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Microsoft Office and Mac

A

AppleBoyFreak

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 20, 2011
290
0
Kentucky
For my 16th birthday my parents bought me a 2012 15" non retina MacBook Pro base model. They decided they would wait till Christmas to get me Microsoft office but I just read somewhere that it slows down your computed. Is this true? If it is I would much rather opt for Apple's iWork. Which do you think is better? Does office slow down the Mac? Any help will be appreciated.

PS. After surfing the App Store nothing really catches my attention, are there any apps I absolutely need/ should have?
 
AppleBoyFreak said:
For my 16th birthday my parents bought me a 2012 15" non retina MacBook Pro base model. They decided they would wait till Christmas to get me Microsoft office but I just read somewhere that it slows down your computed. Is this true? If it is I would much rather opt for Apple's iWork. Which do you think is better? Does office slow down the Mac? Any help will be appreciated.
Click to expand...
I prefer MS Office for Mac, for maximum compatibility with Windows users. If you don't want MS Office for some reason, there are many alternatives, such as iWork, NeoOffice, LibreOffice, OpenOffice, Google Docs, etc. Searching the forum will reveal dozens of threads discussing these various alternatives and the pros and cons of each, such as this small sampling:
This may be useful:

Helpful Information for Any Mac User
Portables Fast Start: The New User's Guide to Apple Notebooks
 
I have the same exact model as you do with Microsoft office for Mac and I has not slowed my computer down one bit.
 
Office itself seems to be slower than some alternatives, but it doesn't slow down the rest of the computer (and certainly has no effect when it's not running).
 
I used to use Pages, but I now use Word, it's just far easier working with files that have Word-based macros, and everyone else uses it. Word isn't as lightweight but it's not really a big deal, even on my 2009 MBP.
 
Get MS Office. There is no real substitute if you want full compatibility. Some vector drawings or positions of some text won't appear quite right in OpenOffice for example. I think it's a larger install than the other alternatives but it's worth it.
 
One last pointless/irrelevant question. I remember a few years back Apple went to pentalobe screws. On my iPhone 5 I have pentalobe screws but my MacBook Pro has regular screws. Did they do this as a group to make the Macs more user upgradable or is mine special? Thanks!
 
TRAV9614 said:
I have the same exact model as you do with Microsoft office for Mac and I has not slowed my computer down one bit.
Click to expand...

Same here, I have the 2012 cMBP and loaded Mac Office last week. NO ISSUES, just as fast as Windows. I download from the Microsoft website, put in the key, and worked great.

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AppleBoyFreak said:
One last pointless/irrelevant question. I remember a few years back Apple went to pentalobe screws. On my iPhone 5 I have pentalobe screws but my MacBook Pro has regular screws. Did they do this as a group to make the Macs more user upgradable or is mine special? Thanks!
Click to expand...

Nope, normal screws on the cMBP, I think pentalobe on rMBP, in fact 3 different size screws to take the bottom case off of the rMBP.

Watch the videos on the OQC website.
 
Congrats on your new Mac!

Word won't slow your Mac down.

It's not as fast and responsive as Pages, but it's definitely more convenient to be fully compatible with Windows machines etc.
 
Ms Office seems like a real memory hog; a few times, I had word give me that spinning beach ball and crash on me when editing 60-page documents. Also, it still isn't 100% compatible with windows Office, I still infrequently get minor formatting issues when opening complex documents from my colleagues.

Still, if you want better compatibility, there is no substitute.
 
apparition47 said:
Get MS Office. There is no real substitute if you want full compatibility.
Click to expand...

This.

I love Pages, but I work in a Windows environment and collaborate on Word and PowerPoint documents all the time, so I need proper compatibility. I've not had any problems with it slowing down my Air.
 
