Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac is a major update that Microsoft says will bring the Mac version of its office suite almost on par with the Windows version of the product. With significantly better cross-platform compatibility, several added new features and some impressive interface elements exclusive to the Mac version, Office 2011 for Mac might be the best in its class.
Over the past couple of weeks, our colleagues at Download.com have had the chance to check out the entire suite — including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook — and found there's plenty to be excited about. New and notable features in this latest iteration of Office for Mac include handy image-editing tools, a new media browser, enormous template galleries and several feature upgrades and interface enhancements across the suite.
Take a look at this photo gallery to see what's in store and also read our review for more comprehensive info. Though the venerable suite won't be available until 26 October, you can read up-to-date news and details from Microsoft's Mac development team over at the Mac Mojo blog.
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(Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET) Media Browser
The new and improved Media Browser gives you a centralised location to grab images, movies, Clip Art and even content from your iPhoto and iTunes libraries.
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(Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET) Outlook attachment preview
In Outlook 2011 you'll be able to view attachment previews so you don't have to download the attachment to know what it looks like. This, like many features in Office 2011 for Mac, will save you time as you focus on getting your projects out the door.
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(Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET) Outlook attachment preview
Every morning it takes a considerable amount of time to process email. But with Outlook 2011, you can collapse entire threads into conversations, making it easy to manage and process your daily email.
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(Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET) My Day
With email out of the way, you'll want to see what your schedule looks like for the day. With the My Day view, you can quickly see your meetings and appointments at a glance.
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(Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET) Full calendar
When you need to see what your work week is going to look like, check out the full calendar view. Enter appointments, schedule meetings and colour-code your schedule so nothing is unexpected.
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(Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET) Template galleries
Thankfully, office suites these days don't make you start a project from scratch. With Office 2011 for Mac, you can quickly browse theme and template galleries to find a layout that works for your project (PowerPoint theme gallery shown). From there you can customise it to make it your own.
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(Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET) Word 2011 publishing tools
Use Word to quickly create fliers, brochures, newsletters and more. An enormous library of professional-looking templates is at your disposal.
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(Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET) Dynamic Reordering
When certain elements of your page don't show up the way you want them to, you can activate Dynamic Reordering, which lets you click and drag graphical elements forward and back on the page (available in both PowerPoint and Word).
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(Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET) Excel conditional formatting
Sometimes it's difficult to understand a spreadsheet that's just a wall of data. Fortunately in Excel 2011, you can use conditional formatting to create visual representations of your data for easy reading. (See bars at right.)
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