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Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit announced on Tuesday a price drop to Microsoft Office v. X, as well as offering three new editions of the popular suite of applications. While the main Office applications are not being updated, one of the new editions will include Virtual PC, which Microsoft acquired from Connectix earlier this year.

"We are absolutely committed to developing the best software for the Mac platform," Roz Ho, general manager for the Macintosh Business Unit, told MacCentral. "There are going to be a lot more improvements to come in the near future."

While Ho said the MacBU was working hard on the next release of Office and Virtual PC, she declined to comment further.

Office Options

The three new versions of Office are:

Office v. X Professional Edition: This edition offers the full suite of Office programs along with Virtual PC for Mac version 6.1, running Microsoft Windows XP Professional. The new edition is priced at $499. Users of Microsoft Office 98 and Office 2001 for Mac can upgrade to Office v. X Professional Edition for $329.

Office v. X Standard Edition: This is the version of Office v. X that Microsoft has been selling since its initial release, but at a new lower price of $399. This edition includes Word X, Excel X, PowerPoint X, and Entourage X. Users of Microsoft Office 98 and Office 2001 for Mac may upgrade to Office v. X Standard Edition for $239.

Office v. X Student and Teacher Edition: This edition provides users with the full Office suite at a discounted price. This Office edition is available to any student's or teacher's home for $149 and includes three licensed installations. There is no upgrade available for this edition.

"We are just responding to what the customers have been asking us for--one of those needs was in the education market," said Ho.

The new Office v. X and Virtual PC lineup will be available at Mac resellers, including Apple retail stores, beginning the week of August 18 in the United States and worldwide after September 1. Office v. X Professional Edition will be offered in English only. Office v. X Student and Teacher Edition will be available in English, French, German, Spanish, and Swedish.

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