Start Simplifying Your Work: Office 2008 for Mac Hits Shelves Today

Office 2008 for Mac and Mactopia Web site offer new, improved user tools and
experience.

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp.'s
Macintosh Business Unit (Mac BU) today announced the official availability of
Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac at the Macworld Conference & Expo 2008. Office
2008 for Mac is significantly enhanced to provide a simplified user experience
that helps beginners and longtime experts alike deliver professional documents
that are compatible for co-workers and friends on Macs and PCs. The suite
provides the Office tools Mac users rely on, with a Mac-like approach and
style. In addition to Office 2008, the Mac BU Web site, Mactopia
(http://www.microsoft.com/mac), features a dramatic transformation to provide
an even more resourceful hub for all things Mac BU.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO)
"We developed Office 2008 for Mac as a comprehensive productivity suite
that also helps people simplify their work," said Craig Eisler, general
manager of the Mac BU at Microsoft. "To complement the deep set of new and
improved features, we redesigned the interface so that it is truly easier to
use. Even Office beginners can create great-looking documents very quickly.
And, at the core, we focused on delivering reliable compatibility so that
users can confidently share documents across platforms."
"Office 2008 is the latest in a long line of great Office for Mac releases
that get better with every version," said Ron Okamoto, vice president of
Worldwide Developer Relations at Apple Computer Inc. "It has many new features
that help you work faster and with more ease, and Mac users will also love how
seamless it is to share Office 2008 files with PC users."
Key to Compatibility: Keeping Mac and PC Users Connected
Mac users require the ability to share their documents with confidence;
they also need a consistent look to their output on both PCs and Macs. Office
2008 for Mac is the most compatible suite on the market, sharing core
technologies with the 2007 Office system such as Open XML File Formats and the
graphics engine, OfficeArt, to ensure consistency in graphics rendering when
they are shared. Office 2008 for Mac is also compatible with earlier file
formats so that users can continue to use the older DOC, XLS and PPT binary
formats. The updated suite is Universal and runs natively on Intel- and Power
PC-based Macs.
Office 2008 also makes great strides to meet the needs of users in
cross-platform organizations. The most complete Exchange client on the Mac,
Entourage 2008 in Office 2008 for Mac and Office 2008 for Mac Special Media
Edition delivers improved reliability and time management tools with updates
for calendar management and Out of Office Assistant to keep users connected
and productive. IT managers also will benefit from new tools for customized
deployment.
Increased Discoverability: The Tools You Need When You Need Them
Office 2008 for Mac offers a streamlined and intuitive new user interface
that lets users immediately jump in and start working. The updated suite keeps
the traditional drop-down menus but adds the new Elements Gallery row of tools
in Word, Excel and PowerPoint to unlock the power of Office. With the Elements
Gallery, key features and functions are more discoverable and accessible so
that users can efficiently tackle their work with the tools they need right at
their fingertips. An example of the content in the Elements Gallery is
Document Elements in Word 2008, which provides a thumbnail catalog of content
and functions that simplify some common yet tedious tasks, such as inserting a
table of contents or producing a professional-looking cover page.
Throughout the suite, users will find a revamped Toolbox that is now a
true one-stop destination to find some of the most useful tools in Office for
Mac: the Object Palette, Animation Settings and the new Citations function,
which makes it a cinch to create citations and bibliographies. The Toolbox
also features the contextual Formatting Palette, which adjusts its content for
each application to truly make it more intuitive to create great-looking
documents.
In addition, the new stand-alone My Day application allows users to track
professional and personal priorities to stay on top of daily activities
regardless of which application they are working in. Although My Day is
connected to Entourage, users do not have to open the application to get a
quick look at the day's tasks, upcoming meetings and items on their To-Do
List. When users do enter Entourage, they will enjoy a new simplified
interface where they can customize the Toolbar, color-code their calendar
appointments and easily add travel time to meetings.
Grows With You: The Perfect Product for Every User
For a casual or seasoned user, Office 2008 for Mac provides the right
tools to complete any project. Excel 2008 is a prime example, with new
features for all users, even those with "grid fear." Ledger Sheets provide
beginners with the prebuilt worksheets they need to easily master budgets,
invoices and financial portfolios. Formula Builder walks users through the
steps needed to confidently create accurate formulas. Advanced users can take
on PivotTables and benefit from Formula AutoComplete, a drop-down menu that
provides a variety of computation options. For power users, Excel 2008
introduces increased rows and columns that match the Windows-based 2007 Office
system to ensure that users on Macs and PCs will have access to up to 16,000
columns and more than 1 million rows.
PowerPoint 2008 and Word 2008 both feature new design elements that give
users as much help as they need. In either application, users can choose to
