Office 2008 Available for Pre-Order

It’s January, and it’s Macworld next week, but here’s a tidbit to keep your wallets nice and light.

We saw the introduction of new Mac Pros and Xserves on Tuesday, but with much of the Mac press covering that, it has been overlooked that you can now Pre-Order Office 2008 in any one of the three editions, detailed below.

Microsoft Office is one of the best selling Apps for OS X and love it or hate it, it’s going to be here to stay. However, this is the first time that it has had some real competition in the market space. Although still dominant in productivity apps, Apple’s own iWork is eating into the market, and Office ‘08 sales should be a nice indicator as to whether people have switched, for good.

So, without further ado, here are the 3 editions that can now be Pre-Ordered:

Home and Student - This is your basic edition, surprisingly made for the home user. It includes Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Entourage; however is should be noted that this version of Entourage lacks exchange support. This is priced very competitively, at just $149.95 - although iWork is just $79.95. Nevertheless the extra features and compatibility on just about every system in the world might draw users to spend the extra $70.

Next up is the Main Edition which adds exchange support, Automator actions, as well as an Upgrade edition. This is probably the edition most people will go for, and it is certainly priced like Office always will be - $239.95 to upgrade, and $399.95 for a full version

The Special Media Edition is made so you can “experience peak productivity while streamlining your digital asset management”, whatever that means. Basically it is the top version, including everything from the other two versions, and adding Microsoft Expression Media. Said app allows you to easily manage all your digital media; upgrade for $299.95 or buy the full version for $499.95.

So there you have it. Office: The New, Universally Bound version available for all to Pre-Order. Are you planning on upgrading to Office ‘08, or sticking with the ageing Office ‘04… or by the sounds of our recent iWork post, are you planning on sticking with iWork ‘08? Sound off in the comments and let us know!