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Office for Mac 2008 support umbilical chopped off
But you can buy it again, and keep on buying it
Mac fans wedded to Microsoft Office face a stark choice on April 9 – upgrade or continue running the unsupported Office for Mac 2008.
April 9 2013 is the date when Microsoft will stop providing new code and security fixes for Office for Mac 2008, which launched in January 2008.
Redmond is urging Mac users to take out an Office 365 subscription, which includes Office for Mac 2011 and future upgrades to the suite.
The scheduled end of support came after it emerged Microsoft had quietly hiked the price of Office for Mac, with Office 2011 Home and Student hitting $139, up from $120.
An Office 365 sub will now officially set you back $99.99 a year, or $9.99 per month, compared to $139.99 for Office for Mac Home & Student.
That means, after just one year and four months of Office 365 you'll have paid for the equivalent of owning the suite, but with the added bonus that you keep on paying because you are on a service contract.
Office for Mac Home & Student gives you Word, Excel and PowerPoint, but Microsoft has padded Office 365 with 60 minutes of Skype calls and a 20GB Skydrive account.
Unlike your cousins on the PC, you won’t be getting OneNote, Access or Publisher. ®
Biting the hand that feeds IT
