Funny how we think that even though Ballmer said publicly that Office:Mac wasn't as good as Office for Windows. I feel for the MBU being in the spot they are in, but it's still no excuse for the crappy Exchange support we've been given.
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Microsoft Details Shift From Entourage to Outlook for Next Major Release, Announces Office 2008 Business Edition
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Funny how we think that even though Ballmer said publicly that Office:Mac wasn't as good as Office for Windows. I feel for the MBU being in the spot they are in, but it's still no excuse for the crappy Exchange support we've been given.
No, they're not. They're "de-emphasizing" them, which sounds like marketing-speak, but is different. Public Folders will remain supported for at least the next 8 years (the full support cycle of Exchange 2007). Microsoft themselves acknowledge the Public Folders are better for shared contacts and calendars, for example, particularly given they actually integrate with Outlook (and Entourage). Why you would want to get that info from two different places is beyond me.
Apple hardware runs Windows productivity software and OS X productivity software just fine, doesn't it?
More or less agree with you on the "walled garden" statement. The good news about Outlook (not that I particularly care) is that it'll be in Cocoa. Native OS X. Not a port! Shocked the hell outta me . . .
What makes you think people are "expecting to get the SAME version" of Office? Do you represent the "Customer's" [sic]? People buy a Mac for different reasons than they buy a PC, and they use them in different ways. In companies, areas that have a high density of Macs have different roles than areas that have a high density of PCs. So what makes you think that a Mac user's needs are exactly the same as a Windows user's? Just look at the reasons people buy iWork.
BTW, I love when people bring up the "we are PAYING for it" thing. It's demonstrably flawed logic, since the prices and editions don't even line up in any fashion. If you attempt to judge the monetary value of one component or app over another, you're applying your own personal bias/priorities to it, which skews the whole thing and becomes a big giant waste of time.
What? Is this from experience? I administer a Windows 2k3 network, and Exchange 2007 is part of that. I use Mail as my default mail editor, with NO issues at all. I have well over 2,000 email in my mailbox, and it has no problems what so ever.
I had Entourage in the beginning, but went to Mail. Entourage is bloated, kludgy, and ugly. The biggest feature missing is the iCal integration for meeting requests, and that's coming.
People typically "over" emphasize what they need. "I do high end spreadsheets, and need the power of Excel". Only to find out they have a few linked spreadsheets, and a couple of formula's that do more than SUM...
It depends on what you consider productivity software. If it's just Office you don't need a Mac Pro. We had our office staff running on maxed out Quicksilver 2002 and MDD until we switched them over to Core 2 Duo Mac minis with the GMA 950.
Office/word processing and tax software still sport ridiculously low requirements.
Using native and current APIs and kits is always the BEST! Ports are passable but it really depends on the software you're using. You definitely want Microsoft to use Cocoa.
Goodbye Entourage...Cocoa-based Outlook sounds much better.
I recently switched my mom to Mac and she actually likes Entourage much better than Mail. WTF!!!
Is Word Cocoa or Carbon?
Current Mac Office is Carbon only.
Yes, this is from sad experience. I have tried at various times to use Mail for my Exchange mail, but find that I have far too many emails for Mail to handle efficiently (try 15000, not just a measly 2000). I work in a sustaining engineering department where we keep almost all of our emails; I have thousand dating back over the 10 years that I have been here. And the calendar functionality (which Mac Mail does not have as you pointed out) is at least as important as the email functionality. I was hoping that SL would finally let me use Mail and iCal, but there is not the slightest hope if it requires Exchange 2007.What? Is this from experience? I administer a Windows 2k3 network, and Exchange 2007 is part of that. I use Mail as my default mail editor, with NO issues at all. I have well over 2,000 email in my mailbox, and it has no problems what so ever.
I had Entourage in the beginning, but went to Mail. Entourage is bloated, kludgy, and ugly. The biggest feature missing is the iCal integration for meeting requests, and that's coming.
People typically "over" emphasize what they need. "I do high end spreadsheets, and need the power of Excel". Only to find out they have a few linked spreadsheets, and a couple of formula's that do more than SUM...
