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First Looks at Mac Microsoft Office 2008
- Thread starter MacBytes
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It's been known ever since the Intel transition was announced that the next version of Office would not have macro support because most of the code for it was processor dependent. Microsoft has only been telling us this for the past 2 years.
Yea but that was waaayyyy before it was actually shipping. I was hoping Microsoft would fix the glaring omission.
Yeah, Office/Windows does labels really nicely. Can't tell you how many issues I've had trying to get Office/Mac to print labels, especially with any graphics pasted in!
Unfortunately, the codebase seems to have been completely split. The two teams share some interface design ideas, but that seems to be about it. So, like NeoOffice, Office/Mac is its own little development ghetto with its own set of (really longstanding and productivity-zapping) bugs which get no attention because, hey, if you want to do "real" work you can just buy Windows like all the other kool kids!
Eww. Doen't look good. I am a power user of office on the PC side of things. I was hoping to use Office 2008 when I buy my MAC. Now 
... to say the least. I use Macros (VBA to be exact - especially when importing data from text files). I was hoping the delay in the release would mean that they would finally bring OneNote to the MAC, as I am a heavy user of that (to the point I can't live without it). I do not want to use BootCamp. Maybe I will just need to run parallels and use Office 2007 Ultimate in Windows XP.
When I do finally get my mac, I know that I will use iwork for most things, but Office products (word, excel, access, OneNote, visio, etc) are things I cannot live without; being still in the corporate world..... I just become to used to them and need true compatibility with PC users.
Dang Microsoft, why? why? They have a Mac Business Unit, can't they see that mac users are increasing every day. They need to stop living like they are the only ones out there. I know they are interested with Linux since that article about them backing Novell Linux (formally SUSE).
... to say the least. I use Macros (VBA to be exact - especially when importing data from text files). I was hoping the delay in the release would mean that they would finally bring OneNote to the MAC, as I am a heavy user of that (to the point I can't live without it). I do not want to use BootCamp. Maybe I will just need to run parallels and use Office 2007 Ultimate in Windows XP.When I do finally get my mac, I know that I will use iwork for most things, but Office products (word, excel, access, OneNote, visio, etc) are things I cannot live without; being still in the corporate world..... I just become to used to them and need true compatibility with PC users.
Dang Microsoft, why? why? They have a Mac Business Unit, can't they see that mac users are increasing every day. They need to stop living like they are the only ones out there. I know they are interested with Linux since that article about them backing Novell Linux (formally SUSE).
Clipboard Pasting Fixed Yet?
So, here are my demands:
1. Is clipboard pasting of graphics fixed yet? For the past umpteen versions, any graphic you paste into any Office document (including PowerPoint and Word of course) gets pasted as a "PICT" graphics format which no one else (meaning, Windows users) can see. This is the mother of all compatibility issues, as there is absolutely NO indication that your document is completely FUBAR until you try loading it under Windows, and there's no way to repair the images either without finding the original image files and using the "Insert Graphic from File" command instead! If Microsoft still hasn't fixed this bug, they will not be getting my money. Period. I'm just plain embarrassed for you, MacBU!
2. Add a ******* shortcut to paste as plain text, dammit! Maybe it's just the eternal development cycles at Microsoft here, but it seems that every other app has figured out that people often want to paste in just plain old text, and needing to use the mouse to bring up a menu then a sub-menu then a dialog, click the "Unformatted Text" then click the button ... it's just plain insane. Command-Shift-V was put on the keyboard just for this purpose. Sigh.
So, here are my demands:
1. Is clipboard pasting of graphics fixed yet? For the past umpteen versions, any graphic you paste into any Office document (including PowerPoint and Word of course) gets pasted as a "PICT" graphics format which no one else (meaning, Windows users) can see. This is the mother of all compatibility issues, as there is absolutely NO indication that your document is completely FUBAR until you try loading it under Windows, and there's no way to repair the images either without finding the original image files and using the "Insert Graphic from File" command instead! If Microsoft still hasn't fixed this bug, they will not be getting my money. Period. I'm just plain embarrassed for you, MacBU!
2. Add a ******* shortcut to paste as plain text, dammit! Maybe it's just the eternal development cycles at Microsoft here, but it seems that every other app has figured out that people often want to paste in just plain old text, and needing to use the mouse to bring up a menu then a sub-menu then a dialog, click the "Unformatted Text" then click the button ... it's just plain insane. Command-Shift-V was put on the keyboard just for this purpose. Sigh.
Wait ... really?! No macro or VB support in Office 2008?
This is a big gotcha for me, macros are used extensively at my place of employment. Crapola.
