Office 2011 For Mac Officially Released

It’s worth noting that Office 2010 for the Mac is finally out, and it’s got the most spit, polish and shine of any Office for Mac release I’ve seen yet. What’s more, crummy Entourage is gone, replaced with Outlook. Is Microsoft finally acting like the software company they’re supposed to be? Here’s the quick details on the new release that a Mac-oriented user might care about…

Microsoft’s site details some new features that make using Office on the Mac more Apple-ish than traditionally before. (Maybe Apple likes this, because this blogger got an official Apple promo e-mail announcing the release.) Aside from the traditional Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, there’s a few new tricks up Microsoft’s sleeve.

A big one that’s not entirely obvious is “full-screen” support. Something — even Apple’s own iWork — lacks is the ability to block out everything else, including your desktop, and focus at the task at hand. All the new Office 2011 apps feature this new true full immersive mode, with plain black background and your new “Mac-ified” ribbon on the top. What’s more, Microsoft has taken that loved or hated ribbon (introduced in Office 2007) and made it more Mac friendly (read: prettier and more organized).

Another Mac-ish feature is intuitive control over graphics and content. Office 2011 comes with a new feature of “reordering layers.” Apple might have called it something sexier, but that doesn’t detract from the usefulness. Text, photos and other data on your document is shown in a “cover-flow” like way, allowing you to move and re-arange content without messing up your formatting or bothering with copy and pasting.

This blogger sees Microsoft’s commitment to software (and their recent Windows Phone 7 Connector) as a bit of cease-fire between the two companies, with Microsoft focusing on making good software for all platforms that are important in the world.

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