which seems like a better choice for the homeschool middle school student? im really impressed that office 08 will have the mac-y look making me want to get it!
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iWork '08 vs MS Office 2008?
- Thread starter bluedoggiant
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iWork would be just fine for a middle school student. There is also Neo-Office, which is freeware.
True, but I am really looking forward to Office 2008. I know Office has it's detractors, but it's still the industry standard. Also, I like the look of the new 2008.
I have had a go on Microsoft Office 2008 beta. The stability, at least on my Macbook, was very poor. I do not see a use for the day planner, but from what I checked out, I'm sure others will. From what I can gauge, Microsoft have a good product in the making. Word seems at least a little 'inspired' by Pages, but of course Pages was inspired by Word. The applications are beautiful, really refined, but one thing that bothered me was the rulers. They, in my opinion, are way too obtrusive, instead of the subtle look I think they should have. On the website they looked beautiful for me, but working with the applications, they get in the way. If Apple had decided last minute to change the Leopard look to a more subtle, not bright-blue tone, then it would have been a big set back in the development of Office; a lot of the suite is bubbly, much more than I could tell on the website. It seems to have lost the professional feel a bit.
Although I really hate the Office 2007 interface on Windows, the 2008 semi-dynamic toolbars are really working for me. I think that I will switch from NeoOffice when this comes out. As much as I hate Microsoft, they have done a good job with this one. As a student, I use Pages for notes and simple documents, and NeoOffice when I need something more. This will not replace Pages, as I doubt the application will be as simple, or as integrated with other things (and I need to be able to move images around the document more than word can do). However, easy and beautiful small tables and charts can be made in Word, and its much more user friendly than NeoOffice. While the look of the apps at first may be less Mac-ish than the floating palettes of Office 2004, the simplicity of how they work and the beautiful results they can quickly produce definitely make them worthy of places in my Applications folder.
Although I really hate the Office 2007 interface on Windows, the 2008 semi-dynamic toolbars are really working for me. I think that I will switch from NeoOffice when this comes out. As much as I hate Microsoft, they have done a good job with this one. As a student, I use Pages for notes and simple documents, and NeoOffice when I need something more. This will not replace Pages, as I doubt the application will be as simple, or as integrated with other things (and I need to be able to move images around the document more than word can do). However, easy and beautiful small tables and charts can be made in Word, and its much more user friendly than NeoOffice. While the look of the apps at first may be less Mac-ish than the floating palettes of Office 2004, the simplicity of how they work and the beautiful results they can quickly produce definitely make them worthy of places in my Applications folder.
In fairness, this one was started two weeks ago...
Thanks psycho, for the review of Office 08 on your machine.
No problem...i didn't think it was worth a new thread as I'm such a light user I can't judge that much...
I agree, I've been playing with the Office 2008 beta, and I'm really liking it so far, much faster and more "Mac-like" 
Unlike psychofreak, mine has been pretty stable for anything, and I've tried throwing quite a bit at it.
Unlike psychofreak, mine has been pretty stable for anything, and I've tried throwing quite a bit at it.