Mac Office 2008 goes private beta

Stephen Withers
Monday, 02 April 2007 05:50

Business IT - Technology

Microsoft has begun private beta testing of Office 2008 for Mac, the company has revealed.

Development is still on track for release sometime in the second half of 2007. Many users will find it hard to wait, as the current version lacks full file compatibility with Office 2007 for Windows.

Another much-anticipated change is that Office 2008 will be a universal binary, running at full speed on Intel or PowerPC-based Macs. This is a major reason for the extended delay in replacing Office 2004: Microsoft's Mac Business Unit (MacBU) had to change development platforms to provide native support for Intel-based Macs.

iTWire previously reported on new features in Office 2008 including Publishing Layout View, Ledger Sheets and My Day.

APC has an extensive interview article about the state of Office 2008 development.