ANTenna Blog -- Apple

The new Office:Mac package includes all the usual suspects, with enhancements for online and network collaboration. It replaces the existing standard retail package, while the Special Media Edition is dropped from the lineup.

Until today, the Mac Office product line has had three entries: the Home and Student Edition; the regular edition, containing some advanced features; and the Special Media Edition, which included Expression Media, a capable media asset manager. With today's release, the roster has been trimmed to two, with the new Business Edition replacing the old regular edition, and the Special Media Edition being dropped altogether. According to Pat Fox, writing on the Microsoft Mac Business Unit blog, "we’ve simplified our offerings to make it easier for customers to identify the best product for their needs."

Office 2008 for Mac Business Edition (its full name) includes the most current (SP2) versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Entourage. It adds the Entourage Web Services Edition, which Fox claims "provides faster data synchronization so Entourage users on Exchange 2007 will experience improved e-mail and calendaring support. Additionally, we’ve added the ability to sync Tasks, Notes, and Categories."

The package also includes Document Connection for Mac, which "improves access and browsing to documents on SharePoint Products and Technologies and Microsoft Office Live Workspace for streamlined collaboration." Finally, it comes with more than 200 templates and clip art for business cards, purchase orders, and company newsletters, among others. Buyers also get seven hours worth of Office training from lynda.com.

The Business Edition sells for $399.95, the same price as the old full edition; an upgrade from Office 98 or 2004 costs $239.95. (There is, unfortunately, no upgrade price from existing versions of Office 2008.) Expression Media, now at version 2, will continue to be sold and supported as a separate product, at $195.95 for full retail and $99.95 for an upgrade from version 1 or from Apple Aperture or Adobe Lightroom.

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