Microsoft’s Mac Business Unit (Mac BU) on Tuesday announced the availability of a free Universal binary release of Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) Client for Mac v2.0. It’s being offered as a public beta version. The Mac BU also announced Tuesday the release of a standalone Office Open XML file format converter that supports World (.docx) and PowerPoint (.pptx) conversions.
Remote Desktop Connection for Mac enables users to remotely connect to computers running Microsoft Windows Vista. It features a redesigned user interface, customizable preferences and support for multiple sessions, according to Microsoft.
System requirements for RDC 2.0 call for a G4/500MHz or faster, G5 or Intel-based Mac, Mac OS X v10.4.9 or later and 128MB RAM.
Microsoft’s Office Open XML File Format Converter enables Mac users to open Open XML files created with the latest Windows version of Microsoft Office on Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac and Microsoft Office v.X for Mac. PowerPoint support is new in this release; the previous release could also open .docx files. Additionally, the software can open Word Macro-enabled Documents (.docm), PowerPoint Show (.ppsx) and PowerPoint Template (.potx) files.
The beta version is scheduled to expire on Dec. 31, 2007. System requirements call for Mac OS X v10.4.8 or later.