Office 2011 SP1 coming next week

Stephen Withers
Thursday, 07 April 2011 08:11

Business IT - Technology

Microsoft has revealed that Office for Mac 2011 Service Pack 1 will be released next week, and will include much-awaited calendar syncing. But there is a snag.

When Office 2011 shipped, one of the most common complaints was the lack of support for syncing calendar events. That gap will be filled next week when Microsoft releases Office 2011 SP1.

The problem for many users is that while Microsoft has restored (from former Entourage users' perspective) the link between its email and PIM program and Sync Services, Apple is in the process of breaking the connection between Sync Services and MobileMe.

So while Outlook will sync calendar information with any other programs running on that Mac, it won't sync with MobileMe. So if you sync an iPhone or iPad with iTunes over a cable, calendars will be exchanged; if you sync the device with the 'new' MobileMe calendar (which becomes the default on May 5), they won't. It's also a problem if you use the MobileMe web calendar.

One hand of the industry giveth while another taketh away.

Microsoft has hinted that synchronisation with services such as Google, Yahoo and its own Hotmail and Windows Live may be improved over time.

What else is coming in SP1? Find out on page 2.