As for Office products (Word, Excel, etc). I have very limited needs on my own, but I do need to be able to open documents and spreadsheets sent to me by others at work and from our partners, and iWork cannot even open a small fraction of word documents without some major loss in formatting or text. NeoOffice comes much closer and is what I use mostly.
The original post credits The Loop with the Holiday season 2010 release info:
but note that this is stated on the MacBU blog at:
http://www.officeformac.com/blog/?link_name=blog
but note that this is stated on the MacBU blog at:
http://www.officeformac.com/blog/?link_name=blog
Did you actually READ what was written - this is just another variation of Office 2008 - it isn't an entirely new version of Office NOR does it replace entourage with Outlook.
Have you tried Symphony 1.3.x on Mac OS X? I've found it to be alot nicer than NeoOffice or OpenOffice.org - I'm looking forward to the 2.x release which will hopefully syncronise itself with OpenOffice.org 3.x.
The spaces issue relates to the fact that Microsoft is too sodding lazy to move from Carbon to Cocoa. Had they done it in the massive gap between the 2004 and 2008 release, we'd be talking about something a whole lot more interesting - like 64bit Office 2010.
Feature Parity??
I agree. My company is an all D#LL House, and I run my own MBP. I don't really loose anything major cause we don't use all the features of Exchange, but it would be awesome to have a faster, cleaner MS Outlook on the Mac as long as Entourage's Project Center makes the transition to Outlook on Mac.
I have also been wondering about transitioning to SL Mail and some other app. Anyone have suggestions on replacing Entourage's Project Center?
I guess we'll have to just wait and see...
I agree. My company is an all D#LL House, and I run my own MBP. I don't really loose anything major cause we don't use all the features of Exchange, but it would be awesome to have a faster, cleaner MS Outlook on the Mac as long as Entourage's Project Center makes the transition to Outlook on Mac.
I have also been wondering about transitioning to SL Mail and some other app. Anyone have suggestions on replacing Entourage's Project Center?
I guess we'll have to just wait and see...
Ok, well it was just a footer which I'll change. I've never personally given them a cent yet. I do not own an iPhone but want one, not for the Exchange support though. And my next Mac will come with SL so I suppose I will give them a few bucks but not by choice. Apple is more than welcome to remove Exchange support for Mail and iPhone for me...
RIIIGGGGTT, Mac users should expect to get the dumbed down version that we have been getting.
Yep. Just an anecdote, our office is outfitted entirely with Macs, use OSX Server, can't wait for Snow Leopard. We have a nice little budget, and we spend it on Apple almost exclusively. Vista sucked, Entourage still sucks, and Windows 7 still has major problems. Only M$ product we have is Office, and that's because our business colleagues use it.
Best in the universe right?
umm....yeah because apple has really put a priority on that software since when? has the need for a business suite just been realized by apple? nothing they have put out could be confused for a serious office suite or products.
I would venture to say that you are in the extreme minority. Depending on your business model that may make sense for your team, however, i couldn't see some mainstream business needing or wanting to pay for mac exclusivity when they can execute their business goals with a lower hardware and software price point. Would i love to have a business MBP? Heck yeah, would i want to have to do my daily duties on it without cuing up bootcamp? heck no!
I couldn't be happier that M$ is bringing Outlook to Mac Office but I'd love someone at Apple to realize what great synergy there is between a Mail/Address Book/Calendar app. In other words, I'd love Apple to not just bundle their three different apps into one, but harness goodness that comes from their shared power and take this to the next level.
For the first frikkin time I can connect to my work Exchange 2007 account by just entering my email id / password and clicking thru a few pages. Zero config and NO VPN baby!
For the first time it also downloads emails reliably and as fast as Outlook.
For the first time Exchange protocols have been encapsulated in Web Serivces - any one with knowledge of SOAP/Web Services and UI programming can write a full featured Exchange client!
Very cool - in my book at least.
I loved Wordperfect Suite; version 7 for Windows was a horrible grab-bag of crap but version 8 and 9 were awesome. Personally, if Corel came out with Wordperfect Suite (Wordperfect, Presentation, Paradox and Quattro Pro) for Mac to the same quality as their Windows counter part, I would buy it instantly - hell, I'd hand over the cash in advance.
Maybe I'm weird my I prefer Paradox to Access when it comes to database; then again, I also prefer 4th Dimension over Filemaker