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Who cares! They were slow and now they're gonna miss out on my business because of it. Maybe they'll be able to sell me once iWork 08's gets old and I'm looking to upgrade productivity suites again.

By that time the short comings in Numbers will be addressed - and Pages/Keynote will be so far ahead, going to use Office will be like a downgrade.

The thing i can't stand is this approach of having such a crappy bundle; if they really want me to buy Office 2008, how about feature/application parity with the windows counterpart - Access anyone? VB and .NET support?
 
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.

Yep, you are correct. When I bought the version from Amazon on 11/23, there was no proof of being a student. I bought it, they sent it to me, I installed it.

Plus it made the upgrade to Office 2008 the cheapest deal around.
 
Of course...they copy Apple again....

Remember when Apple released Leopard??

Someone bought a Mac and Leopard wasnt on it??

They got to upgrade for the Shipping and Handling Price.

They also need to sweeten the deal because they feel threatened by iWork lol
 
Remember when Apple released Leopard??

Someone bought a Mac and Leopard wasnt on it??

They got to upgrade for the Shipping and Handling Price.

They also need to sweeten the deal because they feel threatened by iWork lol
Wrong, the upgrade price was $10 and shipping was free, and this is not even the same situation. You were buying a $1500 Apple computer and had to login to the website to spend more money on an OS that should have been there in the first place. Not to mention, the version you received was an upgrade disk which REQUIRED Tiger to already be installed already. Disk failure = install TWO operating systems. Of course you could get around this with the restore from time machine backup menu trick , but what percentage of people knew that?
 
Why even use MS Office though? Since iWork '08 came out, I've only used MS apps at work where I'm forced to. Just seems to me like MS can't deliver a true competitor, so they have to sucker people in with deals.

Of course, a lot of people only need the functions of WordPad or iWork. In that case, buying Microsoft Office is an overkill. However, the comparison of Gimp and Photoshop comes to my mind.... bottom line: If you don't need it, don't buy it, but don't say MS can't deliver a true competitor only because all you ever needed a word processor for was writing a letter to your mum.
 
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.

First: Office for Windows and Office for the Mac are developed by different teams, use a different codebase, in order to be able to address the features of the two operating systems better (e.g., floating translucent palettes). When Office 2004 was released, it wasn't "one version behind", it had some features that weren't available in Office for Windows at that time (project center, dictionary/thesaurus etc.). And: Microsoft doesn't treat Mac users like dirt. If Microsoft decides not to support the Mac anymore, they won't lose a lot of money, but the lack of MS Office would keep a lot of people from buying a Mac (don't tell me that they can use open office - if somebody asks you whether he can edit Office files with the Mac and you have to answer "yes, with a few restrictions" then that's a deal-breaker).
 
I love the sense of entitlement so many Mac users seem to have toward Microsoft. You'd think MS needed Apple's userbase more than the userbase needed MS :^)
 
I think one of the main reasons Microsoft has kept up the Mac version of Office has been for business users, which I know there is a small percentage when compared to Windows use in the business. But I'm sure it's important to those companies that use both Mac and Windows machines and need to have compatibility with the sharing of documents between users.

I know being able to move all of my Word and Excel docs that I created under Windows and have them work without issue on the Mac (with some minor formatting adjustments) has been nice. It's pretty slow at times, especially if I have more than one program open (Word, Excel Entourage), but that's Rosetta translation working.

My friend has moved to iWork 08 and finds that most Word and Excel docs come in just fine under Pages and Numbers, respectfully. But complex Excel files tend to choke Numbers and there's some complex Word docs that have major formatting issues under Pages that need more than just a few tweaks.

As for Entourage users, I wonder how many people (like myself) that are tied to that program for PIM functions. I know categories are a BIG reason I stay with Entourage and have not moved to the iCal/Address Book/Mail solution. The few work arounds that I've found are too kludgey and don't offer anything that's smooth enough to work well on a regular basis.

As for Office 2008 solving any of these issues, I think the biggest will be speed, thanks to Universal Binary for Intel users. For Office 2007 Windows users, cross documents compatibility will be nice. The only large unknown is handheld synchronization, which so far seems to not have produced any definite answers as to how it will work.

I would image that once the official release gets into people's hands, we'll start to see some answers. But by then, those of us that still need to work, may just stick with 2004 or find another solution.
 
I love the sense of entitlement so many Mac users seem to have toward Microsoft. You'd think MS needed Apple's userbase more than the userbase needed MS :^)
While some of their demands reflect ignorance of certain realities within the MacBU, on the whole I think it's healthy to keep demanding improvements - as long as it's done in a constructive way. I only wish they did it more often with Apple itself.
 
I am actually giving iWork's a 3rd chance with my most recent document report that needs to be finished on the 4th of January.

