ITWire

Although Microsoft has confirmed a late 2010 release for the new version of Office for Mac, Lefebvre said localisation plans had not been completed. This means the release could be delayed until 2011 in some markets.

If Microsoft follows its usual practices, more information about 'Office 2011' will dribble out over the coming months.

The more immediate news concerns changes to Office 2008.

Entourage 2008 Web Services Edition is available now as a free download for users of Office 2008 SP2. By moving away from WebDAV, the Web Services Edition is able to provide better synchronisation with Exchange.

The software has been tested over several months by some large Microsoft customers including NASA.

"For several years we have focused on providing the best Microsoft Exchange client for the Mac, and the Web Services Edition delivers that today for Entourage users," said Danica Aitken, MacBU category marketing manager, Microsoft Australia and New Zealand.

The existing Home and Student Edition of Office 2008 for Mac will remain available, the Special Media Edition is being dropped (Microsoft Expression Media remains available as a standalone product), and the standard edition will be replaced by the Business Edition.

You'll find the price and release date of Office 2008 Business Edition on the next page.