Microsoft to cut Mac Office price by 33% for 5-day sale

Microsoft will slash the price of its Office for Mac 2011 suite by as much as 33% next week during a five-day sale.
Office for Mac 2011, which launched late last month, will be discounted at several online and brick-and-mortar retailers starting on Nov. 25, Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. The deal will run through Monday, Nov. 29.
Amazon.com will cut the price of Home & Student by $40, to $79 for the one-license version and $109 for the three-license package. Home & Student lists for $119.99 and $149.99 for the one- and three-license editions, respectively, putting Amazon's discounts at 33% and 27%.
Other retailers, including Apple's own stores, Best Buy, MacMall and Microsoft's e-store, will chop off $20 from the list price of Home & Student.

Microsoft has discounted the Mac application suite before. In 2008, for instance, the company cut prices by as much as 70% for the then-current Office for Mac 2008 Special Media Edition, a $499.95 bundle that Microsoft did not revive for the newest edition.
As of mid-day Thursday, Office for Mac 2011 Home & Student held the No. 5 spot in Amazon's software bestseller list, while the pricier Home & Business had the No. 7 spot. The latter includes the same Word, Excel and PowerPoint applications as Home & Student, but adds the Outlook e-mail client to the mix.
Microsoft's Windows-based Office 2010 Home & Student was the No. 1 package on the same list.