Microsoft announced Tuesday that its updated OS X productivity suite, Office for Mac 2011, is now available. Office for Mac consists of Microsoft’s class-leading productivity applications including Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint. For the first time, the suite also includes Microsoft Outlook, which replaces the less popular Entourage email client. Mac users have been waiting for Microsoft to replace Entourage with Outlook for years now, and this switch alone is likely worth the price of admission. And as far as pricing is concerned, Office for Mac 2011 breaks down as follows:

• Microsoft Office for Home and Student 2011 (single license): $109.99 – $149.99
• Microsoft Office for Mac Home and Business (single license): $174.99 – $279.99

As is often the case, third-party retailers such as Amazon.com currently offer the best pricing on Microsoft’s new Office for Mac 2011 suite.

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We just scored a brand new Apple MacBook Air 11″ laptop at the 5th Ave store, and well, how could we not report back what we think of it? For starters, and this has probably been said already, but you really need to see this in person to appreciate how absolutely slim and compact this thing is. Our major concern has to be the processor, as this wasn’t a built-to-order unit it’s only rockin’ a 1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 2GB of RAM — not the slowest thing out there, but obviously on the slower end of the spectrum. We’re happy to say in our very limited use of the computer so far, we haven’t been frustrated or annoyed by the speed. There will most likely be a different story to be told after we push it to the limits, but for a computer that’s not meant to be subjected to torture every second of the day, we could see ourselves carrying this and not our 15″ MacBook Pro. In terms of the 11.6″ display, we have to say that we’re loving it. So far. We have some great photos of the new MacBook Air in our gallery, and have some comparison photos to the 13″ previous generation Air as well as our 15″ MacBook Pro.

Click on over to our MacBook Air hands on gallery!

It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, but Apple today announced a long-awaited refresh of its MacBook Air notebook line. Apple’s airy laptops haven’t been its most popular series by any means, but there is no question that the company’s remarkably thin notebooks struck a chord among jet-setters and young urbanites with expendable income. The sleek, lightweight machines were perfect for travel and even better for being seen in a local Starbucks. As time moved on however, the meager specs began showing their age and even a price drop couldn’t keep MacBook Air sales inflated.

Today, Apple looks to rekindle the public’s interest in its slender MacBook Air line with a reworked case, beefed up specs and a new smaller option.

Long story short, thin is in.

Hit the jump for more information on specs, pricing and availability.

MacBook Air 13.3-inch

• 13.3-inch LED backlit display, 1440 x 900 pixels
• 1.86GHz Core 2 Duo processor
• NVidia GeForce 320M GPU
• SD card reader, 2 USB ports, a Mini DisplayPort, a 3.5mm audio jack and a straight MagSafe port
• Instant-on
• Multitouch glass trackpad
• Full aluminum unibody construction
• 128GB or 256GB SSD
• 802.11n Wi-Fi
• FaceTime camera
• 0.68-inches thin at its thickest point, 0.11-inches at its thinnest
• 2.9 lbs
• Battery life: 7 hours usage, 30 days standby

MacBook Air 11.6-inch

• 11.6-inch LED backlit display, 1366 x 768 pixels
• 1.4GHz Core 2 Duo processor
• NVidia GeForce 320M GPU
• 2 USB ports, a Mini DisplayPort and a straight MagSafe port
• Instant-on
• Multitouch glass trackpad
• Full aluminum unibody construction
• 64GB or 128GB SSD
• 802.11n Wi-Fi
• FaceTime camera
• 0.68-inches thin at its thickest point, 0.11-inches at its thinnest
• 2.3 lbs
• Battery life: 5 hours usage, 30 days standby

The new MacBook Air models are available immediately online and Apple stores should be getting inventory soon. Pricing starts at $999 for the 11.6-inch model with a 64GB SSD ($1,199 for 128GB SSD), and tops out at $1,599 for the 13-inch model with a 256GB SSD ($1,399 for 128GB SSD).

We have all been waiting to see what Apple has in store for the next major milestone in Mac OS X, and just now, at Apple’s “Back to the Mac” event, Steve Jobs has given us a preview of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion. The big thing here, as Steve puts it, is the joining of OS X with the best features found in iOS. Here are some of the biggest features previewed in Lion:

• Multitouch gesture support
• App Store: Mac apps available in a centralized location with a payment system, 1-click purchasing, customer reviews, screenshots, etc
• Launchpad – app home screens for OS X
• Full-screen apps
• Auto-save and auto-resume within apps
• Mission Control: unification of full-screen apps, Expose, Spaces and Dashboard

Lion will launch this coming summer, though no specific release date was provided. The Mac App Store will be available within 90 days, however, as an addition to Snow Leopard.

