Microsoft Office 2008 vs. 2011

If you're just using word, there's not much reason to upgrade. I believe the biggest changes were to Outlook (Entourage in 08) and Excel.

The interface is MUCH improved in 2011 over 2008. 2011 is closer to the Win version and as already stated now you get Outlook, although not nearly as featured as the Win version.

Overall, it is a nice upgrade to go from 2008 to 2011, especially if you spend time on Windows version of Office, since the two are more similar and the transition is easier.

But, and this is a big BUT, overall office 2011 lacks a lot of functions over the Windows version and is rather buggy. Unless you need Word or Excel specifically, I would consider keeping what you have, getting something like Open Office or iWork before spending any money on MS products, especially with the future integrated nature of iWork coming with iCloud, the changes feature and the ability to share/edit the docs across i devices.

When I upgraded to Snow Leopard, I had all sorts of issues with Excel 2008.....it kept crashing. Upgraded to 2011 and it hasn't crashed since. I don't use Word or anything else Microsoft.

The addition of VBA and performance enhancements should be reason enough to upgrade

2008 was terrible, never worked well for me. 2011 is far superior, much more stable, great GUI, more compatible and just a pleasure to use.

I had Office 2008, and being a student, office 2011 was only a £25 upgrade.

After a few weeks of Office 2011 I reinstalled Office 2008 as I absolutely hated the ribbon interface, I prefer having the Tool box open when using word and having everything available with one click. It takes a while to learn where everything is with the ribbon interface and I guess if i'd stuck with it for a bit longer i may have a different opinion on it.

Can't really comment on the other programs as I only use Word and Excel. I use iWork for presentations (keynote).

I know this thread is 5 months old, but subject is relevant to me as I have MS Office 2008 and have been debating whether to upgrade to 2011....

Now, more time has passed since the last posts before this one, any current input or thoughts regarding pros/cons of upgrading?

Thanks for any and all input!

I would def upgrade from 2008 to 2011
Faster, better performance, VBA, interface, stability, compatibility

I preferred 2004 to 2008's piece of crap

MacDawg said:

I would def upgrade from 2008 to 2011
Faster, better performance, VBA, interface, stability, compatibility

I preferred 2004 to 2008's piece of crap

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Thanks for your input!...

I heard a rumor that along with an iOS version of Office, the 2012 version is being made as well... might want to search on that before you buy 2011. Personally, I use iWork and love it.

saberahul said:

I heard a rumor that along with an iOS version of Office, the 2012 version is being made as well... might want to search on that before you buy 2011. Personally, I use iWork and love it.

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Thanks for the heads up about 2012 version, did a quick search (see link below) and it's expected July 2012....so, that's quite a ways away.....

http://www.geekblogger.org/2011/06/next-microsoft-office-versions-is-ms-office-2012-released-date-july-2-2012.html

ArchiMark said:

Thanks for the heads up about 2012 version, did a quick search (see link below) and it's expected July 2012....so, that's quite a ways away.....

http://www.geekblogger.org/2011/06/next-microsoft-office-versions-is-ms-office-2012-released-date-july-2-2012.html

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Take a look at the fine print... the Mac version has typically been a year later

Note: MS Office 2012 will be released for Microsoft Windows Users only, Mac users will continue to use Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 which was released on October 26, 2010.

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MacDawg said:

Take a look at the fine print... the Mac version has typically been a year later

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Thanks for the useful bit of info...so, that's even much further away...which makes upgrading now more reasonable....given the wait for the next version....

roadbloc said:

2008 was terrible, never worked well for me. 2011 is far superior, much more stable, great GUI, more compatible and just a pleasure to use.

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Not really in my case. I am using Snow Leopard, and Word 2011 has crashed on me several times.

I also cannot keep too many word documents open at one time as that has resulted in a crash too.

I hope a solution will be worked out soon.

Has anyone else had this problem with Office 2011, specifically Word 2011? I have lost work because I did not save my documents in time...