Microsoft has used MacWorld in SF, CA to divulge details on its forthcoming Office 2011 for Mac, expected to arrive later this year.
“Together with your team -” officemates, family or classmates -” you are part of the community that helps shape each version of Office for Mac,” said Eric Wilfrid, MacBU general manager at Microsoft Corp. “You’ve told us that working together across platforms is a priority to you and that’s why we are making Office for Mac 2011 the best, most compatible productivity suite on the Mac.”
Office for Mac Ribbon
Built using the latest Mac OS X technologies, the ribbon delivers gives you a more consistent experience across platforms, which is key to productivity as 75 percent of Mac users also use a PC per Kelton Research. Taking notes from user feedback, new design is an evolution of the Office 2008 elements gallery and uses the classic Mac menu and standard toolbar with the goal of giving users the best of both worlds. At one time Microsoft was looking to license the Ribbon concept to other firms who wrote software for the windows platform.
Outlook for Mac
The MacBU announced last August that Outlook for Mac was coming to Office 2011, replacing Entourage. one of e most user requested features will be answer in this up coming Office release – Outlook for Mac will import .PST files from Outlook for Windows. Office 2001 will support Spotlight search and back-up support from Time Machine. Outlook for Mac also provides Information Rights Management to help prevent sensitive information from being distributed to or read by people who do not have your permission to access the content.
IPad Version and Release Window
Office for Mac 2011 is expected to be ready by the fourth quarter of this year. The company has yet to confirm specific plans, including a launch time-frame, for an iPad version.
