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Given that Pages '08 supports MSWord docs (both saving and editing, I believe?), is there any reason nowadays to run MSOffice for Mac? I've been happy with Pages '08 and don't see any reason to buy Office, I have NeoOffice as backup incase Pages ever decides not to open a document.

EMAIL (with exchange support)
 
Microsoft is like one of the tripods from H.G Wells War of the Worlds and Office is one of it's legs - if that goes the whole thing will come tumbling down.

They've been treating Mac users like dirt for decades keeping a token offering of Office on the platform, always one version behind, under the illusion of some charitable act but mainly it was to stop a competitor establishing itself on the Mac platform and becoming a serious contender in the Office market - knowing it would finally leak over into the Windows world and reveal Office for the head pickling junk it truly is.

Well, it seems like Apple has recognized this and iWork08 is as much as any sane productive person needs.

and it seems like Microsoft has recognized this too and has gone on the defensive...

Interesting times...
 
I decided to take advantage of the Best Friday Deal offer that MS did for Mac Office 2004. Amazon had it for $124 and with the $100 rebate, it made it cheap enough to get the upgrade to 2008.

Still many unknowns to the 2008 upgrade, especially in the area of handheld syncing. But it will be good to have it for cheap.
 
Well, it seems like Apple has recognized this and iWork08 is as much as any sane productive person needs.

and it seems like Microsoft has recognized this too and has gone on the defensive...

Interesting times...

I look forward to seeing the Windows version of iWork08 then...
 
Office 2k4 and Office 2k8 together were cheaper than iWork08. Not to mention they are the industry standard whether you want to admit it or not. That and exchange support is very useful to a lot of corporate workers.

Put that all together and Im surprised anyone passed up $30 Office. They may be trying to off load it, but if they are I will be first in line to pick it up.
 
Microsoft is like one of the tripods from H.G Wells War of the Worlds and Office is one of it's legs - if that goes the whole thing will come tumbling down.

They've been treating Mac users like dirt for decades keeping a token offering of Office on the platform, always one version behind, under the illusion of some charitable act but mainly it was to stop a competitor establishing itself on the Mac platform and becoming a serious contender in the Office market - knowing it would finally leak over into the Windows world and reveal Office for the head pickling junk it truly is.

Well, it seems like Apple has recognized this and iWork08 is as much as any sane productive person needs.

and it seems like Microsoft has recognized this too and has gone on the defensive...

Interesting times...
Yes, they've treated Mac users like dirt for decades. That's why they invested $150 million in Apple, settled all patent disputes with them and have been committed to releasing major version updates of Office on the Mac platform.
 
....
They've been treating Mac users like dirt for decades keeping a token offering of Office on the platform, always one version behind, ......

When Office Mac 2008 comes out, won't Mac Office be ahead of Windows Office 2007 until Window Office 2011? My Windows friends always say Mac gets the latest version of Office and some Mac people tend to think we are alway behind. Office 2003, then Mac had the latest Office version from 2004 until Office 2007 came out for Windows. It's all according to how one looks at it. Glass half full or half empty.:D
 
Office 2k4 and Office 2k8 together were cheaper than iWork08. Not to mention they are the industry standard whether you want to admit it or not. That and exchange support is very useful to a lot of corporate workers.

Put that all together and Im surprised anyone passed up $30 Office. They may be trying to off load it, but if they are I will be first in line to pick it up.

At $125 from Amazon and a $30 credit for opening up an Amazon.com Visa card, plus free shipping and no tax, with a $100 rebate, my Mac Office 2008 is costing me about $2.50. (I already had bought a 2004 version a few years ago, but Microsoft's offer for Office 2008 for $2.50 looked extremely good).

I don't know if I'm going to buy iWork and/or use it. After Apple let Appleworks die on the vine the way they did, somewhere down the line they might just do the same with iWorks. I'm not a fan of Word, but I have a strong feeling that it has just as good of a chance as being around long term as a Mac product as does iWork.
 
Can someone please redirect me to a link from Apple that supports this claim. I would like to get on the bandwagon before it is too late.

Man.. I need to log into these forums more often. Ever since buying my iMac I haven't the need to come here and dream of Mac.
 
Can someone please redirect me to a link from Apple that supports this claim. I would like to get on the bandwagon before it is too late.

Man.. I need to log into these forums more often. Ever since buying my iMac I haven't the need to come here and dream of Mac.

It's too late. The $100 off was a November 23rd deal only. You can still get 2008 for the price of shipping ($10) if you buy 2004, however. Here's the info: http://www.microsoft.com/mac/go/promotions/supersuitedeal/
 
Hhmm

I too am an iWork advocate, but...

For those of us who use excel professionally (IE not for lists, etc.), Numbers crashes 90% of the time trying to open a complex sheet. Excel is still the gold standard.

I like pages better than word, and I think it is now really just as good at WP'ing, but I use word so I don't have to have two copies of my dang documents.


Why doesn't Apple (since they want us to use Pages) make it so that the Pages file is already recognizable by Word so that we don't have export unless we want a PDF? That might seal the deal for a lot of people.

The speed of 04 sucks, so I am looking forward to the new release, I just wish they would make the Projects section of Entourage more robust and less soccer mom, since most people that buy office use it in some sort of work function.

Also, the rendering of HTML email in Entourage sucks, are they going to make it on par with Mail? Does anyone know? Thanks, you've been great.
 
