Microsoft has improved on an earlier offer to those who buy Office 2004 for Mac in the US before the new version of Office is released in January but have decided not to extended the offer to Australian customers.
The major difference between the US offer and a similar local offer, announced in September, is that Australian customers who purchase a copy of Office 2004 for Mac Student and Teacher Edition are only eligible to recieve a copy of Office 2008 for Mac Home and Student Edition (US$149) and not the Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition, priced at US$499. Australian pricing has yet to be announced.
US Customers who purchase Office 2004 for Mac Student and Teacher edition, the Standard version, or the Standard upgrade are eligible to receive the new Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition for US$6.99 -- the cost of shipping and handling.
A spokesperson for Microsoft told ZDNet Australia today that "there are no plans to duplicate this in Australia at the moment."
Australian customers can still take advantage of a local upgrade offer made available in September. Customers who purchase the Standard or Standard Upgrade version of Office 2004 for Mac can upgrade to Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition Upgrade for AU$27, which covers shipping and handling.
Customers who purchase the Student and Teacher Edition of Office 2004 for Mac can upgrade to Office 2008 for Mac Home and Student Edition for the same AU$27 fee.
The Australian offer can be redeemed via a page on Microsoft Australia's Web site until 31 March. The software must be purchased by 29 February.
According to Microsoft, "Office 2008 for Mac will be available in the United States beginning January 15, 2008, with global general availability in the first quarter of 2008."
The Standard flavour of Office 2008 for Mac includes a single licence, while three licenses are included with the less expensive Student and Teacher edition. Microsoft does not verify whether those who buy this education edition really attend or work at a school or university. However, consumers must pledge in the End User License Agreement that they bought the edition for educational use.
The Special Media Edition includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Expression Media, an image file management application.
Office 2008 for Mac is also available in other flavours. For US$399, the Standard edition swaps Expression Media for the Entourage scheduling application. Office 2008 for Mac Home and Student, equivalent to 2004 Student and Teacher, includes Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for US$149.
Microsoft provided an early look at the Office 2008 for Mac 11 months ago, and has been gradually rolling out details about other new features, such as a bigger selection of templates and enhanced Exchange support, and the capability to configure out-of-office settings in Exchange. No public beta tests have been made available.
Office for Mac isn't the only productivity software suite out there. Other options include Apple iWork '08, the free OpenOffice, and the ThinkFree desktop and online bundle.
Additional free competitors to Office include browser-based suites such as Google Docs & Spreadsheets and Zoho Office. All options offer a word processor, and presentations and spreadsheet programs that can read Microsoft Office documents.
Luke Anderson of ZDNet Australia contributed to this report.
I spoke to someone at Microsoft Australia today about the discrepency between the offers and the pricing for the US and Australian upgrade to 2008. The gentleman suggested that the more people who logged complaints with Microsoft, the more likely that they would match the US offer. So vote with your phones people!!!
Call Microsoft (AU) on 132058