I thought ( on this website ) that VBScript was also going to be dropped in future windows releases too. If windows version follows suit then there's isn't much disadvantage.
Nothing about a video enabled MSN client though.. ( which also gets shipped with Office - )
Again, it still sucks, and is of particular relevance now that it's actually coming out.
As for the code being 'processor dependent', I don't see why this is such a roadblock, since MS found it worthwhile to code it that way once, and now Apple has a larger market share and the same processor architecture as Windows boxes.... Sounds like spin on feature crippling to me.
iWork rocks. Seriously. I prefer Pages to Word, Numbers to Excel, and Keynote to Powerpoint. Numbers actually feels like a Quark product.
The only reason people shell out for Office is because everyone else does. I make a habit of only distributing documents in .rtf format so that everyone can read it everywhere.
Office is stupid. Please make it go away.
The only reason people shell out for Office is because everyone else does. I make a habit of only distributing documents in .rtf format so that everyone can read it everywhere.
Office is stupid. Please make it go away.
Parallels for VBA
The obvious answer is parallels, but that is the wrong answer. MBU had an obvious choice. Rewrite the VBA underpinnings for Mac Intel or just assume that anyone who really needed it would just use parallels. This is not the answer that Mac Users want longterm. The ONLY reason I'm not using a mac at my law firm is Amicus Attorney. The CEO of the company that makes it uses parallels to run it on his Mac, it works perfectly so there will be no Mac support for the product. This means that the law firm will continue to reject my requests for the ability support Macs on their network.
The easier it is for developers to say that their Windows version is the only version that matters because it is compatible with everything the worse the consumer environment will continue to be.
The obvious answer is parallels, but that is the wrong answer. MBU had an obvious choice. Rewrite the VBA underpinnings for Mac Intel or just assume that anyone who really needed it would just use parallels. This is not the answer that Mac Users want longterm. The ONLY reason I'm not using a mac at my law firm is Amicus Attorney. The CEO of the company that makes it uses parallels to run it on his Mac, it works perfectly so there will be no Mac support for the product. This means that the law firm will continue to reject my requests for the ability support Macs on their network.
The easier it is for developers to say that their Windows version is the only version that matters because it is compatible with everything the worse the consumer environment will continue to be.
If Office doesn't handle graphics as easily as Pages and Keynote can then there isn't much that Office 2008 is offering. I don't need compatibility from machine to another because everyone i work with either uses Pages or exports to PDF.
Not that Pages is a Godsend, but Office has failed to adapt in a multimedia world.
Not that Pages is a Godsend, but Office has failed to adapt in a multimedia world.
I tried out iWork. I hated it. It doesn't touch Excel's usability. I think most people shell out for Office because it is a great product that works
Plus the fact that if you're a student and/or DoD worker, you can get it dirt cheap i'm actually looking forward to the release. hopefully word will be a bit easier to use for me instead of so spread out as it is now.
MS makes money off macs also!
This comment makes no sense. You do realize that regardless whether a person uses a Mac or a Windows based machine Microsoft gets a sale either way.
Office is one of Microsoft's largest money making divisions. Why would they want to exclude the Apple market share?
Most mac users have purchased their fair share of software from Microsoft, especially if they are running VM's or boot camp. Microsoft makes money either way. However if they alienate the Apple users then they lose software sales they do not gain OS market share.
MS dropped Macro support for the same reason they don't make Office 100% compatible... they don't want to help Apple.
I guarantee that if Apple continues down this path of success much longer MS is going to pull the plug on ANY Exchange integration or Office integration thus forcing Apple to stay on the sideline in the business arena.
This comment makes no sense. You do realize that regardless whether a person uses a Mac or a Windows based machine Microsoft gets a sale either way.
Office is one of Microsoft's largest money making divisions. Why would they want to exclude the Apple market share?
Most mac users have purchased their fair share of software from Microsoft, especially if they are running VM's or boot camp. Microsoft makes money either way. However if they alienate the Apple users then they lose software sales they do not gain OS market share.
Compatability is easy if important...
Simply use Vmware or Parallels.
The integration with the Mac is amazing. Cut and Paste and keyboard shortcuts simply work. And the compatibility with windows is PERFECT. And they are all intel products. But it runs like windows, but the compatibility is perfect for those that need it. This would almost precisely define WHY these programs exist.
For the rest. The compatibility will be extremely good, but a ways away from being perfect, as some features will simply not be there. And if you are an entourage user, well this is what will get you there.
The rest of the whining is mostly just whining. Much of the OSS whining, and new word processor whining, is just horrible. Go back and find some old discussions (like Jerry Pournelle and Chao Manor) about what is important to *writers* and you will start finding all of the gigantic holes in the "modern" word processing programs.
