Microsoft Launches Office 2016 for Mac Preview, Available for Free to Mac Users

Use the mirror that was posted a couple of pages ago.

For info, I didn't import Outlook settings and it also crashes straight away - way to go Microsoft... Bit of a joke isn't it releasing a Preview that crashes immediately on so many installs.. Not sure why I'm surprised though... :confused:
 
TechZeke said:
I tried using Numbers for my engineering econ class. After 2 assignments, I was pretty much convinced that anyone who says that they are using numbers for any real productivity is either lying or they must not really be doing anything productive and only think that they do.

I can use Excel all-day. The Excel 2013 Office for Windows 8 is amazing, doing assignments is actually fun.(I know, I don't get out much)
Click to expand...

There are some tricks I recently learned at the Apple store to smooth the workflow on Numbers, but I stopped using it and don't see myself going back to it. It can make for some pretty graphs and interesting layouts, but I've been working with Excel for 20 years and it is what I'm comfortable with.

I have an honest question: at what point do we decide that Microsoft has redeemed itself and we start replacing our high priced Macs with Windows machines? I like my Apple toys very much, but differences in quality of OS and hardware don't seem so pronounced as they did 5 years ago.
 
Ollifi said:
First experiences: great design, easy to use. Much better than 2011 ones. Finally they released new apps, that's good.

The only con what I see is that they are slow to start
MBA mid-13

Word-11: 3.36 sec
Word-16: 11.69 sec

Excel-11: 3.06 sec
Excel-16: 6.60 sec
Click to expand...
Thanks for this. Although on the same machine, Excel takes usually 5-10 seconds to launch here so I'm looking forward (or not) to seeing how it's going to be with 2016.
 
Installation issue

After downloading OfficePreview.pkg, I tried to open it. The icon expands momentarily, but nothing seems to happen after this. Have I missed something?
 
rweinstock said:
After downloading OfficePreview.pkg, I tried to open it. The icon expands momentarily, but nothing seems to happen after this. Have I missed something?
Click to expand...

I had this - it turned out that Chrome hadn't downloaded it fully. It had gotten to around 42 MB and then lost the connection, but it showed it as complete so I still had OfficePreview.pkg in my downloads folder, but it didn't work.
 
I'll try and keep this short. Finally got the preview downloaded and after many false starts etc, got it installed. I concentrated on outlook which was a major pain to even get installed. Had to take my computer off the internet before I could close sync services and the MS database daemon, whatever that is.
Once Outlook was installed and info imported from outlook 2011, I ran it and it crashes EVERY time I click on the inbox. If I stay away from the inbox, it works fine I guess in that all my imported mail was there, and contacts were there but not natively, they were in the "imported from Outlook 2011" folder.
I did not try out any of the other programs since Outlook would be my main use of Office.

At this point, I will stay with Office for Mac 2011 until MS cleans up Outlook. Which OBTW, outlook in office 2011 works fine other than not being able to sync with contacts.
 
I hope I get it downloaded before the next version of Office is announced. The way it is going I doubt it.
 
brianvictor7 said:
I have an honest question: at what point do we decide that Microsoft has redeemed itself and we start replacing our high priced Macs with Windows machines? I like my Apple toys very much, but differences in quality of OS and hardware don't seem so pronounced as they did 5 years ago.
Click to expand...

I have an honest answer: You're right; the differences aren't as much as some people say. But there are differences. Up until 6 months ago, I was an avid Microsoft user. I had used their products for 20 years, had a Windows 8 machine I built myself, a Surface, a Windows phone.

But you know what? Windows 8 finally made me look at Macs. And Macs are, in all truth, smoother, easier-to-use devices. Everything I've done on a Mac is pretty much easier than how I did it on a PC: Setting up printers, connecting to the Internet, installing apps, helping family, etc. And while I liked my Windows phone about as much as my iPhone (except that it lacked apps), don't even get me started on how much better the iPad is over the Surface RT.

That said, Office is far superior to any office programs Apple offers (maybe with the exception of Keynote). And I love OneDrive.

To me, Microsoft Office and OneDrive on a Mac make the perfect home and work computing solution: The best OS and hardware with the best software and cloud solution. It's a perfect marriage.
 
Slow and steady...

I had issues with the download stalling, but I just kept resuming it. Took most of the afternoon, but it's done now. :)
 
JD92 said:
I had this - it turned out that Chrome hadn't downloaded it fully. It had gotten to around 42 MB and then lost the connection, but it showed it as complete so I still had OfficePreview.pkg in my downloads folder, but it didn't work.
Click to expand...

The file is fully downloaded, or at least it seems to be. I can try once more.
 
I have an honest question: at what point do we decide that Microsoft has redeemed itself and we start replacing our high priced Macs with Windows machines? I like my Apple toys very much, but differences in quality of OS and hardware don't seem so pronounced as they did 5 years ago. MS Office isn't perfect, but it mostly better than than iWork IMHO and in the opinions of many others here. Thoughts?
 
Sorry if this is a dumb question, so if I purchase the 1 year subscription if Office 365 Personal...I will be able to use the final/official version of MS Office 2016 when it releases? Or will I still need to buy the software.
 
BenDo said:
Sorry if this is a dumb question, so if I purchase the 1 year subscription if Office 365 Personal...I will be able to use the final/official version of MS Office 2016 when it releases? Or will I still need to buy the software.
Click to expand...

