First Looks at Mac Microsoft Office 2008

[bosskxx1]

Office 2008

I can't believe that people are complaining about Macros. It has been known for quite some time that the office 08 would not include macro support. Besides being a huge security hazard, it is slowly being phased out in the windows version.
MacBU stated that it would take a long time to port macros over to Xcode. This is due to the large amount of PPC assembly code used in the lexar and interpreter.

The one thing I am most disappointed with in the new 08 release is that Entourage still has a monolithic mail database. This has 4 huge disadvantages to it.
1. If it gets corrupted, then you might loose your entire mail collection.
2. If you save a lot of mail messages the program could get slower (large pst file)
3. Spotlight can't index it
4. Time machine backups the whole mail file every time you make a modification to your mail

 

[137489]

I Love MacRumors

Let's me know what to buy and not to buy. On the PC world, you buy, get it home and say "huh?" It does not work.... Thanks to MacRumors I get to hear from other people before making the same mistake. And to think I was going to buy office when I buy my mac......

Now, another issue with this office thing. Atleast the new Word is more like Pages where if you drag an image, your text reformats around it - more like how webpages look. My issue on the PC side, is it does not do this. You are stuck with having to use tables and make everything square - which is not true publishing like.

When I buy my mac, I am just going to hold onto my old Windows office and run it through parallels for my work stuff. Other than that, I think iwork would work for me.

 

[KingYaba]

A quantum leap in word processing one would expect paying $600.

 

[mcarnes]

Word. Word up.

 

[twoodcc]

looking forward to trying it out, but still like my iWork 08

 

[aswitcher]

"Microsoft has applied some of the Vista version magic to Office 2008 with regard to pricing. Thankfully, however it's a bit easier to follow. There are two main options; a basic Office 2008 for Mac standard edition ($649 or $399 for an upgrade) or an Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition ($849, or $549 for upgrade)"


Unbelievable !!

I got iWork for Christmas and will now make the effort to learn it properly because Office just got too pricey.

 

[futbalguy]

"- Excel adds a new formula builder, increases max sizes of spreadsheets, but drops macro and Visual Basic support"

I'd like to see a spreadsheet that pushes the size limit of the current version of Excel. It boggles the mind.

I have gone over the limit several times at work. It is very inconvenient so Im glad theyve improved that aspect since I dont think it would be too hard to do.

 

[BWhaler]

I think the lack of Macro support is a BS move by Microsoft.

It took them longer than any major publisher--except Intuit which is a total disgrace of a company--to provide an Intel native version.

Anyway, personally, I have been an MSOffice fan for longer than I want to think about, but I am ready to leave. Too much bloat, too little innovation, too many games with file formats, and bugs, bugs, bugs...

I think Keynote is nothing short of awesome, and Pages is almost there. One more solid and major iteration on Pages and it will be home. iWork will be my ultimate choice since Apple just gets design and the creative process in a way Microsoft does not. Plus, the application just works the way I want it to 95% of the time and the little features and touches are magic.

iWork is about beautiful, effective documents. (Plus, the horrific software authentication on Microsoft products is a big to me. I pay for every copy of software I use, but I hate being treated like a crook when the real crooks easily get around these inconveniences.)

Sadly, Numbers is just not there. I could limp along with it as I did with Keynote 1.0 and Pages 2.0 but Excel for all of its many faults and interface headaches is the best application Microsoft makes and is pretty decent.

I hope iWork 09 sees a major update to the Numbers and a decent Pages update. Fill in the missing features, but not the kitchen sink, make it fast, fast, fast and bang out the bugs.

Then, my hard drive will be Microsoft free. First time since I have owned a computer, and I can't wait.

But I welcome Office 2008. It's good for the Mac platform. It's good for Microsoft. And I look forward to trying the new Excel.

 

[jephrey]

Are macros completely dropped, or can you still integrate RealBasic? Is it just VBA that got canned? I noticed in the "beta" version, there was still a macro menu item.

On the other hand. Apple just needs to get a few revs in on Numbers and it'll be fine. For its stage of life, it's pretty awesome. I hope it will incorporate macros/VBA.

Finally, I didn't think macros were that difficult to add. It's just the API calls that need to be determined. There are so many apps with VBA macro support, it's sick. Is it really that hard for microsoft or are they that dirty that they'll take a feature out of a Mac version because they're scared or whatever?

 

[shen]

ummm, ok

“Sometimes we get requests from power users for features we already have.”

so... who does your UI work?

talk about craptastic.

 

[johny5]

I would love to start using Numbers and Pages full time even for business use as I dont use macros however I have some pretty large spreadsheets that I just cant bring myself around to moving over in fear that I may trash them.
Just lots of data on there along with some standard graphs and charts, I know that numbers will give me loads better charts aswell

 

[gauchogolfer]

I can't believe that people are complaining about Macros. It has been known for quite some time that the office 08 would not include macro support. Besides being a huge security hazard, it is slowly being phased out in the windows version.

Just because we've known about it doesn't make it any less bitch-worthy™. Macros (especially at work on Windows) drive more than half of our Excel usage. If MS ever completely removes macros from Excel they won't get our company to buy another copy.

 

[stephen =D]

Does anyone know if there will be a student version of MS Office 08 and if so how much it will be ??