I will state for those that are just upgrading in order to get intel code, this seems like a pretty expensive upgrade for that purpose. Like the ribbon or don't, but for the other 97% of the users that barely use the product, the Ribbon opens up the power of the program to those that have not spent the effort to really get into it. And for them it is a likely upgrade. But here you are just not being given that much.
For most users, for most situations, running the windows version will probably work best. For most others running the current version, especially if you find it cheap will work fine. For some small subset, I suppose that upgrading will be best.
Simply use Vmware or Parallels.
The integration with the Mac is amazing. Cut and Paste and keyboard shortcuts simply work. And the compatibility with windows is PERFECT. And they are all intel products. But it runs like windows, but the compatibility is perfect for those that need it. This would almost precisely define WHY these programs exist.
For the rest. The compatibility will be extremely good, but a ways away from being perfect, as some features will simply not be there. And if you are an entourage user, well this is what will get you there.
The rest of the whining is mostly just whining. Much of the OSS whining, and new word processor whining, is just horrible. Go back and find some old discussions (like Jerry Pournelle and Chao Manor) about what is important to *writers* and you will start finding all of the gigantic holes in the "modern" word processing programs.
I will state for those that are just upgrading in order to get intel code, this seems like a pretty expensive upgrade for that purpose. Like the ribbon or don't, but for the other 97% of the users that barely use the product, the Ribbon opens up the power of the program to those that have not spent the effort to really get into it. And for them it is a likely upgrade. But here you are just not being given that much.
For most users, for most situations, running the windows version will probably work best. For most others running the current version, especially if you find it cheap will work fine. For some small subset, I suppose that upgrading will be best.
I agree completely. iWork is not that far away from becoming a really REALLY nice integrated suite. If Apple added more Automator support to replace the "Macros" functionality that M$ just pulled out, they would cover a huge percentage of tasks that most users need in a productivity suite.
What I really like about iWork is that all the programs (Pages, Keynote & Numbers) have a very similar user interface and the pricing makes it a good value.
As always though, to each his own. Some people like the familiar and M$ Office is familiar to most of us who have used a computer in the past decade so I can understand their desire to stick with what they know. It's just too bad for the many people who are "missing out" on what they don't know... iWork. Good luck to you M$ Office diehards!... Sincerely.
Peace,
Will
I am looking forward to this product. Even though I am seriously considering iWork, most of folks in my industry use Office. So unless this version is lame, I guess Microsoft will still have my business, unfortunately.
Serious? You can't be Excel's target market, then. I have loads, which often have to get thrown into Access, because Excel just falls over. As far as capacity is concerned, it is just playing catchup with the competition.
Those prices are asinine and will more than likely ensure a high piracy rate* and/or adoption of other software alternatives <cough> iWork </cough>.
Sure, iWork is not as robust and MS' comparable offerings, but ~90% of what Word/PowerPoint/Excel users do can be accomplished (often times, more efficiently) in iWork. And at a fraction of the cost.
* which may not be such a bad thing for MS. I mean, users using is better than the alternative. Yes?
Is this really a longterm decision that MBU made or is no macro support just a response until the MBU gets a clear directive about the future of Mac Office? I think Microsoft is near the end of it's agreement to support Mac for office.
Maybe MS was willing to spend enough resources to get out MSOffice 2008 but they didn't want to work on VB for Mac until they had a better understanding of the mac market. The MBU is fairly small and may need a lot more help to take on the task of VB for intel mac.
What has been working for me is to either insert>picture from file, or drag and drop PDF content. Office 2007 does not seem to have any issue with this, while earlier versions did.
Hopefully my school bookstore doesn't take too long to get it in there for $5.35
May I ask which school?
-Ado
(GO PATS)
Two words. Universal Binary
Word is painfully slow on Intel macs. PAINFULLY. I have documents (We maintain about 56 documents each with 500+ pages) where it takes 2-3 seconds per keystroke to respond. On the G5, it is more like 4-5 keys/second.
No, I can't use OpenOffice (corrupts headers and page numbers). No, I can't use Pages (looses too many formatting attributes). I have tried and tested and they simply are not very compatible yet.
Word is painfully slow on Intel macs. PAINFULLY. I have documents (We maintain about 56 documents each with 500+ pages) where it takes 2-3 seconds per keystroke to respond. On the G5, it is more like 4-5 keys/second.
No, I can't use OpenOffice (corrupts headers and page numbers). No, I can't use Pages (looses too many formatting attributes). I have tried and tested and they simply are not very compatible yet.