Buy now, and all updates are included during your subscription period.
 
Batman89 said:
It's embarrassing for Apple how much better these are in comparison to the new iWork apps. It's not even a contest.
Click to expand...

32 or so years of development will do that. Don't forget that these apps - Word, Excel, Powerpoint got their start on the Mac in the 80's.

That being said, Office is a core cash cow and app suite for Microsoft. For Apple, iWork is a side project at best.
 
brianvictor7 said:
I have an honest question: at what point do we decide that Microsoft has redeemed itself and we start replacing our high priced Macs with Windows machines? I like my Apple toys very much, but differences in quality of OS and hardware don't seem so pronounced as they did 5 years ago. MS Office isn't perfect, but it mostly better than than iWork IMHO and in the opinions of many others here. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Of course MS Office is better (at least in Windows), those long years of refining them since before my time. And it is also a standard format for most business all around the world. You can't beat them. But I appreciate Apple for trying. iWork may not and possibly will not replace MS Office for long run, but it is a good solid alternative.
 
ksuyen said:
Of course MS Office is better (at least in Windows), those long years of refining them since before my time. And it is also a standard format for most business all around the world. You can't beat them. But I appreciate Apple for trying. iWork may not and possibly will not replace MS Office for long run, but it is a good solid alternative.
Click to expand...


It's also a standard in higher education. I've never really been able to submit assignments in iWork formats.
 
Steve121178 said:
It's not free, it's part of your Office 365 subscription that you pay money for.

How can you not understand that? It's so simple that it's frightening that you don't get it.
Click to expand...


It's frightening that you don't see that unlimited doesn't last forever.

When the iPhone came out we had unlimited data. That's gone on most carriers (AT&T, Verizon).

ISP's are trying very hard to do get to caps even on hard wired lines.

So if you don't think for a second at some point there will be a cap or discontinuance of limited or even a price increase you're a fool.

What will happen is you get in for $10/mo or whatever, then it's $12, $14, $17, etc.

MS is balancing a slight loss on their web services with the cash cow that is the Enterprise. What happens when the Enterprises get to have petabytes in MS's cloud? You think it will still be unlimited? Or will you pay out the nose?

Do the math - at $100 a year do you really think MS is making much money if you store a couple TB out there? Sure, storage is cheap but you have to power, cool, maintain, and backup it. Someone has to pay for that.

Folks, this isn't the "New Microsoft". They are the same scummy company they have aways been.
 
JuryDuty said:
I have an honest answer: You're right; the differences aren't as much as some people say. But there are differences. Up until 6 months ago, I was an avid Microsoft user. I had used their products for 20 years, had a Windows 8 machine I built myself, a Surface, a Windows phone.

But you know what? Windows 8 finally made me look at Macs. And Macs are, in all truth, smoother, easier-to-use devices. Everything I've done on a Mac is pretty much easier than how I did it on a PC: Setting up printers, connecting to the Internet, installing apps, helping family, etc. And while I liked my Windows phone about as much as my iPhone (except that it lacked apps), don't even get me started on how much better the iPad is over the Surface RT.

That said, Office is far superior to any office programs Apple offers (maybe with the exception of Keynote). And I love OneDrive.

To me, Microsoft Office and OneDrive on a Mac make the perfect home and work computing solution: The best OS and hardware with the best software and cloud solution. It's a perfect marriage.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much for this considered commentary. Actually, could I get you started on the Surface vs iPad? Do you mean the Surface 3? I have been impressed by it at our local MS kiosk, but notice that the weight of the thing just doesn't compare to the iPad Air. Interested in your thoughts. Thanks.

----------
ksuyen said:
Of course MS Office is better (at least in Windows), those long years of refining them since before my time. And it is also a standard format for most business all around the world. You can't beat them. But I appreciate Apple for trying. iWork may not and possibly will not replace MS Office for long run, but it is a good solid alternative.
Click to expand...

I can agree that iWork is adequate for most consumer level uses. Personally, I love its uncluttered layout. My employer, however, lives in an MS Office world. I've found that iWork doesn't offer key features I use daily (though I keep sending feedback to Apple to add them back in ... they used to be in iWork 09). Thanks for the comments here.
 
itguy06 said:
It's frightening that you don't see that unlimited doesn't last forever.

When the iPhone came out we had unlimited data. That's gone on most carriers (AT&T, Verizon).

ISP's are trying very hard to do get to caps even on hard wired lines.

So if you don't think for a second at some point there will be a cap or discontinuance of limited or even a price increase you're a fool.

What will happen is you get in for $10/mo or whatever, then it's $12, $14, $17, etc.

MS is balancing a slight loss on their web services with the cash cow that is the Enterprise. What happens when the Enterprises get to have petabytes in MS's cloud? You think it will still be unlimited? Or will you pay out the nose?

Do the math - at $100 a year do you really think MS is making much money if you store a couple TB out there? Sure, storage is cheap but you have to power, cool, maintain, and backup it. Someone has to pay for that.
Click to expand...
If Microsoft does away with the unlimited storage with the subscription, people will either pay the new tiered fee or stop subscribing. I don't see it as a big deal. Why not embrace what is, instead of using a 'its only a matter of time before...' to bash Microsoft?
 
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