Microsoft is set to offer this summer a long-awaited upgrade to the Macintosh version of its Office suite.
The update will give Mac customers access to corporate calendar and contact information stored on a server running the software giant"s Exchange software.
Mac users have been clamoring for a way to access information from a Microsoft Exchange server under Mac OS X for some time. Office 2001, the Mac OS 9 program, allowed Exchange access, but the feature was not part of the Office v. X for Mac OS X, the version that debuted in November 2001.
Microsoft offered several cumbersome workarounds to allow Mac OS X users to get access to Exchange information. The Redmond, Wash., company also has a Web client of Outlook that can access Exchange information via a Web browser. Microsoft suggested customers might want to remotely access a PC that was running the Windows version of Office to get address book and calendar information from an Exchange server. E-mail from an Exchange server can be downloaded by many mail programs because Exchange supports various e-mail standards.