Is there anyway of participating in this offer while residing in Australia? Cheers

It says US and Canada on the site, plus I came across this article: http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/softwa...-Mac-Office-deal/0,130061733,339283462,00.htm

So I think unfortunately they've excluded you from the deal. Apparently you can only get the much cheaper version for free. The article has more info, and here's the Australia deal page: http://www.microsoft.com/australia/office/mac/upgradeguarantee.mspx

EDIT: Oh wait, I misread. It's only a crappier deal if you buy the Student/Teacher version (like I did). So I guess you can actually take advantage of the same deal, assuming you're not buying the academic version. I'm also not sure if the price is the same since I don't know the exchange rate.
 
Yeah, but have you folks seen this?


Microsoft To Sweeten Office '08 Deal Even Further
Deal to allegedly include free 24" iMac

Redmond, WA, Dec. 12, AP -- In a stunning move, Microsoft chairman Steve Balmer announced Microsoft's plans to give away a free iMac with the purchase of Microsoft Office 2008, a port of their flagship product for users of Mac OS X-based Apple computers.

This comes as a stunning move by the software giant, which has had a number of troubled product releases in the past 18 months, such as the failed "Zune" iPod competitor, and Windows Vista -- the first product in Microsoft's history where users and volume OEM resellers such as Dell and HP have been clamoring for previous-version OSs instead, touting them as an "upgrade". The Office '08 product has also had it's share of set-backs, having seen it's release delayed well into Q1-Q2 of 2008.

"It's something we've been considering," said Balmer in a telephone interview today from his private 500' long yacht. "Hey, can you turn that damn 'Monkey Boy' music video down?" he suddenly shouted, trying to mute the phone as he did so. "Sorry. Where was I? Oh, yeah. Bill and I have been in conference calls with several senior members of our Macintosh Business Unit, as well a number of our domestic partners, and the consensus has been this will be beneficial to our premium product placement."

Analysts have been critical of Microsoft in recent months, given numerous delays to Microsoft's Mac version and the fact that two of it's most serious competitors -- namely, Apple's iWork 08 and the free OpenOffice.org project -- have been slowly but steadily gaining both market-, as well as mindshare.

"I'm absolutely shocked," says MacRumors.com's own Arnold Kim, who was on retreat at his palatial Naples, Italy winter home and spoke with us via video chat. "Although when viewed in the context that Microsoft will go to seemingly-incredible lengths to promote their products, it's not as unforeseeable as it might otherwise be. Really, this is just a next-level move, considering their X-Box and X-Box 360 strategies."

"It's totally crazy," says fellow veteran MacRumors.com poster MadJew. "I'm reminded of something MikeTheC has used as an analogy, though. It's what they used to say about the F-4 Phantom -- 'with enough thrust, you can fly a brick.'"

Sources close to Apple CEO Steve Jobs have hinted Mr. Jobs will have something even more incredible to announce to counter this at his annual MacWorld trade-show keynote address in January. "G5 MacBook Pros this Thursday," commented one source who asked not to be identified.
 
Has anyone ran through the online redemption of this deal?

I don't see how they verify you actually purchased a version of Office 2004 using the online method. Using the coupon method you need to send a copy of your valid receipt and the top of the Office 2004 box.

However, I'd rather do the online order (as it seems like it would be faster) so I did a mock sale. I only see a typical checkout process with no requirement of proof of purchase. There must be a step I'm not seeing, right? Otherwise, one could simply order a copy of Office 2008 for $6.00 without every purchasing Office 2004.
 
I did the online order. After you checkout, print out a form that tells you to send in a copy of the receipt and the top of the Office 2004 box.

Top of box?!?! Grrrrrrr, I got my copy through my school for dirt cheap, no box!
 
Top of box?!?! Grrrrrrr, I got my copy through my school for dirt cheap, no box!


Me too, but I figured it was cheaper to buy another copy of Mac Office 2004 and have to pay only a total of about $2.50 for another copy of Office 2004 and Mac Office 2008. Can't beat that price.
 
Top of box?!?! Grrrrrrr, I got my copy through my school for dirt cheap, no box!


You probably won't be able to get Office '08 through this offer.




Hrm. I threw in the Super Sweet Deal paper, receipt from both Newegg and Microsoft, and the box top. Maybe something else too? Need to get all of your bases covered! :eek:
 
Old News Mate!



Microsoft has sweetened the deal for imminent Office for Mac buyers that don't want to be left behind come the January launch of Mac Office 2008.

From now on, a purchase of ANY version of Mac Office 2004 product (Student and Teacher, Standard, or Professional Edition) will be eligible for an upgrade to the top of the line Mac Office 2008 Special Media Edition for only the price of shipping and handling.

While Microsoft had previously had a technology guarantee in place after announcing the Office 2008 packages, the update applied only to the comparable updated version (Standard Edition 2004 would be updated to Standard Edition 2008).

Article Link

M$ made this announcement a few days BEFORE Black Friday! Prices are a little different if your not a student or teacher...$100 back on Office 2004, and free upgrade to the new 2008 Special Media Edition for $10.00, ( I think)
 
M$ made this announcement a few days BEFORE Black Friday! Prices are a little different if your not a student or teacher...$100 back on Office 2004, and free upgrade to the new 2008 Special Media Edition for $10.00, ( I think)

Anybody can buy the Student and Teacher Edition of 2004. It is being replaced with Office Mac 2008 Home Users and Students edition. Microsoft did not ask you to prove that you were a "student or teacher of life" to buy the 2004 Office Student and Teacher Edition and then get a free upgrade to the 2008 edition. You just can't use either one of them (Student and Teacher Edition of 2004/2008 Home Users and Students edition) in a commercial application.
 
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