If I like it, I just may NOT buy Office '08 :)

First two run-through's with iWork's did not go over well with me pain-wise
 
Like it won't be available on torrent sites the day it's released. I have NO ethical issues in borrowing software from Micro$oft. :mad:

Very amusing that you claim to have no ehtical issues...and then say your "borrowing" the software...:rolleyes:

Just say you're stealing it, don't try to sugar coat it.

Back on topic, I'll be picking up the student edition for cheap and then upgrade to 2008 for like $10...not a bad deal. If I read this correctly I will be able to upgrade from the Student Edition to the full version? Even better.
 
I love the sense of entitlement so many Mac users seem to have toward Microsoft. You'd think MS needed Apple's userbase more than the userbase needed MS :^)

Neither of them needs each other. I don't see too many "In Too Deep" Apple users clamoring on about how they need much of anything from Microsoft other than games. Not that it takes away from the company, just that MS isn't a staple in their daily lives or workflows.

And we all know that MS doesn't need the few hundred thousand Apple users either. If MS went out of business I bet many Apple users would still get up and go to work just fine, and in all reality, many people would get along just fine without Apple or MS.
 
Can you really ONLY uses the number of licenses you're given??

Looks like I found the answer to my own question:

On the mail-in rebate form, you can chose between two options:
*OPTION ONE: Send me Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition (includes 1 license for business or personal use, also includes Exchange Server support , additional Automator Actions plus Microsoft Expression Media for Mac)
*OPTION TWO: Send me Office 2008 for Mac Home & Student Edition (includes 3 licenses for home or non-commercial use only; does NOT include Exchange Server support or Automator Actions) + Microsoft Expression Media for Mac

If you want three licenses, you have to chose the home edition.


I'm new to Mac and my question about this Office 2008 is if I take option ONE above can I REALLY only install it on one machine??

Ethics aside, is it possible to install the special media edition on my TWO apple machines or will the software not even allow it if I tried?
 
Sorry but I do not think this information is correct. As of now, there is no upgrade from '04 to '08 for the Home and Student edition. However, there is an upgrade for the Professional edition for the price of $240..

This really sucks for me, b/c i just picked up a Macbook for Christmas, along with Office '04 and was stoked when '08 was coming out... now i cant even upgrade.. soooo stupid if you ask me..

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?nnmm=browse&mco=86F5DDFE&node=home/mac/campaigns/ms_office_2008_landing


Not quite sure what you are saying or if you know what you are talking about.

I already have Office Mac 2004. I ordered it again on Black Friday from Amazon for $125. Amazon gave me a $30 credit if I opened up a Visa/Amazon.com card with them. I received a check from Microsoft yesterday for $100. So I'm already ahead by $5.00. I've already filled out the paperwork and when Office Mac 2008 comes out, my credit card will be charged $6.99 or $9.99 (I forgot which) and Office Mac 2008 will be mailed to me.

I don't quite understand the " soooo stupid if you ask me.." part. Are you talking about yourself or Microsoft or ????
 
I'm new to Mac and my question about this Office 2008 is if I take option ONE above can I REALLY only install it on one machine??

Ethics aside, is it possible to install the special media edition on my TWO apple machines or will the software not even allow it if I tried?

I have both a student and standard version of Office:mac 04. The standard only has 1 key and the student has 3. You can install the standard on as many machines as you like but when you connect them to each other on a LAN then the programs "see" each other and 1 of them shuts down.
 
Got this email from Microsoft today:


Thank you for your Microsoft order. We have received your order.
Below is a summary of your order.

Your Order Number: 1055xxxxxxxx10
Order Date: 01/10/2008

Ship to:
Roy Me
Somewhere Steet
Somewhere, FL 33XXX USA



Sold to:
Roy Me
Somewhere Steet
Somewhere, FL 33XXX USA

Item(s) ordered.

Description: OFFICE MAC HOME STUDENT 2008 EN DVD (Part No: GZA-00006)
Qty: 1
Price: $0.00
Ext. Price: $0.00


SubTotal $0.00
Shipping/Handling $6.99
Tax $0.49
------------------------------------------
Total $7.48

**********************************
 
Why does Microsoft only allow that special for US and Canadian customers? Xenophobia anyone? example of Americanism entering business in the form of 'ignorance of things outside the US'?
 
Does anyone know how to verify, with MS the receipt of the suite deal package? I heard some people mention that they received an e-mail. I had not so I am begining to get concerned.

Thanks!
Scott
 
Why does Microsoft only allow that special for US and Canadian customers? Xenophobia anyone? example of Americanism entering business in the form of 'ignorance of things outside the US'?
What? It's nothing more than simple convenience. Microsoft is an American company, so they will tend to have special promotions in their operating country.
 
What? It's nothing more than simple convenience. Microsoft is an American company, so they will tend to have special promotions in their operating country.

So hang on, they mark themselves as a global company and yet they act like some sort of 2 man band? geeze, no wonder the the trade deficit looks so bad with that sort of isolationist attitude.
 
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