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Microsoft Office?

5

5PEEDz

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 6, 2008
29
0
anybody that own microsoft office 2008, would you suggest me to buy it?
the price seems to be pretty high/ohkay i guess... since its something that ill be needing for school anyways.. i dont see it as a waste.. but anyways what do u guys think? buy it or not?
 
Yeah i know... but i was looking to just get the office 08. for some reason i think itll be better. and im pretty sure its better correct? i might go for a lower version too .. like 04 or something if they still sell it.
 
i find that office 08 runs faster than 04 on intel hardware. i like it HOWEVER, excel does not support vba (office 08 uses applescript which makes macros incompatible between osx and windows office) so if you rely on vba macros in excel, id reccomend 04 office.

if the vba issue doesnt pertain to you, id suggest 08
 
what exaclty is a vba? im a little confused on that. btw thanks for the help! =D
 
5PEEDz said:
what exaclty is a vba? im a little confused on that. btw thanks for the help! =D
Click to expand...

heres a link on what it is vba. here is a link talking about how you may use macros in excel examples

pretty much it is the language people used to write custom apps aka macros in say excel that are essentially mini programs in the main app. office 08 uses applescript while office 07 still supports vba. due to this these programs arent compatible with each other. however, office 04 does support it


now for me personally, i rarely if ever use macros and have access to machines that can if the need arises

since you seem to not know what vba and macros are, i would assume it wont matter to you in the slightest so chances are you will be perfectly fine with 08, especially for university purposes. keep in mind you can still uses macros in office 08, you just need to write them in applescript and not vba

hope that helps!:)
 
ProwlingTiger said:
You could get iWork. In most schools, thats sufficient.
Click to expand...

true but if you anticipate sharing files with others that run office, i would STRONGLY reccomend office just for compatibility reasons

otherwise for just writing reports and doing presentations on your own computer, iwork will work very well

with that said, iwork is "somewhat" compatible with office. however it is not perfect and that is the biggest reason why i still use office over iwork as everyone else i interact with uses office and i like to save myself from headaches lol
 
Office 08 is a lot faster on the Intel Macs, but it kills my Powerbook G4. It takes a ton of processor power and slows to a crawl. The who "you type faster than it puts it on the screen" is almost always the case and things like resizing windows is painful. Its better than 07 for Windows though...
 
just use google docs. its free and as long as your not that paranoid you can share docs with people your working with

in fact my university is switching its e-mail to offsite GMail servers so that students can collaborate using Google Apps.
 
I really like Office '08. It took a little of adjusting but I think they made the wide variety of features that office offers more readily accessible.

That being said I got it from our school bookstore for $8 (we have awesome prices on software) so for me it was worth it. Can you get a discounted version through your school? If money is not an issue then I would say go for it, but if you are at all hesitant to drop that much cash then just go with neooffice.
 
i already own a iWORK for this other laptop. well basically its my sister.. so i thought maybe i should get office since iWORK can be used whenever i want anyways. i guess ill be picking up office 08 pretty soon. =D plus ive been using word for typing essays since i was little =d
 
I think you should get it if you need it. Just be aware that it is not the same as on a PC. I think microsoft has made it as hard to use as possible on Mac. Annoying to get used to after using a PC for so long.
 
thats the firs time i ever heard that. o_O its hard to use/different?
 
You can actually get Office '08 for around the same price as iWork '08. Just go to Ebay and search.
 
I use Office 08 daily. Great product really. I haven't been a big MS fan as of late, but they did get this right...
 
Free Trials

Why don't you go to apple.com and try out a free trail. That's probably the best way to find out what works best for you (i got office 08 because of compatibility).
 
When I got my Microsoft Office 08, I shared it with my sister, but then if we both used it at the same time, it wouldn't work, but in school, my friends share it and how come it works for them?? :confused:
 
I would recommend trying it out. Also, there's no reason you should pay full retail for Office. Many organizations such as colleges, universities, and hospitals receive discounts on it. My college gets a reduced rate for office if I were to buy it at their book store.

However, I can get Office for $20 through a deal between my employer and Microsoft (I work for a big hospital/university system), so check into that.

Just don't pay retail for it.
 
Get Office if you must, but my experience is that in my workplace of around 40 macs, microsoft programs (mostly entourage or word) cause me more problems than any other brand of apps :mad:
 
Office is a good program, I like working with it, though it does run slower than it does on windows on a mac, for some reason. Sometimes it lags behind my typing, though I do type pretty fast, admittedly.
 
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