We are pleased to announce the availability of Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac today, bringing Mac users the latest versions of the company’s productivity software. The release is the latest effort from the Office for Mac team, which has been delivering Microsoft software to the Mac for 13 years.


Some of the key features of Office Mac 2011 include:

Dynamic Recorder in PowerPoint: Word and PowerPoint give you the ability to create rich documents by layering text, shapes, pictures, SmartArt, animations, and charts. With Office for Mac 2011 you can now easily reorder all these elements using a simple visual interface.

Picture Editing in PowerPoint: Edit images from within Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents. Recolor photos and images, apply filters and corrections, and even remove extraneous background imagery directly from the application itself.

Word Document Gallery :Easily access thousands of Word, PowerPoint, and Excel 2011 themes and templates, and use them to create professional-looking documents. The gallery also helps you quickly find recent documents, and customize and preview any theme or template before selecting it.

Word Web App: Whether you’re in the office, at home, or on the road, Microsoft Office Web Apps provide an easy way to access, view and edit documents directly from the Web browser.

Attachment Preview in Outlook: Next time someone sends you an attachment, see what's inside with a single click

To start evaluating these and many new features, download your bits now.

Improve the efficiency and availability of IT resources and applications with the new virtualization innovations provided in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 RC. Dynamic Memory and Microsoft RemoteFX^TM, to help businesses further optimize their datacenter and desktops.

• Dynamic Memory lets Hyper-V administrators pool available memory on a physical host and dynamically distribute it to any virtual machine(s) running on that host.

• RemoteFX lets Windows Server 2008 R2 administrators provide a rich end user desktop virtualization experience by delivering vivid content, independent of any graphics stack, to server-hosted virtual and session-based desktops.

Businesses can take advantage of these innovations to help deliver new capabilities such as private cloud and VDI. To learn more about Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 RC and the benefits it provides, read the documents, feature overview and FAQs below.

• Read the Windows Server 2008 R2 Technical Whitepaper for a technical overview of Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 RC release features and benefits.

• Download the Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 RC Reviewer’s Guide to evaluate the core features of Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 RC release in your environment.

Download the Release Candidate today

The Windows Phone 7 Enterprise Mobility Kit provides additional details about how Windows Phone 7 can help you move your business forward. Download this content to better understand how Windows Phone 7 provides mobile productivity without compromise, works well with your existing infrastructure and provides a platform for compelling applications.

After attending this seminar you should have a clear idea of where to start in the process of evaluating the impact of application compatibility
in your Windows 7 and Office 2010 deployment project. You will develop an understanding of the tools and methodologies available to support your deployment. 

You will learn about Application Lifecycle Management, Business Value Analysis, Inventory Analysis Tools, Remediation Options within Windows 7, Virtualization Options and more. 

The solutions for IE6 virtualisation will be covered, including addressing support and licensing questions, and a demonstration of IE6 running in a supported virtualized environment. 

During the workshop you will have an opportunity to discuss Application Compatibility with Microsoft’s deployment technical experts and network with your peers from other organisations facing the same challenges as you.

Brisbane November 19th
Perth November 23rd
Adelaide November 24th
Sydney November 25th
Melbourne November 26th
Canberra December 2nd

About the Workshop:
You can manage application compatibility proactively by keeping an accurate list of all programs in use in your organization, creating an “application portfolio.” Whether your organization has a managed environment complete with inventoried applications, a full-time application management team, and a test lab, or if approaching the issue of application compatibility for the first time, you may find it difficult to know where to start. This session will explain the steps you should take to prepare for application compatibility testing and
evaluation during a deployment project.

Click here to register.

System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R3—previously Systems Management Server—represents a tremendous advance over its well-regarded predecessor, now providing the insight and control necessary to more effectively manage change in today's dynamic IT infrastructures with a broad range of management capabilities. In addition to the powerful list of product capabilities delivered in Configuration Manager R2, additional enhancements for R3 include:

Centralized Power Management
Configuration Manager R3 lets IT organizations centrally manage the power settings of Windows 7, Vista and XP computers, helping reduce energy consumption and costs. You can plan and apply a power management policy for high and low PC usage periods, monitor user activity to avoid any productivity interruptions and correct non-compliance. Detailed reports of trends and settings help you make smart power management choices, and also validate Green IT projects with summaries of power, money and CO2 savings. Learn more here.

Mobile Device Management
Configuration Manager R3 includes licenses for the popular System Center Mobile Device Manager, so you can run comprehensive asset inventories, deploy software, manage settings and enforce password policies for Widows phones.

Enhanced Scalability and Performance
Configuration Manager R3 is more scalable than ever, increasing the number of supported clients to 300,000 per site. R3 is also more efficient in the way it communicates with Active Directory, helping you discover user or machine changes more quickly and allowing custom queries to define user, system or group attributes.

Finally, it is worth noting that, just like Configuration Manager R2, R3 will be the foundation for the upcoming Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010. By bringing endpoint security into overall endpoint management, you can reduce costs and inefficiencies, and also improve security and compliance.

Download the evaluation today