Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 Confirmed During MacWorld [Office For Mac Details Emerge, Availability Set For Later This Year]

At this year’s MacWorld Expo in San Francisco the folks from Microsoft have announced that Office 2011 for Mac will be released sometime later this year. Seen as the first Apple-based suites to bring a fully Mac-tailored version of Outlook (using Apple’s Cocoa API) and web-based co-authoring, the new Office for Mac 2011 will include myriad tweaks to how users share and interact with documents.

“You’ve told us that working together across platforms is a priority to you and that’s why we are making Office for Mac 2011 the best, most compatible productivity suite on the Mac,” says Eric Wilfrid, MacBU General Manager at Microsoft.

More detailed features for the Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 include:

• Entourage goes, here comes Outlook — hated Entourage or the web-based version of Outlook, now you’re finally getting Outlook for Mac
• .PTS support — allows users to back up and open their emails outside their mail client and brings permission settings for the first time
• Co-authoring — allows you and your co-workers to edit Word, PowerPoint or Excel files at the same time, regardless of time, geography or platform
• Office Web Apps — lighter versions of the desktop counterparts, you’ll be able to get your work done as long as you have a machine connected to the Internet
• The “Ribbon” UI — new user interface with an unique Mac-like feel, a perfect mix between the Office 2008 Elements Gallery, the classic Mac menu and Standard Toolbar

Nice deal, eh?