Microsoft to kill Entourage for Mac, new features coming 2010

In the meantime new version out next month

Outlook for Mac shipping with Office 2008

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13 August 2009 17:05 GMT / By Duncan Geere

Microsoft has announced new details of its Outlook 2008 package and said that it will be ditching Entourage when the application suite is updated late next year.

Going on the back of earlier predictions by Pocket-lint over the launch of an update to the Mac office suite, Microsoft has confirmed that as part of the replacement process, Microsoft is providing a "Web Services Edition" of Entourage, available today, which has performance and reliability improvements and allows users to sync Tasks, Notes and Categories.

"It is an exciting time for the MacBU with updates to our current products and the first public announcement about the next version of Office for Mac. 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 Eric Wilfrid, general manager for the MacBU at Microsoft.

"Outlook for Mac will bring features our customers have long requested - such as 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".

Next month, Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac will be trimmed down to 2 editions: Home/Student and Business Edition. The latest version Office 2008 for Mac, business edition, will arrive on 16 September and cost £440, with a £270 version available for customers that are eligible for version upgrade. A home and student edition is available now for £120.

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