Hit the jump for a handful of images…

TechCrunch noticed a FaceTime app icon in the dock of the demo machine being used to demo the new iLife ’11 features, and well… it looks as if FaceTime will really come to desktop computers — so awesome! Apple has since gone on to confirm the news, stating that FaceTime for Mac will be available as a public beta today.

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According to one of LOOPRumors’ sources, Apple will sometime in the next 60 days host a special event gathering to introduce a refreshed iMac. No ordinary iMac, it is alleged that the new model will feature “a touch interface” meant for running iOS which seems to indicate the presence of a Multi-Touch display. It’s said that this move will not only allow Apple to gauge how consumers react to a touchscreen desktop, but also aide developers with the creation of iOS applications. Anyone think there’s something to this?

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Another day, another software update from Apple. Unlike yesterday’s release of OS X 10.6.4, today’s release applies both Mac and PC users as it is iTunes 9.2 that has been released. For most people the performance enhancements will be the big draw, but if you’re planning on picking up an iPhone 4 or upgrading your current device to iOS 4 on Monday, you’ll definitely want to grab  iTunes 9.2 while it’s hot. Check out the changelog after the jump and then hit up the read link to grab the new wares.

iTunes 9.2 comes with several new features and improvements, including:

• Sync with iPhone 4 to enjoy your favorite music, movies, TV shows, book and more on-the-go
• Sync and read books with iPhone or iPod touch with iOS 4 and iBooks 1.1
• Organize and sync PDF documents as books. Read PDFs with iBooks 1.1 on iPad and any iPhone or iPod touch with iOS 4.0
• Organize your apps on your iOS 4 home screens into folders using iTunes
• Faster back-ups while syncing an iPhone or iPod touch with iOS 4
• Performance improvements make scrolling much faster

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Alright, Apple fans. Time to drop everything and rush to your Mac of choice, as Apple has just released OS X 10.6.4. Ranging in size from 314MB to 641MB, the update brings forth a bunch of assorted fixes that “enhance the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac.” We’re not expecting any surprises with this one, but if we spot anything you know we’ll be back. Hit the jump for the official changelog.

The 10.6.4 Update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X Snow Leopard. It includes Safari 5 and general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac, including fixes that:

• resolve an issue that causes the keyboard or trackpad to become unresponsive
• resolve an issue that may prevent some Adobe Creative Suite 3 applications from opening
• address issues copying, renaming, or deleting files on SMB file servers
• improve reliability of VPN connections
• resolve a playback issue in DVD Player when using Good Quality deinterlacing
• resolve an issue editing photos with iPhoto or Aperture in full screen view
• improve compatibility with some braille displays

As iPhone 4 pre-orders kicked off, visitors to Apple’s website were greeted with a teensy surprise this morning, as the Mac mini has received its long-rumored long-efresh. Milled out of a solid chunk of aluminum, $699 base model comes with an 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM, 320GB HDD, and a NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics card. As expected, HDMI has replaced the DVI port (the Mini DisplayPort is still there) and a SD card reader now joins the four USB 2.0 ports and sole FireWire 800 port. If there’s no need for an optical drive in your life or if you just want something in the way of a compact server, there’s also the option of scraping it entirely and a nabbing a unit with a 2.6GHz processor, dual 500GB HDDs and 4GB of RAM for $999.

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It’s been a long time coming, but Flash Player 10.1 has finally been released. For Windows users with relatively new rigs this means that you’ll be able to put less of a strain on your system when watching streaming videos thanks to hardware acceleration for H.264 video. Sadly the Mac-specific version released today still lacks this feature, but it will be made available just as soon as Adobe is finished polishing up the “Gala” edition of Flash Player 10.1.

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Oh man, this is definitely not something we wanted to hear: Microsoft has announced on its blog that Office for Mac 2011 will only ship as a 32-bit version. Citing a need for enhanced compatibility between the Office for Windows and Office for Mac over high-power performance, Microsoft said that it would not have been possible for its team to create a 64-bit version of Office 2011″because Apple’s frameworks require us to complete the move to Cocoa before we can build a 64-bit version.” Office 2011 is not 100% Cocoa. Microsoft is downplaying the lack of 64-bit support by stating that “most users with typical or even larger-than-average document content will not notice a difference in performance” and that the only area “64-bit can make a difference is for people working with huge amounts of data.” You know, like the professionals who are champing at the bit for Office 2011 and its inclusion of Outlook.

