old Word and Excel files with iWork and save out as Pages or Numbers. When I have to send a file to someone who doesn't use iWork I just save out as Office from iWork. I never did use PowerPoint because Keynote was always better. I'm just holding on to my old Office for Mac and not upgrading it anymore.
I don't work with iWork. Simple terrible. I am sure it has its audience, but I'm not it. As for Office 2011, I use it heavily. Great program.
I thought they were already offering this, but I guess not.