Office for Mac 2011 Previewed Ahead of Launch Scheduled for Later This Year
Microsoft today announced a sneak preview of Office for Mac 2011, set for release later this year. The preview, scheduled in conjunction with Macworld Expo in San Francisco, details several significant changes including the adoption of a "ribbon" interface similar to that introduced for Windows in Office 2007.
Another major change highlighted by Microsoft is the replacement of Entourage with Outlook for Mac. As previously detailed, Outlook for Mac will be Cocoa-based and will leverage the Exchange Web Services platform to enhance productivity, particularly in enterprise settings. Newly-announced today is the capability of Outlook for Mac to import .PST storage table files from Outlook for Windows.
Pricing for Office for Mac 2011, which has been expected to ship in the "holiday season 2010", has yet to be announced.
We took your feedback and haven't completely rearranged what you know and love: the new design is an evolution of the Office 2008 Elements Gallery and uses the classic Mac menu and Standard Toolbar giving you the best of both worlds. You can even collapse the ribbon and the Toolbar for more screen space or for the more advanced users who rely on keyboard shortcuts. Together these tools make it easy to find and discover new and frequently used commands.
Also included are new co-authoring tools and integration with Office Web Apps to foster collaboration and easy file access from anywhere.Another major change highlighted by Microsoft is the replacement of Entourage with Outlook for Mac. As previously detailed, Outlook for Mac will be Cocoa-based and will leverage the Exchange Web Services platform to enhance productivity, particularly in enterprise settings. Newly-announced today is the capability of Outlook for Mac to import .PST storage table files from Outlook for Windows.
Pricing for Office for Mac 2011, which has been expected to ship in the "holiday season 2010", has yet to be announced.
Top Rated Comments
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26 months ago
I wonder if having a native version of Office for OS X is still as critical as it used to be. For so long it was considered absolutely necessary for the Mac to survive. But now...?
In any case, good to see M$ still updating it.
In any case, good to see M$ still updating it.
26 months ago
Late last year I started transferring all my business documents to iWork and haven't looked back. I've used more versions of Office than I care to count, but never again.
26 months ago
Outlook for Mac! Importing of PST files! I'll finally be able to read all those emails I abandoned on my PC in 2003 when I switched to the Mac :D
This is good news for Apple trying to make further inroads into business.
Although I have to say I HATE the ribbon. Maybe I just need to get used to it, but after using Office for almost two decades, it's frustrating for me to poke around everywhere like I'm 7 years old trying to figure out how to get something done.
That could work well if you are in business on your own, but if you need to frequently share documents and collaborate with others, in my experience you really do need to have Office. Some folks get by with OpenOffice, etc., but more often than not I find I am fixing up little formatting glitches left over by those apps. At my church we project using a Mac with OpenOffice and iWork installed, and for a while we didn't have PowerPoint -- we figured it wouldn't be necessary because both those apps could open PPT files, right? After a few embarrassments where guest speakers brought in PowerPoint files and they didn't look right or were missing key elements, we decided we really needed to get Office.
This is good news for Apple trying to make further inroads into business.
Although I have to say I HATE the ribbon. Maybe I just need to get used to it, but after using Office for almost two decades, it's frustrating for me to poke around everywhere like I'm 7 years old trying to figure out how to get something done.
Late last year I started transferring all my business documents to iWork and haven't looked back. I've used more versions of Office than I care to count, but never again.
That could work well if you are in business on your own, but if you need to frequently share documents and collaborate with others, in my experience you really do need to have Office. Some folks get by with OpenOffice, etc., but more often than not I find I am fixing up little formatting glitches left over by those apps. At my church we project using a Mac with OpenOffice and iWork installed, and for a while we didn't have PowerPoint -- we figured it wouldn't be necessary because both those apps could open PPT files, right? After a few embarrassments where guest speakers brought in PowerPoint files and they didn't look right or were missing key elements, we decided we really needed to get Office.
26 months ago
My favourite word processor is Word. Maybe because I've been brought up using it, and the whole industry standard compatibility stuff, but the layout etc I find far better than likes of Pages. Same with Excel.
I'm not a big fan of PowerPoint - I prefer Keynote.
Glad to see it being updated.
I'm not a big fan of PowerPoint - I prefer Keynote.
Glad to see it being updated.
26 months ago
Glad to hear they're improving the interface. The current one is a pain to use.
But, screen shots or it doesn't exist!! Come'on Microsoft!
But, screen shots or it doesn't exist!! Come'on Microsoft!
26 months ago
I'd be really excited about Outlook for Mac, except that Snow Leopard has built-in Exchange support with all the features I use.
Ribbon? Meh. I use Windows 2007 at work, it still sucks. The palette on 2008 for Mac is far easier to use, and I may have to switch to Pages whenever Office 2008 is no longer supported, even as much as I prefer Excel to Numbers.
Ribbon? Meh. I use Windows 2007 at work, it still sucks. The palette on 2008 for Mac is far easier to use, and I may have to switch to Pages whenever Office 2008 is no longer supported, even as much as I prefer Excel to Numbers.
26 months ago
I wanna see the ribbon!!!
I hope it's similar to the MS Office 2007/2010 for PC...
I hope it's similar to the MS Office 2007/2010 for PC...
26 months ago
I hate Office 07 and its ribbon.
I'm so happy as I work on Office Mac and its palette.
I hope we aren't forced to use the ribbon or have functionality limited by not using it.
I'm so happy as I work on Office Mac and its palette.
I hope we aren't forced to use the ribbon or have functionality limited by not using it.
26 months ago
I'm glad a new version is coming. I would like some features for Excel since it's what I use the most. Should be good.
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