Among the highlights are new co-authoring and Web Apps tools, as well as a user interface which is designed to be compatible with the Windows version of Office. Microsoft also offered a few additional details about Outlook for Mac.

More expansive collaboration tools will also be part of the latest upgrade to Office for Mac. The new coauthoring functionality will give users the ability to work on a file from Word, PowerPoint or Excel. The Presence Everywhere feature will provide real-time status updates about who is working on the document in the application.

Office 2011 will also provide a connection to Microsoft Office Web Apps, allowing users to access and share Office documents — similar to functionality found in Microsoft Office 2010 for PC users. The Web Apps feature is currently in beta and can be used via a Windows Live ID account or even Microsoft SharePoint technologies.

Also new to the Office for Mac environment will be a ribbon-based interface that combines the Mac menu with the standard toolbar. Users have the option of collapsing the ribbon and toolbar for more space. The new design provides a similar look and feel across multiple platforms, for example, for users who are dual-booting Mac OS X and Windows.

Microsoft also announced new developments around Outlook for Mac, the intended replacement for the Entourage email client. Outlook for Mac will import .PST files from Outlook for Windows.

Outlook for Mac will be based on the Exchange Web Services protocol and will use Cocoa for better integration with the Mac OS. It also features Spotlight search and back-up support from Time Machine.