According to a note in ComputerWorld, software giant Microsoft has increased the price of Microsoft Office for Mac 2011; and has also discontinued the sale of multi-license packages of the office-tools suite.

The hike in the cost of Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 comes at a time when Microsoft is pushing for its cloud-based Office 365, which is the company's subscription-based plan. As a result of the hike, the cost of Office for Mac 2011 is now at par with Office 2013 for Windows.

The price hike brings about a 17 percent increase - from $120 to $140 - in the cost of a single license for Office for Mac Home and Student; while Office for Mac Home and Business now costs $220, instead of $200, after a 10 percent price increase.

Microsoft's quiet move to increase the prices of Office for Mac 2011 was also accompanied by the company's decision to quit selling multi-license packages, which enabled customers to buy multiple copies of the application suite at a discounted rate.

Meanwhile, though the Office for Mac 2011 price-hike has been confirmed at the Microsoft online store and at the Apple online store, a few retailers, like Amazon, still continue to show lower prices; and interested buyers might want to grab a copy from those retailers before they too hike the prices.