Microsoft Office 11 and Virtual PC 7.0 at MWSF 2004? [Updated]

Appleinsider reports that Microsoft "will officially renew its commitment" to the Mac platform at the upcoming MacWorld San Francisco in January.

Microsoft is said to be working on upgrades for the Mac version of Microsoft Office with a new project manager and a significant focus on Entourage. The new version is expected to be announced at Steve Jobs' Keynote speech for MacWorld Expo. In addition, updates to MSN Messenger and Remote Desktop Connection client are expected in the next year.

Appleinsider also reports that Virtual PC 7.0 will also be announced and delivered in the same timeframe as the new Office package. Virtual PC 7.0 would bring long anticipated G5 compatibility to the popular emulation software.

While Microsoft acquired Virtual PC from Connectix primarily for its Windows versions of VPC, Microsoft's Mac Business Unit has promised ongoing active development of the Mac version. Due to changes in the G5 architecture, prior versions of Virtual PC have remained incompatible with the PowerMac G5s.

Updated: Mac4ever.com (French) reported on December 1st an interview with a Microsoft representative at MacExpo in London. In their video interview, the rep felt that Virtual PC for G5 would likely be released in February 2004 and "Microsoft Office 2003" for Mac would be released in the Summer of 2004.