Microsoft announced that Outlook, the e-mail client distributed with Office for Windows, would be heading to the Mac platform and would replace Entourage in the next version of Office for Mac.

"This new application will deliver significant changes — ultimately allowing for increased productivity across platforms, which continues to be the top request of enterprise customers," the press release notes. 

Microsoft also announced some of the key features of the new application, including:

 - Cocoa. Built from the ground up using Cocoa providing users with improved integration with the Mac OS

 - New database. A high-speed file-based database with support for backing up files with Time Machine and Spotlight searching

 - Information Rights Management. Helps prevent sensitive information from being distributed to or read by people who do not have permission to access the content

In addition to announcing Outlook for Mac, they also released a new version of Entourage called "Web Services Edition," which adds new features and support the latest Exchange Server versions. According to the Mac Business Unit at Microsoft, "[The update will] provide more agility in development for the future — marking the first step in delivering Outlook for Mac."

If you're running Office 2008 with SP2 and all the latest fixes, you can download and install the Entourage Web Services Edition by going to Microsoft's Mac website. If you're more inclined to purchase Office 2008 with Entourage WSE included, they will be releasing a "Mac Business Edition" of Office 2008. MBE will be offered up on September 15, 2009 and run around $399.95 ($239.95 for eligible upgrades).