Available July 20, 2009

Jul 20, 2009 14:05 GMT  ·  By

Starting on July 20, 2009, at 10 a.m. PDT, customers running the latest version of the office System for the Mac OS X platform will be able to access the second service pack for the productivity suite right from Microsoft. The Redmond company revealed that the downloads were scheduled to go live here, but that the bits would also be served through Microsoft AutoUpdate. As is the case with the service packs for the Windows flavor of Office, Service Pack 2 Office 2008 for Mac will be available for download for free for all current customers of the Mac OS X alternative to Office 2007.

“There’s never been a better time to try Office 2008 for Mac — with SP2 we are not only delivering on top customer requests midcycle, but also taking a first step in bringing Microsoft software plus services to Mac users,” explained Mike Tedesco, senior product manager for MacBU at Microsoft. “This connection unlocks the door for Mac users to Microsoft services for easier collaboration and file sharing with colleagues, customers and classmates.”

According to Microsoft, Office 2008 for Mac SP2 is designed to kick user experience up a notch and to enhance the current levels of the product's speed, stability and compatibility. The Redmond company indicated that it took customer feedback into consideration when building the second service pack for Office 2008 for Mac. In this context, the update delivers a new tool, Document Connection for Mac, a solution designed to boost access and tasks such as document browsing on SharePoint Products and Technologies and Microsoft Office Live Workspace.

“Highlights of the release include the following: two new highly requested features in Microsoft PowerPoint 2008 for Mac. Custom Path Animation adds the ability to author motion-path animations. Users previously could only play back motion paths. Default Theme lets users define their default theme, including fonts, color scheme and slide layouts. Increased speed in Microsoft Word 2008 for Mac (launch and scroll times) as well as Microsoft Excel 2008 for Mac with features such as calculation performance,” Microsoft explained.

In addition, the software giant revealed that it had not limited the service packs to just feature updates. In this sense, Office 2008 SP2 also introduced new capabilities set up to bring collaboration and file-sharing abilities to a new level. This is done via Microsoft Office Live Workspace, which bridges Microsoft Office Live Workspace to Microsoft Office applications. Mac OS X users will also be able to connect to Microsoft Office Live Workspace via Safari 4. Through Document Connection, Office 2008 for Mac streamlines collaboration tasks in SharePoint environments.