[Via ZDNet]

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Photo enthusiasts take note, as Adobe is rolling out the official retail version of Lightroom 3 today. Available as a public-beta since October 2009, the latest, official version of Lightroom features a brand new processing engine that improves performance and offers an enhanced, easier to use UI. Noteworthy features include: support for DSLR video files, improved noise reduction, lens correction and sharpening tools, and tethered shooting (with select Nikon and Canon cameras). Lightroom 3 is available for both Macintosh and Windows systems with a price point of $299; an upgrade licences retails for $99. You can grab a copy of this latest offering directly from Adobe today, or from a third party retailer in the near future.

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According to French blog MacGeneration, Apple will unveil Safari 5 during Monday’s WWDC 2010 keynote. Not much is known about Safari 5, but according to a changelog that MacGeneration was able to get a hold of, the major new features brought forward will be Safari Reader, a 25% bump in JavaScript performance, option to make Bing the default search engine, 12+ new HTML5 features, developer tools, and hardware acceleration for Windows. There are also lot of enhancements alleged to be apart of the update, but for those we’ll have to ask you to hit the jump.

[Via TUAW]

Safari 5 Changelog

• Safari Reader: Click on the new Reader icon to view articles on the web in a single clutter-free page.
• Improved Performance: Safari 5 executes Javascript up to 25% faster than Safari 4. Better page caching and DNS prefetching speed up browsing.
• Bing Search Option: New Bing search option for Safari’s Search Field, in addition to Google and Yahoo.
• Improved HTML5 support: Safari supports over a dozen new HTML5 features including Geolocation, full screen for HTML5 video, closed caption for HTML5 video, new sectioning elements (article, aside footer, header, hgroup, nav and section), HTML5, AJAX History, EventSource, WebSocket, HTML 5 draggable attribute, HTML 5 forms validation, and HTML 5 Ruby.
• Safari Developer Tools: A new Timeline Panel in the Web Inspector shows how Safari interacts with a web site and identifies areas for optimization. New keyboard shortcuts make it aster to switch between panels.
• Smarter Address Field: The Smart Address Field can now match text against the titles of web pages in History and Bookmarks, as well as any part of their URL.
• Tab Settings: Automatically open new webpages in tabs instead of in separate windows.
• Hardware Acceleration for Windows: Use the power of the computer’s graphics processor to smoothly display media and effects on PC, as well as Mac.
• Search History with Date: A new date indicator in Full History Search shows when web pages were viewed.
• Top Sites/History Button: Switch easily between Top Sites and Full History Search with a new button that appears at the top of each view.
• Private Browsing Icon: A “Private” icon appears in the Smart Address Field when Private Browsing is on. Click on the icon to turn off Private Browsing.
• DNS Prefetching: Safari looks at the addresses of links on web pages and can load those pages faster.
• Improved Page Caching: Safari can add additional types of web pages to the cache so they load quickly.
• XSS Auditor: Safari can filter potentially malicious scripts used in cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks.
• Improved JavaScript Support: Safari allows web applications that use JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) to run faster and more securely.

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If you or anyone you know were planning on picking up a Mac mini over the weekend (don’t laugh, we’re serious), you might want to hold off because AppleInsider has it on good authority that the teensy weensy computer rig is due for a refresh in the coming weeks. AI is reporting that multiple independent sources who order Mac minis in large quantities were either instructed to order only what is urgently needed or wait a few weeks. One educational institution had its order fulfilment estimate changed from several days to June 14th. Two months ago AI reported that prototype Mac mini’s spotted by Apple employees had the DVI port swapped out for a HDMI port and the inclusion of NVIDIA’s MPC89 chipset. The last Mac mini refresh took pace last in October.

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Citing a renewed focus on security thanks in part to a recent series of cyber attacks originating in China, The Financial Times is reporting that Google is abandoning support for Microsoft’s Windows. Citing several anonymous employees of the search giant, the FT said that as recent as January, new Google employees were permitted to run Windows on their laptops, but the use of the OS on desktops was strictly forbidden. The continued use of a Windows machine is said to require authorization from high ups, and any employee that requests a Windows rig will need approval from the CIO. At the moment, authorized OSes are said to include Linux and Apple’s OS X. But for all of the talk of security concerns, the FT’s sources allege that the move also has as much to do with Google’s desires to ween its employees off of competing products as it prepares to launch its Chrome OS. Not surprisingly, Google declined to comment on the matter.

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