Microsoft Corp said on Monday that it would release the updated version of its lucrative Office software package for Apple Inc computers in late October, with a starting price of $119.

The world's largest software company's Office for Mac 2011 software suite, which includes popular applications Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint, is targeted at business users and is one of the main products sold for its rival's line of personal computers.

Microsoft's business division, which averages around $2.8 billion profit per quarter, gets 90 percent of its overall sales from Office, which is a staple on corporate computers.

The company said that customers who buy the version of Office for Mac currently in stores can upgrade to Office 2011 at no additional cost.

(Reporting by Franklin Paul; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

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