Mac owners who have been waiting very patiently for a new stand alone version of Office from Microsoft will have to wait a bit longer. A new report states that Microsoft doesn"t plan to release the next Office for Mac until sometime in late 2014.
Computerweek Germany posted up the Office for Mac update by chatting with Thorsten Hübschen, the business group lead for Microsoft Office in that country, as part of its CeBit coverage. Hübschen indicated that one of the reasons why it has taken so long for a new Office for Mac to be released is that the team in charge of its development, the Macintosh Business Unit, was merged with the main Microsoft Business Unit in early 2011, just a few months after Office for Mac 2011 was released in October 2010.
Hübschen would not offer any details of what will be included in the next Office for Mac, saying only that information will be shared in the second quarter of 2014. Computerworld tried to get a Microsoft spokesperson to comment but got back a statement saying only, "The team is hard at work on the next version of Office for Mac."
Microsoft has made some minor updates to Office for Mac 2011 since its release, including adding support for Apple"s Retina Display on its latest notebooks. Microsoft has also allowed those owners to designate it as one of their five installs for their Office 365 Home Premium subscription.
Source: Computerweek Germany | Image via Microsoft