AppleBoyFreak said:
For my 16th birthday my parents bought me a 2012 15" non retina MacBook Pro base model. They decided they would wait till Christmas to get me Microsoft office but I just read somewhere that it slows down your computed. Is this true? If it is I would much rather opt for Apple's iWork. Which do you think is better? Does office slow down the Mac? Any help will be appreciated.

PS. After surfing the App Store nothing really catches my attention, are there any apps I absolutely need/ should have?
Click to expand...

I'm guessing that at 16 you're still a student. You'll probably need MS Office for handing in assignments, if not now, then when you're in college.

As for other apps, password managers are not glamorous but it's a good habit to form. Lastpass is free but it's not in the App Store.
 
AppleBoyFreak said:
For my 16th birthday my parents bought me a 2012 15" non retina MacBook Pro base model. They decided they would wait till Christmas to get me Microsoft office but I just read somewhere that it slows down your computed. Is this true? If it is I would much rather opt for Apple's iWork. Which do you think is better? Does office slow down the Mac? Any help will be appreciated.

PS. After surfing the App Store nothing really catches my attention, are there any apps I absolutely need/ should have?
Click to expand...

- Dropbox
- Mindnode (they have a free version, too)
- Cinch (snap windows to screen edges. I find it useful)

I personally like Pages, but the lack of an integrated equation editor means I really can't recommend it over Word.
 
loaded MS office / business on rMBP13 from the MS site and had it up and running in about 30 min- no slow down and performs great.
Get 1Password + Dropbox for you new mac and you iphone.
 
AppleBoyFreak said:
They decided they would wait till Christmas to get me Microsoft office but I just read somewhere that it slows down your computed. Is this true?
Click to expand...
No. As always, consider the source.

AppleBoyFreak said:
Which do you think is better?
Click to expand...
What I or any other random person prefers doesn't matter. You need to use whichever suits you better.

AppleBoyFreak said:
PS. After surfing the App Store nothing really catches my attention, are there any apps I absolutely need/ should have?
Click to expand...
Subjective matter. There are plenty of threads with lists that you can refer to if that's what you're after. What are you intending to do? What types of apps do you need/want? You can't just assume that needs/wants are universal. If you want recommendations then give people something to work with to give you recommendations. We aren't psychic.
 
AppleBoyFreak said:
For my 16th birthday my parents bought me a 2012 15" non retina MacBook Pro base model. They decided they would wait till Christmas to get me Microsoft office but I just read somewhere that it slows down your computed. Is this true? If it is I would much rather opt for Apple's iWork. Which do you think is better? Does office slow down the Mac? Any help will be appreciated.

PS. After surfing the App Store nothing really catches my attention, are there any apps I absolutely need/ should have?
Click to expand...

Whoever told you that is either misinformed or an idiot. Buy away.
 
I would say get both Office and Pages. Office for doing assignments for class and sharing documents with other people, Pages for its desktop publishing and layout features. Trying to make a flyer for your thrash metal band in Word will cause you to pull your mohawk out. :)
 
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A 2012 Mac will have no problem with Office. Anyway, you can download and demo MS Office for Mac right now and see for yourself: https://www.microsoft.com/mac/trial.

I personally use LibreOffice just b/c I'm cheap and it suits my needs just fine. You might want to give that a go as well and see which you prefer.
 
oldtime said:
A 2012 Mac will have no problem with Office. Anyway, you can download and demo MS Office for Mac right now and see for yourself: https://www.microsoft.com/mac/trial.

I personally use LibreOffice just b/c I'm cheap and it suits my needs just fine. You might want to give that a go as well and see which you prefer.
Click to expand...

Oh wow, I didn't know they had a trial version! I'm currently downloading the trial version and I'll see how it goes. Thank you so much!

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Thanks everyone! I am currently downloading the trial version of Microsoft Office and will probably get the full version for christmas as it aligns with my school. There currently isn't a single computer at my school that runs Mac OS X anything. I am loving my mac, especially the glowing apple logo :D, and as time goes on and I use my mac even more i will love it and appreciate it more! thanks!
 
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