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Office 2008 For The Mac - January 15th
Although it is the first upgrade of Office since 2004 there isn't much to crow about. Excel no longr supports macros or VB which means the corporate office isn't likely to embrace Office for the Mac. Apparently Microsoft feels if you want those features you should install Windows on your Mac and buy the Windows version of Office (2007). Also Entourage is Microsoft's answer to the Mac user for the lack of Outlook. In other words it is a mail program but a sad one at that. I know of no Mac users who actually use Entourage. It still won't connect to an Exchange server in encrypted mode and that means your IT department will not allow you to use it for home access to your work mail. Microsoft has thrown in another one of those silly useless programs called "My Day".

Microsoft promised the inclusion of Microsoft Publisher into the suite but instead, have beefed up Word to try and cover their tracks. Word cannot import Publisher files and the features in Publisher are lacking in the new Word.

Should you upgrade? Are there alternatives? No and Yes. Cost of the upgrade is an outrageous $229 for the piddly Home version, $399 for the Standard version and a whopping $549 for the "Special Media Edition" (the latter a joke, right?). Alternatives are iWork with its great Word and spreadsheet support and Google Docs a freebie. And as always NeoOffice for the Mac, the free suite which is also good. As for a Publisher replacement, Apple's updated Pages is so Publisher-like that it comes very close in ability. Pages/Publisher is used for newsletters, brochures, booklets and the more advanced Word-type documents. Pages is getting raves from Mac users for those type of publishing needs.

Macs Now Officially 8% of the Marketplace

Thoughts: UltraSlim MacBook and MacBook Pro
I've been asked a couple of times how Apple could achieve an Ultra-Slim MacBook and MacBook Pro. There is much talk that Apple will announce such a machine at MacWorld. Apple's laptops are now the thinnest they can be with current hard disk size and SuperDrives so that's where they would make changes. From a quarter-inch wide hard disk to a thumbsize flash drive and the complete removal of the SuperDrive could certainly make a new ultra-slim laptop. But how would you deal with DVDs and CDs? Like the way of the floppy drive (introduced by Apple - who needs a floppy today?) Apple may toss in a slim external "optimal" DVD/CD drive that you plug in via USB should you need those services. I think Apply is relying on their new Movie/TV Show download service for all of your entertainment needs (no need for a DVD rental, you just download from iTunes). That's my best guess at this time.