Microsoft Corp.’s Macintosh Business Unit announced the official availability of Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac. Office 2008 for Mac is significantly enhanced to provide a simplified user experience that helps beginners and longtime experts alike deliver professional documents that are compatible for co-workers and friends on Macs and PCs. The suite provides the Office tools Mac users rely on, with a Mac-like approach and style. It is featured with a dramatic transformation to provide an even more resourceful hub for all things Mac BU.

Key to Compatibility: Keeping Mac and PC Users Connected

Mac users require the ability to share their documents with confidence; they also need a consistent look to their output on both PCs and Macs. Office 2008 for Mac is the most compatible suite on the market, sharing core technologies with the 2007 Office system such as Open XML File Formats and the graphics engine, OfficeArt, to ensure consistency in graphics rendering when they are shared. Office 2008 for Mac is also compatible with earlier file formats so that users can continue to use the older DOC, XLS and PPT binary formats. The updated suite is Universal and runs natively on Intel- and Power PC-based Macs.

Office 2008 also makes great strides to meet the needs of users in cross-platform organizations. The most complete Exchange client on the Mac, Entourage 2008 in Office 2008 for Mac and Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition delivers improved reliability and time management tools with updates for calendar management and Out of Office Assistant to keep users connected and productive. IT managers also will benefit from new tools for customized deployment.

Increased Discoverability: The Tools You Need When You Need Them

Office 2008 for Mac offers a streamlined and intuitive new user interface that lets users immediately jump in and start working. The updated suite keeps the traditional drop-down menus but adds the new Elements Gallery row of tools in Word, Excel and PowerPoint to unlock the power of Office. With the Elements Gallery, key features and functions are more discoverable and accessible so that users can efficiently tackle their work with the tools they need right at their fingertips. An example of the content in the Elements Gallery is Document Elements in Word 2008, which provides a thumbnail catalog of content and functions that simplify some common yet tedious tasks, such as inserting a table of contents or producing a professional-looking cover page.

Throughout the suite, users will find a revamped Toolbox that is now a true one-stop destination to find some of the most useful tools in Office for Mac: the Object Palette, Animation Settings and the new Citations function, which makes it a cinch to create citations and bibliographies. The Toolbox also features the contextual Formatting Palette, which adjusts its content for each application to truly make it more intuitive to create great-looking documents.

Grows With You: The Perfect Product for Every User

For a casual or seasoned user, Office 2008 for Mac provides the right tools to complete any project. Excel 2008 is a prime example, with new features for all users, even those with “grid fear.” Ledger Sheets provide beginners with the prebuilt worksheets they need to easily master budgets, invoices and financial portfolios. Formula Builder walks users through the steps needed to confidently create accurate formulas. Advanced users can take on PivotTables and benefit from Formula AutoComplete, a drop-down menu that provides a variety of computation options. For power users, Excel 2008 introduces increased rows and columns that match the Windows-based 2007 Office system to ensure that users on Macs and PCs will have access to up to 16,000 columns and more than 1 mill