Microsoft releases Office for Mac with Outlook

The world’s largest software-maker, Microsoft Corporation, has released the latest version of its Office productivity suite for Mac computers.

Office for Mac 2011 is the biggest upgrade for Mac computers since the company launched the productivity suite for the competing operating system.

This version of Office for Mac finally includes Outlook, the popular personal information management app for managing your calendar, emails, contacts, and notes all from one app with syncing capabilities.

The company has also made it easier for people to collaborate on working with files, by adding the ability to easily broadcast files like PowerPoint slides directly to the Internet. With Word, multiple authors even on different platforms can now concurrently edit a single document.

Additionally, users can easily save documents to the cloud storage system offered by the company through its free Windows Live SkyDrive service or through SharePoint with the new Document Connection app.

Microsoft has also chosen to unify the user interface with its Windows counterpart by implementing the Ribbon tabbed user interface that groups common task buttons into category tabs at the top of each application.

The tech giant also designed the Office Mac file system to work in the same way as its Windows counterpart, ensuring documents appear the same across different platforms.

Also included with Office Mac 2011 is the latest version of Microsoft Windows Live Messenger, which now includes a revamped advertising-free interface with video chat for all accounts accounts, and not just enterprise accounts which were previously required for video chat in the pervious client.

Microsoft is offering two different versions of Office for Mac, the Home and Student edition that retails for $149.99, or the Home and Business version that includes more applications for $279.95.

The Microsoft stock (NASDAQ:MSFT) closed up nearly 3-percent to $25.90 per share in today’s trading session.