 

[WestonHarvey1]

No MAPI?!

What's the deal with MAPI? I can't think of a reason why they can't include it. I find it ridiculous that Microsoft's solution for getting Exchange connectivity on a Mac isn't 100% compatible. Now I have to keep running VMWare just to read my work email.

 

[CANEHDN]

Cool but they lost me. I went iWork '08 and have enjoyed every minute of it. I'm not even going to try the trail version of Office.

 

[DMann]

Wishful Thinking

Not sure why everyone is up in arms about no macros...it was announced that it would not have macro support MONTHS ago....

Wishful thinking would have it that they would include such a monumentally important feature as a last minute incentive....... oh well..... perhaps in version 2012.

 

[blackcrayon]

I can't believe that people are complaining about Macros. It has been known for quite some time that the office 08 would not include macro support. Besides being a huge security hazard, it is slowly being phased out in the windows version.
MacBU stated that it would take a long time to port macros over to Xcode. This is due to the large amount of PPC assembly code used in the lexar and interpreter.

The one thing I am most disappointed with in the new 08 release is that Entourage still has a monolithic mail database. This has 4 huge disadvantages to it.
1. If it gets corrupted, then you might loose your entire mail collection.
2. If you save a lot of mail messages the program could get slower (large pst file)
3. Spotlight can't index it
4. Time machine backups the whole mail file every time you make a modification to your mail

3. Doesn't spotlight work already in 2004? (rhetorical question, i know it works, but...) maybe you're looking for better functionality...

(I agree that single monolithic database sucks)

 

[CptnJustc]

I can't believe that people are complaining about Macros. It has been known for quite some time that the office 08 would not include macro support. Besides being a huge security hazard, it is slowly being phased out in the windows version.

What gauchogolfer said, plus I'm not sure we're getting the whole story on macro support. Anyone got links? It seems more likely to me they're switching languages rather than unceremoniously dumping macro support in toto, which is a huge, huge Excel feature, and the largest advantage it has over Numbers in my mind. I'm sure it's a nice, big security hazard, but so is having employees use computers in the first place. Turning them off closes that security hazard, and cripples their productivity.

In any case, today Windows Office does support macros, and as long as it does Mac Excel users will be at an enormous disadvantage if they need compatibility. Especially if it takes MS this long to pump out their next (supposedly entirely macro-less) version....

 

[DTphonehome]

You gotta be kidding me which is it jan 15th or 14th make up your mind. Steve pisses me off, he should have launched the new mac pros before christmas now I have to ******* wait an waiting I can't DO!

If you're so impatient, you should probably try freezing yourself in the snowy mountains to be thawed out after Macworld. Just hope you aren't buried in an avalanche where Butters can't find you, and you don't end up getting thawed until 2560 or so.

 

[marmotte]

MS Office on the Mac is dying

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.

Not only was Excel much harder to use on the Mac than on the PC (poorly supported, inconsistent keyboard shortcuts, more key strokes required on the Mac than on the PC for the same actions, for example to auto-complete cell values), now, with macro support being dropped, there is no reason to buy Excel anymore. The only reasonable alternative is to run the Windows version of Excel with Parallel, if you can afford an Intel mac.

I will stick with the previous version of MS office for as long as I can and will certainly not upgrade to MS Office 2008.

 

[crackpip]

If some of you don't mind responding, why are you using Excel for such large spreadsheets? Aren't there better programs for doing that kind of analysis in your field? For the data I work with, there are scripting/visualization languages like NCL or IDL. There are other programs like Mathematica or Matlab. Then, of course, I write specific analysis programs, too. GPS data seems like a good candidate for something besides Excel. Certainly climate data is being geared more towards NCL/NCAR Graphics.

I really dislike Office, but what really gets me is how often I'm forced to use it. Although, hehe, as people force me to use Office, I've started forcing other people to deal with my PDF's so I can then use whatever program I want (mostly LaTeX because of my derivations).

crackpip

 

[RRutter]

Ha, Mac makes office easier than Windows, the owning company, makes it.

 

[CptnJustc]

If some of you don't mind responding, why are you using Excel for such large spreadsheets? Aren't there better programs for doing that kind of analysis in your field? For the data I work with, there are scripting/visualization languages like NCL or IDL. There are other programs like Mathematica or Matlab. Then, of course, I write specific analysis programs, too. GPS data seems like a good candidate for something besides Excel. Certainly climate data is being geared more towards NCL/NCAR Graphics.

Good question. There are also programs like Stata or R/S. If I might presume, I would guess it's because the manipulations they need are simple and Excel is simple -- which is fair enough.

 

[CrackedButter]

If you're so impatient, you should probably try freezing yourself in the snowy mountains to be thawed out after Macworld. Just hope you aren't buried in an avalanche where Butters can't find you, and you don't end up getting thawed until 2560 or so.

Excuse me?

 

[Digital Skunk]

If you're so impatient, you should probably try freezing yourself in the snowy mountains to be thawed out after Macworld. Just hope you aren't buried in an avalanche where Butters can't find you, and you don't end up getting thawed until 2560 or so.

That would be kinda cool. Could you imagine what the iMac would be in that year... but I bet the Mac Pro would still be what it is today, and Apple would still be charging full price for it.