start with a blank canvas or select from hundreds of new templates and themes
to give their work a jump-start to polished perfection.
Professional Output: Your Ideas Look as Good as They Are
When ideas look good, they get the attention they deserve, and Office 2008
for Mac delivers new tools and functionality to create great-looking charts,
graphics and professional documents with ease. A key component is SmartArt
Graphics, another suitewide feature providing a wide range of professionally
designed graphics that can be added to any document, spreadsheet or slide show
with just the click of a button.
Publishing Layout View in Word 2008 is a new specialized work space where
users can simply create and edit layout-rich documents. Newsletters, fliers
and brochures are a snap to design with layout tools such as Zoom Loupe and
color-coded, linked text boxes to flow columns of copy between pages. Updates
to Notebook Layout View will help students stay organized with quick
note-taking capabilities that let them search and flag relevant information.
PowerPoint 2008 is also packed with tools that produce
professional-looking results. The new Thumbnail View provides a side
navigation pane that makes it easier to ensure design consistency while
improving the flow of slides. The Object Palette offers quick access to
shapes, art, symbols and pictures, including iPhoto images, while Dynamic
Guides help users quickly align text and graphics for a crisp, clean slide
design. The improved Presenter Tools in PowerPoint 2008 become even more
useful, now featuring both elapsed and actual time indicators for greater
control over timing and pacing. And to help share slides on-the-go, new
integration with iPhoto lets users share professional presentations from a Mac
to an iPod by saving as a PNG or JPG file.
Even data can impress with new graphic capabilities in Excel. Excel 2008's
Building Charts utilize the new OfficeArt graphics engine, giving users a
helpful tool to create polished, modern charts and modify their look and feel
with a single mouse-click.
Mactopia Makeover: One Stop for Your Mac BU Needs
In addition to Office 2008 for Mac, the Mac BU today delivers an updated
Mactopia site to help Mac users find the right products for their needs and to
learn how to successfully use them to simplify their work, produce outstanding
results and collaborate more effectively. Mactopia is the ultimate destination
for Office for Mac and Mac BU content, including the team's popular blog, Mac
Mojo, and Office for Mac product forums. Directly connected to Office 2008 for
Mac, the site will host the new online Help tool that features continuously
updated content, including troubleshooting information, training courses and
user-rated help articles. In addition, the site will feature an IT Pro page
featuring resources and guidance, including the new Office 2008 for Mac
Administrator's Guide. The redesigned Mactopia can be found at
http://www.microsoft.com/mac.
Office 2008 for Mac Options
Today marks the availability of Office 2008 for Mac in most regions
worldwide, with full global availability by the end of the first quarter 2008.
Microsoft Volume Licensing will be available for customers in the United
States starting on Feb. 1, 2008. Customers with any previous version of Office
for Mac are eligible for upgrade pricing. The three versions are as follows:
* Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac. The core suite includes Microsoft
Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Entourage along with Microsoft Exchange
Server support and Automator tools for the ultimate Mac productivity
experience. The estimated retail price is $399.95 (U.S.)* for the
full retail version and $239.95 (U.S.) for the upgrade version.
* Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac Home and Student Edition. This
specially priced version delivers three licenses for home and
students with basic productivity needs and consists of Word, Excel,
PowerPoint and a non-Exchange Server-enabled version of Entourage.
The estimated retail price is $149.95 (U.S.) for the full retail
version.
* Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition. This special
new edition combines Office 2008 applications with the Microsoft
Expression Media digital asset management system and is geared
toward professional users who need Microsoft Exchange Server support
and Automator tools and are looking for one product to meet their
productivity and digital asset management needs. The estimated
retail price is $499.95 (U.S.) for the full retail version and
$299.95 (U.S.) for the upgrade version.

About Microsoft Macintosh Business Unit
The Macintosh Business Unit at Microsoft is a leading developer of
software and online products for the Macintosh platform. The group of more
than 200 full-time Mac product experts is dedicated to creating innovative
software for Mac customers worldwide. For almost 25 years, Microsoft has
developed award-winning software for the Mac. In January 2008, the Mac BU
released Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac, a productivity suite that includes the
e-mail application and personal information manager Entourage 2008, Word 2008,
Excel 2008, PowerPoint 2008 and Messenger for Mac 6.0. More information about
the Mac BU and Microsoft Macintosh products is available at
http://www.microsoft.com/mac.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in
software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their
full potential.
* All prices are estimated retail prices and may vary by retailer.
SOURCE Microsoft Corp.

pr.mspx./ /CONTACT: Aimee Martin, +1-206-268-2253, aimee.martin@edelman.com,
or Rosalie Duryee, +1-206-268-2241, rosalie.duryee@edelman.com, both of
Edelman, for Microsoft Corp.