Microsoft Corp. today promised that it will replace the often-hated Entourage e-mail client in its Office for the Mac suite with a version of Outlook by late 2010.

“Outlook for Mac will deliver the functionality that businesses have come to expect from Outlook on Windows,” said Eric Wilfred, the general manager of Microsoft’s Mac Business Unit in a conference call this morning.

“Outlook for Mac and Outlook for Windows will be different, for sure, and they will also be compatible, for sure,” Wilfred added when asked what kind of parity users should expect between the two applications.

Microsoft will ship the next version of Office for Mac — which doesn’t yet have an official title — in “time for the holiday season in 2010,” Wilfred said.