Starting with its release at the Macworld Expo 2008, the sales of Office 2008 for Mac have reached record numbers, selling better than any other previously released version of Office for Mac.

"The response has been amazing - since we launched in January, the velocity of sales for Office 2008 is nearly three times what we saw after the launch of Office 2004," said Craig Eisler, general manager of the Mac BU at Microsoft, according to AppleInsider.

In order to further boost the sales, the company recently released the Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Office for Mac 2008. Users can expect a set of bug fixes, several performance enhancements and a few other minor changes.

In particular, the update will present a noticeable improvement on the printing accuracy and reliability in Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The new Word add-ons include a better printing, a document map and notebook layout. PowerPoint presents mobile viewing and AppleScript. Another feature will offer an improved compatibility for exchanging files between Excel 2008 for Mac and Excel 2003/2007 for Windows.

Users will receive the file automatically from Microsoft’s Auto Update program or will be able to download SP1 for free accessing Microsoft’s Mactopia Website.

The next version is expected to include the return of Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), which is a scripting language that allows users to automatic Microsoft Office applications, customize dialogs and more. The VBA was part of Office 2004, but was left out of Office 2008 because of the many issues surfacing from the PowerPC – Intel chips transition.

There are three editions of Office 2008 for Mac, with two of them targeting specific users and distinct needs. The first one is Microsoft Office for Mac 2008, which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Entourage.

The second one is Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac Home and Student Edition and it targets users with basic productivity needs. This version includes three user licenses for use by consumers and students but does not include connectivity to Microsoft Exchange Server or support for automated workflows.

Finally, there is Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition, which includes Microsoft Expression Media design software.