Microsoft on Monday announced the release date for the next version of Office for Mac. The software giant will make its productivity software suite available to Mac users by the end of October.
Eric Wilfrid, general manager of the Macintosh business unit at Microsoft, promised Office for Mac 2011 will bring the “familiar productivity tools and features of Microsoft Office to a suite of applications that work great on the Mac.”
Perhaps the bigger news is the pricing. Microsoft announced more aggressive pricing for the Mac software, aligning more closely to its Windows versions and opening the door to possibly sell more high-end software to Mac users.
Slashing Productivity Software Prices
Microsoft is serving up two editions of Office for Mac: Office for Mac Home and Student 2011 and Office for Mac Home and Business 2011.
The Home and Student edition will cost $119, 20 percent less than the 2008 version, which sold for $149.95. It includes Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Messenger for Mac. The Home and Business version will be $199.99, a drastic reduction from $399 for the 2008 version. It offers everything in the Home and Student edition, plus Outlook.
Consumers can also opt for a Family Pack of the Home and Student edition, which offers three installs for families with more than one Mac, for $149. The Multi-Pack for the Home and Business edition offers two installs for $279. The Academic version of the new software will retail at $99.
Consumers who purchase Office 2008 for Mac can upgrade to Office 2011 when it is available at no additional cost through the Microsoft Office for Mac Technology Guarantee Program.
Advantage Apple?
What’s really behind the 50 percent price cut of Office for Mac Home and Business edition? It’s difficult to guess what motivated Microsoft, but Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group,…