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Microsoft Office 2004?

C

Cindy

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 5, 2003
249
0
Who has office on their computer and using it? I have a new ibook so I have a free 30 day trial on it. I just opened it tonight and see alot of things that I could use off Appleworks instead. Entourage looks interesting.
Anyone like it? Better or worse than mail?
I haven't checked on the cost after the 30 day trial. Anyone know how much it is -- worth it?
 
You can get office student teacher edition on sale for 120 or 130 some places. If you do a lot of word processing or spreadsheets, it will definitely be worth it, and knowing that .doc files you get in email will open properly is a plus.

I don't use entourage, I still use mail. but having word is worth it to me and once in a while i use excel
 
Heb1228 said:
You can get office student teacher edition on sale for 120 or 130 some places. If you do a lot of word processing or spreadsheets, it will definitely be worth it, and knowing that .doc files you get in email will open properly is a plus.

I don't use entourage, I still use mail. but having word is worth it to me and once in a while i use excel
Click to expand...
Yes, there are quite a few threads comparing MS office to other office suites and whatnot, but essentially, most people come to the conclusion that for spreadsheets, nothing beats Excel. However, the way you use word processors and create presentations will also have a say as to whether or not MS office is right for you.

Just so you know, Apple is selling the MS office Student Teacher edition for only $99 after a $50 mail in rebate.

As a switcher, I personally am much more attached to Word and so I didn't mind shelling out the money to keep myself guaranteed compatible w/ windows users and to have a familiar user interface.

A lot of other people really like using other suites such as NeoOffice and there are others... Do a quick search for office or office suites under the Mac Software> Mac Applications area of MR.

:edit: I did a search for you using "office suite" and here are just a few threads that you may find relevant:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/142594/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/140305/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/133937/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/127675/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/119115/
 
If your attend a unviersity that has a microsoft partnership you can sometimes get a large discount on MS software. I got MSO 2004 for $5.
 
interesting....so how do you find out if your university has a partnership...?
 
Office is a must for me.
I use it daily - makes for seamless transition of files between work and home... makes for seamless transition of files between me and other non-Mac users (yes I know it is hard to believe some people don't want to use a Mac?!?!?)

Office is essential.
I wanted to be completely Microsoft free when i switched - but realised it truly (for me) wasn't practical. I use Powerpoint, Word, and Excel alot! My only issue with Office for Mac is no Access! Whilst this hasn't proved completely unmanageable - it means I have to use a Windoze based laptop occasionally.

As many other users have already posted in here and elsewhere I must admit that I prefer using Office for Mac over Office for Windoze. Sure I acknowledge my bias these days as a Mac man... but there are features in Office for Mac that aren't in Office for Windoze. Much better design... and some very handy and cool features (especially in Powerpoint when delivering presentations!)
 
I couldn't stand to use anything but Office, but that's just me. AppleWorks and the countless open source alternatives just don't gel with me unfortunately.


prp134 said:
interesting....so how do you find out if your university has a partnership...?
Click to expand...


That may be a question for your specific university to answer. ;)
 
:eek: whoa! office mac is 144 at my school bookstore, thats insane, its more than at the apple store, well after the rebate. I think im just going to get office, im pretty comfortable using it and i've used it for almost 11 yrs now. I was just a lil worried after reading some reviews on apple.com some ppl said it was way too expensive, however I wonder if they post that before the rebate offer. Would any of you guys buy it now?
 
Cindy said:
Who has office on their computer and using it?
Click to expand...

I have the previous version of MS Office (vX) & find it invaluable.
I think it partly depends on your reasons for needing word processing/spreadsheet, etc.
In my line of work, Word & Excel are essentially the currency of data exchange - most people are doing their work in MS Office.
For me, then, having MS Office is invaluable in being able to exchange files with my colleagues.
I would suggest looking into what people you interact with are using; this may influence your choice.

Best wishes!
 
also check out NeoOffice J. It is free and suit you fine.

You probably only need MS Office if:
1. You will be working with people that use Windows.
2. You are a student
 
prp134 said:
:eek: whoa! office mac is 144 at my school bookstore, thats insane, its more than at the apple store, well after the rebate. I think im just going to get office, im pretty comfortable using it and i've used it for almost 11 yrs now. I was just a lil worried after reading some reviews on apple.com some ppl said it was way too expensive, however I wonder if they post that before the rebate offer. Would any of you guys buy it now?
Click to expand...

You need to remember that the software comes with 3 licenses. Got any friends that might need Office?
 
Office for Mac was the first program I bought for my Powerbook. I'm a high school student, and I need the compatibility, so it's obviously an essential program for me. Nothing yet does compare to Excel, and I find Word easier to use for simple essays and such than Pages (from iWork). Keynote (also from iWork) presentations do look much nicer than Power Point presentations, but when my teachers need to play the presentation on their computer, Power Point is the only choice. It's also needed if they send presentations to me.

As some other people have mentioned, Office 2004 for Mac is actually nicer than the Windows version. It has more features, and a much nicer user interface (in my opinion).

However, I'm not really sure regular Office is worth it. $400 is just too much in my opinion for the average user. But at the student and teacher price, it's definitely worth it, especially now with the $50 mail in rebate. Once you use Office, you'll probably never go back to AppleWorks.

Oh, and on my PB, I've found Office 2004 to be very stable. I don't think it's ever crashed. So it's not like the typical Microsoft product.

There's also a whole website devoted to the Mac version of Office. Just go to http://www.mactopia.com
If you do decide to purchase it, there's a bunch of cool and useful templates to download there.
 
skubish said:
also check out NeoOffice J. It is free and suit you fine.

You probably only need MS Office if:
1. You will be working with people that use Windows.
2. You are a student
Click to expand...
I seond this. It does most things that Office:Mac can do, and it's free.

However for a better word processor, I reccomend AbiWord, which is also free.

::20ROGERSC::
 
I have it (ex-MSFT employee, so I got it from the Company Store)... mostly, I use Entourage for e-mail. (I've got it synching with a mailbox on my Exchange Server.) I don't use Word and Excel quite as much... mostly, if I want to use either of those apps, I run 'em on my Windows machines.
 
Cindy said:
...I haven't checked on the cost after the 30 day trial. Anyone know how much it is -- worth it?
Click to expand...

the Apple store sells the standard version for $399 I think, but maybe you qualify for the student/teacher version which is much cheaper
 
Any advantage to upgrading from MSO X to MSO 2004?

I have office X on my powermac. Can anyone comment on whether upgrading to office 2004 is worth it?
 
drbrog said:
I have office X on my powermac. Can anyone comment on whether upgrading to office 2004 is worth it?
Click to expand...


Generally speaking, no, but it depends what you use in Office. If you're an Entourage junkie, you may want to upgrade because there are some slightly better features in 2004 from memory. :)
 
Student/Teacher Edition of MS Office 2004 same as the Standard MS Office 2004?

I just bought my first Apple Powerbook. My wife is a teacher and bought us a Student/Teacher Edition of MS Office 2004 for Mac. Is there a difference in the software between this edition and the Standard MS Office 2004 for Mac. Are there any enhancements I will not have on the Student/Teacher edition? :confused:

Thanks

BK
 
The software is exactly the same but the Academic version will not allow you to purchase the next version of Office at a special upgrade price. That's really the only drawback.
 
Entourage Identies

I really like using Entourage e-mail for some of the reasons already mentioned. My problem is that I just established a new "identity" in Entourage and wonder if there is a thread where I can learn how to bring all the data (ie folders, address book data, etc) from my other "identity" to my new one? I was totally surprised to discover that even my calendar and address data were completely blank. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
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