14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is extremely close to finalizing Office for Mac 2011. Having recently released a Beta of the Office productivity site for Apple customers on Microsoft Connect, the Redmond company now announced that it has set the general availability deadline for October 2010. This means that in less than two months, customers running Mac computers will be able to purchase Office for Mac 2011. The software giant revealed that it is planning to launch Office for Mac 2011 at the end of October making it available to customers in over 100 markets around the world.
“We develop Office for Mac to give you the tools to create great-looking and compatible documents — with options to pick the right edition for your Mac needs,” noted Eric Wilfrid, general manager, Macintosh Business Unit (MacBU) at Microsoft Corp. “More than ever before, Office 2011 brings the familiar productivity tools and features of Microsoft Office to a suite of applications that work great on the Mac.”
According to the Redmond company, customers will be able to choose between two editions of Office for Mac 20011 at retail, Office for Mac Home and Student 2011 and Office for Mac Home and Business 2011. Both SKUs will come in two flavors, depending on the needs of end users.
In this regard, Microsoft will offer Office for Mac Home and Student 2011 (Word for Mac, PowerPoint for Mac, Excel for Mac and Messenger for Mac) for as low as $119 for a single install. However, customers with multiple Macs in their home will be able to buy a Family Pack variant for $149, which will allow them to install the productivity suite on no less than there machines.
The same model is valid for Office for Mac Home and Business 2011 (Word for Mac, PowerPoint for Mac, Excel for Mac, Outlook for Mac and Messenger for Mac). The single install version will come with a price tag of $199, while the Multi-Pack will cost $279 and will allow customers to perform two installs on just as many different machines.
There is an additional edition of Office for Mac 2011, namely the Academic SKU, which will come with Word for Mac, PowerPoint for Mac, Excel for Mac, Outlook for Mac and Messenger for Mac. However, Office for Mac Academic 2011 will not be available at retail, but only through authorized academic stores and Microsoft. It will cost $99.
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