In an official blog post released Thursday, Microsoft announced that it will be ending Office support for Mac 2008 effective April 9.
Micrsoft's recent blog post comes as bad news for all MacBook Pro users who were using Office for Mac 2008. The company announced April 4 that it will be stopping support for the five year-old office suite effective next week.
Microsoft stated that while the software will still be valid for use no new patches will be added nor new updates issued. The blog posting also encouraged users to upgrade to the newly released, subscription-based Office 365 as a replacement for Office 2008. While users can get a "better experience" by upgrading to Office 365, Microsoft said, Office for Mac 2008 users can still download patches and updates for the old software till April 19.
"You can purchase an Office 365 subscription - this includes Office for Mac 2011, as well as all future upgrades to the product. You can also still download updates for Office for Mac 2008 until April 19, 2014, but we recommend you try Office 365 for the best experience," the announcement read.
Microsoft officially launched its Office 365 in June, 2011. The latest subscription-based software offers cloud access for $10 a month or $100 a year. It can be used on five different machines including the Mac PC and Windows 8 tablet. Office 365 Home Premium includes 20 GB additional storage capacity for SkyDrive. Its suite includes Microsoft's chief Outlook email, PowerPoint, Access, Publisher, Word, Excel, and OneNote.
For users who don't want to upgrade or subscribe to the new software, Microsoft is still selling Office for Mac 2011 starting at $140. The company didn't make any announcement on whether it plans to stop Office for Mac 2011. Therefore, it would be safe to assume that they will continue supporting the software.
Nevertheless, experts advise Mac users be on a constant lookout as microsoft is pushing hard to sell its revamped Office 365 and it may stop sales and support of Office for Mac 2011 anytime.
