Microsoft's Mac Business Unit (MacBU) released Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac Service Pack 2 (SP2) Monday, an update to to the productivity suite that adds new collaborative features, the ability to create animations in PowerPoint, and faster performance across the suite.

For PowerPoint, the MacBU added the ability to author motion-path animations. Prior to this release PowerPoint for Mac only allowed users to play back animations, not create them. PowerPoint users can also now define a default theme that includes fonts, color schemes, and slide layouts.

The company also said that calculations should now be performed more speedily in Excel and Word, and that the update included other performance enhancements for the suite.

For those working in a collaborative environment, the MacBU added support for Microsoft Office Live Workspace to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint through Document Connection. Browser access to Microsoft Office Live Workspace has also been extended to Safari 4.

Lastly, SP2 adds support for SharePoint through Document Connection, which allows Mac Office 2008 users to browse, access, and manage their files through SharePoint.

Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac Service Pack 2 is a free update, and can be downloaded starting at 10:00 AM Pacific (1:00 PM Eastern) today. Users should be able to find it through the updating application within Office, or through the MacBU's Download site.