Microsoft: Get a Mac, Save 30% on Office for Mac 2008

As strange as it may seem, but Microsoft is encouraging students to purchase a new Mac computer at Apple resellers now through September 8th 2008. In return, Microsoft is offering Office for Mac 2008 for up to 30 percent off regular price. A full list of participating Apple resellers is available here.

Many schools have volume licensing agreements with Microsoft, and students can contact their school’s bookstore or visit Microsoft’s web site for more details.

According to Microsoft, nearly half of all college students in the U.S. use both a Mac and a PC to complete their schoolwork, and they feel it’s important to be able to share and edit documents on both platforms. More than 75% of surveyed students agree that writing a bibliography is a tedious process, and the majority of college students agree that at times their hands get physically sore from taking extensive class notes. Microsoft thinks their Office for Mac suite is a perfect solution to everyday problems that students face on colleges and universities.

In Microsoft’s view, their new Office for Mac suite addresses students’ need to confidently share Office documents that are the same on either platform. Office 2008 and the 2007 Microsoft Office system share core technologies, including Office Open XML-based file formats and OfficeArt. Microsoft says that users can easily create and update citations to meet their needs by moving from Associated Press style to MLA style with the click of a button in Word 2008 for Mac. Microsoft doesn’t want students to get tired taking classroom notes. In Word 2008, audio recording lets students put down their pens and record lectures to ensure they catch every word. The audible notes can even be exported to students’ iPods, enabling on-the-go studying. And the Notebook Layout View lets students organize notes based on individual learning styles, providing access to customized backgrounds and color-coded tabs.