Microsoft Offers Free Trial Offer For Office For Mac 2011

Microsoft is offering a free 30-day trial for Office for Mac 2011, the new release of the personal productivity application suite Microsoft began shipping last fall.

The trial product is available at www.Microsoft.com/mac/trial. Microsoft doesn't offer the software through Apple's Mac App Store, selling it only through resellers and as a direct download from Microsoft's Web site.

Office for Mac 2011 is the first update of the popular software product in three years. Microsoft announced the trial offer Tuesday in a blog posting by Pat Fox, senior director of product management, Office for Mac.

Microsoft is likely looking to capture a little of the Apple fanfare revolving around the Macworld Expo in San Francisco this week. Fox said Microsoft is holding several Office for Mac speaker sessions at the show.

A recent review of the Office for Mac 2011 by the CRN Test Center found that the new release surpassed earlier versions of the application set in terms of functionality, performance and compatibility with Microsoft's cloud-based Office Live offerings.

Fox also said sales of Office for Mac 2011 have "gone past our internal sales milestones," but didn't disclose additional information.