March 30, 2007 10:53 AM PDT

Microsoft starts testing Office 2008 for Mac

By Ina Fried
Staff Writer, CNET News

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Related Stories: Office 2008 for Mac to come this year
January 9, 2007; Microsoft readies Mac Office update
April 5, 2004

Microsoft has started private testing of the next version of Office for the Macintosh, which is due out in the second half of the year.

Office 2008 for Mac, as the product is known, helps bring the desktop suite back into compatibility with two key technologies. First, the product is the first version of Office that runs natively on both Intel- and Power PC-based Macs. The new software also adds support for the XML file formats that Microsoft added to the Windows version of Office--Office 2007, which hit store shelves in January.

Microsoft did not say how many people are taking part in the private beta or whether it will have a public test version, but a representative said Friday that the company is still on track to have the final product out sometime in the second half of the year.

While the biggest changes in Office 2008 are the compatibility moves, Microsoft has detailed several new features. One is a program called My Day, which gives users quick access to calendar information without requiring them to first go into the Entourage e-mail program.

Also on tap are improved page layout controls in Word and new Excel templates, called ledger sheets, which allow users to handle tasks like producing invoices without having to create or understand the underlying formulas.

Microsoft has taken longer than its normal 18 to 24 months to come out with a new version of Office for the Mac. The current version, Office 2004 for Mac, debuted in April 2004.

See more CNET content tagged:
Microsoft Office, Apple Macintosh, Microsoft Corp., XML, Intel

Add a Comment (Log in or register) 23 comments (Showing first 20 comments)

I just can't wait...
by SLOCableTech March 30, 2007 2:16 PM PDT: To download a copy of it!; Reply to this comment View reply
Processing

Just so everybody's aware:
by Macsaresafer March 30, 2007 2:17 PM PDT: Neo Office is free, and it can read and write MS Office files.

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/15797/neooffice; Reply to this comment View all 2 replies
Processing

Microsoft is GREAT for keeping Apple alive
by iZune March 30, 2007 3:53 PM PDT: Thank God Microsoft has kept Apple alive as a company by investing in it and making colorful software for the simple minds of Apple users. Microsoft is so great. Without Microsoft keeping Apple alive, we wouldn't have anything to compare the greatness of Windows against.

Apple should put a big THANK YOU to Microsoft on it's home page and inside of it's OS Y or whatever it calls it's Unix OS.; Reply to this comment View all 4 replies
Processing

office 2008
by gavandtra April 1, 2007 4:52 AM PDT: Don't really care, do not use Microsofts products on my Mac.
Cannot see the point as I changed to a Mac about 12 months ago
to specifically avoid the disaster that is Microsoft and their
products. Sooo glad I did, I finally have a computer that works
properly, straight out of the box as it says in the ads. And as a
bonus I can sit back and laugh at the disaster that is Windows
Vista. Ha Ha Ha Ha !!!; Reply to this comment View all 2 replies
Processing

neo office uninstaller
by mvokla2 April 2, 2007 5:42 AM PDT: Question: Does neo office include an uninstaller file?; Reply to this comment View reply
Processing

See all 23 Comments >>

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