Apple has taken almost 4 years to produce the new Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac, but the release date is finally out: 
1/15/08. Of course, the announced release date is never accurate. The product usually arrives a good 3-6 months after the release date because final tweaks and lagging production. Also, the release date is typically announced prematurely to ease investors and the public’s concerns about when the product is finally coming out.
Should you buy it? For more bells and whistles, yes. However, a resounding “no” if you have an old version of Office and can’t decide if you should finally buy Office 2004 for Mac or the new Office 2008. You may easily upgrade from Office 2004 to 2008 so there is no sense waiting 2 versions. The full version is $399.95 and the upgrade from 2004 is $239.95. So, you can save a few bucks with the upgrade if you currently have 2004.
What is different about Office 2008 for Mac? Really, it’s all about easy access. There are more previews and less clicking to get to options. For instance, Elements Gallery allows quick clicking to formatting options in applications. Also, Document Elements automates normal tasks, such as adding headers and footers.
Publishing Layout View allows formatting and layouts become easier. You can create professional graphics, bullets, charts, 3D effects, and other cool add-ins within documents. You’ve seen some of these graphics before, but these graphics are improved with a professional gloss to them.
Overall, the 2008 version is similar to when the 2004 version came out: New tricks and new options to play with. Is it worth it? Yes, for its ease of accessing options. We don’t recommend getting it right away as new gliches and issues will most likely need to be patched up first.