Microsoft Tells Details of Office 2008 for Mac

Microsoft has announced pricing and availability of its latest Mac-compatible version of its Office suite of business tools.

Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac is available from January 15 for £350 (US$685), including VAT, for the Standard Edition. A Home and Student Edition of Office 2008 for Mac costs $193.

Microsoft clams that Office 2008 for Mac is "more powerful and easier to use," including a simplified new user interface and new tools such as Document Elements.

Office 2008 for Mac uses the same Open XML file formats, Office Art graphics engine, and other features as the Windows-based Office 2007. There are also "hundreds" of new customizable templates and suite-wide themes.

Word 2008 features a Publishing Layout View workspace that lets users create "incredibly rich documents" such as newsletters and brochures "without a degree in design."

Excel 2008 has "vastly improved" charting capabilities to help users create and manipulate charts and graphs "easier than ever before."

PowerPoint 2008 includes SmartArt graphics that "let you bring a blank slide to life with stunning charts, maps, and diagrams at the click of a button."

Email client Entourage 2008 is "the hub of Office 2008," and features My Day to keep the user connected with schedules, tasks, and priorities in a clear, stand-alone interface. Project Center helps users keep their project details under control.

Office 2008 for Mac requires Mac OS X v10.4.9 or later, a PowerPC G4 or G5 or Intel Core duo processor, 512MB of RAM and 1.5GB free hard-disk space.

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Lenovo rolls out Olympic-themed USB drive

Lenovo formally launched in the Beijing Olympic torch flash memory, this is the first Olympic torch to the theme of action for storage products.
Its innovative technology and symbol of China's impression of the Millennium "lacquer red" color and "Xiangyun" pictorial beauty, the 2008
Olympic Games are approaching footsteps, we are prepared to use the telephone to see what size event live?

Of course, this is not practical products, but in 2008 the time should have been given for foreign friends as souvenirs.

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First-tier notebook vendors pushing 4GB products next year to lift DRAM market

While first-tier notebook vendors such as Dell, Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Toshiba are planning to roll out 4GB notebooks starting from the first quarter of 2008, the move is expected to give a boost to the DRAM market, according to memory module makers.

The mainstream specification for notebooks is 1GB in the market at present.

Quotes for 1GB DRAM modules have fallen to US$16 in the second half of December while prices for two 2GB modules are likely to drop to less than US$60 in the first quarter of 2008. Based on this scenario, the cost for 4GB RAM will account for less than 6% of a US$1,000-cost notebook. This is much lower than the 10% of the overall system cost as seen in the past, memory makers added.

With the price for two 2GB DRAM modules at such a reasonable range, most notebook vendors should be willing to adopt the specification.

A 4GB notebook will need 32 1Gb DRAM chips compared to only eight for a 1GB notebook, Taiwan DRAM makers pointed out. With demand coming from new notebooks launches, the DRAM market may not see a serious oversupply in 2008 as in 2007, industry sources predicted.

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Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac goes gold, ships next month

Microsoft Corp. said Tuesday it has wrapped up development of Office 2008 for Mac, the first overhaul to its productivity software suite for Apple's Mac users in nearly half a decade.
The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant said the frozen code will be released to manufacturing later this evening, ahead of the software's official launch next month at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco.
Come January 15th, Office 2008 for Mac will be available in three distinct editions ranging from an entry level $150 Home and Student Edition to a high-end $500 Special Media Edition.
However, Microsoft is currently running its "Super Suite Deal" promotion, which allows customers to purchase the current $330 Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac Standard edition or the current $130 Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac Student and Teacher edition and then receive the $500 Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition for only the cost of shipping and handling.
To take advantage of this offer, simply purchase Office 2004 for Mac Standard Edition ($330) or Office 2004 for Mac Student and Teacher Edition ($130) from an authorized reseller like Amazon.com by January 14th. (Your receipt must be dated between Nov. 1, 2007 and Jan. 14, 2008.) Then print and complete the Super Suite Deal Redemption Form [pdf].
Those customers who participate in the promotion and return the Super Suite Deal Redemption Form by February 14th, 2008 will receive a copy of Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition for the cost of shipping ($7.00 US, $10 CND) once it becomes available next month.
Microsoft does not appear to be requiring proof that participants who purchase Office 2004 for Mac Student and Teacher Edition are actually students or teachers. Therefore it appears likely that anyone can purchase the Student and Teach Edition for $130 from Amazon and then receive a copy of the $500 Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition for just the cost of shipping and handling.
Those readers interested in Office 2008 for Mac may want to check out AppleInsider's recent Road to Mac Office 2008 series, installments of which are listed below in the order they were published.

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