Microsoft today launched the latest version of its Big Daddy productivity suite for the Mac ,Office:mac 2008. The software will be in stores by the end of the month.

Just like Office 2007 for PC, Office:mac now supports the Open XML format, which should eliminate those garbled files that sometimes turn up when attempting to send files between platforms. However, it's important to bear in mind that Open XML is only any use if you're sending to another user with software (like Office 2007) that supports it.

Another important advance for this suite is that it uses binary code and is thus native to both Intel and PowerPC macs. Office:mac 2004 was forced to work through the Rosetta Stone interface on Intel Macs, slowing it down considerably. Anecdotal reports suggest this new 2008 suite flies on Intel Macs.

Another wholly new development in this suite are Automator Actions based on Apple Scripts. Pull down the Automator submenu in an Application like Word and you'll be offered a list of actions like turning text into audio to be sent to your iPod. (Yes, this really works but inevitably sounds like a fembot, rather than natural speech.)

The interesting thing about Automator is that anyone can write a function for it using Apple Scripts and put it up on the web for others to download. However, the not so great thing is that Automator replaces support for Visual Basic and the ability to write macros. That's right folks, if you upgrade to this suite, all your precious macros will be gone.

Inside the applications themselves, Office:mac offers a lot of the same new functionality as Office 2007, like OfficeArt, but the interface layout and and a couple of handy extras are aimed squarely at Mac users.

Firstly, instead of Office 2007's 'Ribbon' interface, you get the Elements Gallery, which looks more like a set of pallettes from a graphics program and is also highly customisable.

Second, given that a lot of Mac users spend the majority of their day in one program like PhotoShop, there is a new Desktop widget called My Day that integrates with Entourage to keep you up to date on your appointments, tasks and schedules without actually having to enter your email program.

Within Word there is a new Publisher Layout View that makes it a breeze to create sophisticated documents, using a range of templates and specialised tools.

Excel now offers Ledger Sheets where you can easily manage your company's books, or your personal finances, and can even import information from the likes of credit card or bank statements.

PowerPoint gets SmartArt and Document Themes to quickly and easily take the yawn out of your presentations.

Entourage gets the My Day function as mentioned above but also offers much better integration with Microsoft Exchange in a business environment.

The software comes in three editions, Home and Student, Standard, and Special Media Edition.
With Special Media you get the addition of the new Expression Media application, which is a digital asset management tool for the likes of still images and video. You can store up to 120,000 assets, attach meta data for easy searching, edit files, and convert files from one format to another. The application supports 100 file types including Flash.

Apart from Expression Media, the other main variations between the editions are that Home & Student does not offer Automator Actions or Exchange Server support.

A new website called "mactopia" is also being launched at the end of the month for Office:mac 2008 that will host tutorials, developer blogs, special offers and Office:mac news. It can be reached via www.microsoft.co.nz/mac.

In the meantime, head to www.mactopia.com to find out more.

Pricing will be $269 for the Home and Student Edition, $899 ($549 for an upgrade) for the Standard Edition, and $1149 ($749 for an upgrade) for the Special Media Edition.