Microsoft said that it will replace Entourage e-mail client with Outlook in the next version of its Office suite for Apple’s Mac computers.
The company also released Web Services Edition of Entourage 2008 for its current users, enabling them to synchronise with Tasks, Notes and Categories.
Microsoft’s Macintosh Business Unit (MacBU) also launched a simplified SKU line-up to help make product selection more intuitive for customers. The new line-up introduces Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac Business Edition in addition to the current offering of Office 2008 for Mac Home and Student Edition.
Eric Wilfrid, general manager for MacBU at Microsoft, said: “Outlook for Mac will bring features our customers have long requested – such as Information Rights Management – that make working across platforms even easier. I think people will see that this move to Outlook for Mac is more than just a name change.”
The company claims that Outlook for Mac releasing in the next version of Office for Mac will deliver significant changes to increase productivity across platforms.
According to MacBU, the new features in Outlook for Mac include: Cocoa, built from the ground up using Cocoa providing users with improved integration with the Mac OS; a new file-based database with support for backing up files with Time Machine and Spotlight searching; and Information Rights Management, to prevent sensitive information from being distributed to or read by people who do not have permission to access the content.
Takeshi Numoto, corporate vice president of Office product management group at Microsoft, said: “Microsoft Outlook and Exchange Server have been a cornerstone of communications and collaboration for our enterprise customers. Today’s release of the Web Services Edition strengthens Exchange connectivity for Entourage customers and sets the stage for the move to the new application-Outlook for Mac.”
Office 2008 for Mac Business Edition will be launched on September 15, 2009, and is expected to be priced at $399.95 (US) and $239.95 (US) for customers eligible for version upgrade.
