More Screenshots and a Hands-On of Microsoft Office for Mac 2011

[Anuba]

For me, iWork is perfect for what I want, and I like the way it stays simple. Office allows for much more complex editing to be done but I don't really need that. The only thing I hate with Pages is that when you insert and image and make it "inline" and not "floating" so that it moves with your text, it becomes completely buggy, unpredictable and total nonsense. If anyone has tried placing images in a Pages, they know what I mean. Maybe I'll give Office a try just for that reason.

Personally I have two gripes with iWork.

One is that Numbers doesn't have nifty Sheet tabs at the bottom, instead Sheets end up in some weird nested tree in the left column and it not only looks crappy but it's also a sluggish manner of navigation with twice the number of clicks.

The other is that Office on Windows allows you to paste Excel stuff into Word (and vice versa), so you can do stuff like create an nice invoice template in Word and then create a table in the middle of it that's all Excel. When you double-click on the table you launch a kind of mini-Excel inside Word.

If you load such a document into Pages, it turns the Excel table part into a non-editable bitmap(!) where it gets everything wrong (fonts, font sizes, column widths etc). Useless. Office for Mac doesn't handle it as well as the Windows version, there's no "mini-Excel" inside Word, instead double-clicking on the table launches Excel and lets you edit the table there, and when you close Excel the table pops back into the Word doc.

Since MS introduced the OLE technology (which is what allows linking and embedding between documents made in different apps) in 1990, you'd think Apple would have similar technology by now, but if they do, they're sure not using it for iWork.

 

[MisterMe]

Microsoft software has been running on Macs since the very first Mac was shipped in 1984. There's nothing weird about that. Maybe you're just too young to know that Microsoft's application suite was the software that made the Mac a usable alternative to DOS boxes. If it wasn't for Microsoft's Mac support, the Mac would have never been a success.

OK. Let's not oversell it. When the Mac was introduced, Microsoft Word was very much an also ran among word processors. Microsoft developed Microsoft Word 1.0 for the Mac. There was no Excel. Lotus 1-2-3 was king and it ran only on DOS. Microsoft developed a spreadsheet named Multiplan, but it was later replaced by Excel.

Your assertions to the contrary notwithstanding, Microsoft's too big products for DOS were DOS itself and some a version of Microsoft BASIC--usually GW-BASIC. Lotus, WordPerfect, WordStar, Dr. Norton, Symantec, and other third-party developers ruled the application and utility space. Microsoft's applications applications like Word and Multiplan were intriguing but also-ran's to their more popular competitors.

Every Mac shipped with MacWrite and MacPaint. These two apps opened a new world for all who purchased the little computer with the 9-inch screen. They also served as model for every Mac develop to emulate. Bill Gates saw the Mac as the computer that would allow Microsoft to develop Word into its full potential. It was also the platform that first hosted Excel. Microsoft used the expertise learned from the development of Mac applications to later build applications for Windows.

Far from Microsoft making the Mac useful, the truth was much the opposite. With the Mac, Microsoft had a staging area from which it captured the application space from such DOS stalwarts as Lotus and WordPerfect.

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

I actually just got out of a meeting with MS about Office 2011. I am under NDA so I can only say a small amount.

What I can say though is that Entourage is dead and Outlook is NOT Entourage.

The performance increase is amazing due to a changed DB MS is using as well as allowing things like Spotlight and Time Machine. Lots of great features built into Outlook as well like being totally Cocoa now. One of the biggest issues with Entourage was WebDAV well its now EWS only now. That in itself will greatly increase performance.

So far its a good product, I am using the Beta. Excel is much faster. We did a demo with over 15,000 records and a search too over a minute on 2008 and less than 5 seconds on 2011. MS has done a good job listening to the Mac Enterprise clients and delivering. They also have a solid roadmap going forward.

 

[iigsie]

yuk

Indeed.

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/nggallery/page-320/album-1/gallery-31/page/419/

Picture 6 of 53 shows Visual Basic Editor!
Woo-hoo!

vBa is back. Also, MS was telling us that they have done an extensive job in providing parity across office. Thus far I have to say its delivering.

 

[icrash]

anyone knows if Exchange 2003 support is planned for Outlook?...the current beta does not !...

 

[LagunaSol]

MS has done a good job listening to the Mac Enterprise clients and delivering. They also have a solid roadmap going forward.

Uh huh. I'll believe it when I see it. We've been hearing for years how the Mac BU within Microsoft is so committed to the Mac and how great Office for Mac is going to be, yet time after time the Mac version of Office lags behind the Windows version in performance, integration and functionality, despite being released later than the Windows equivalent.

I don't doubt the abilities or intelligence of the Mac BU members themselves; rather, I fully suspect there are given orders (subtle or not-so-subtle) from Microsoft HQ to make the Mac version "suck more." Is there any other rational explanation?

Microsoft wants to sell Mac software, sure, but ultimately the platform is a threat to their golden goose, which is the Windows + Office hegemony. And that surely manifests itself in their Mac software.

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

anyone knows if Exchange 2003 support is planned for Outlook?...the current beta does not !...

No it supports EWS only. 2007+

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

I don't doubt the abilities or intelligence of the Mac BU members themselves; rather, I fully suspect there are given orders (subtle or not-so-subtle) from Microsoft HQ to make the Mac version "suck more." Is there any other rational explanation?

That ridiculous because whether MS likes it or not the Mac market is out there and growing. I think its understood that you can't force people to buy a PC and the business world has been clamoring for MS to deliver a Mac+Exchange suite for years. Instead of forcing the hand it seems like MS is actually delivering to the Mac users. 2004 and 2008 where trash. 2011 thus far seems like it has potential. From all the demos I have seen and the information delivered to me (technical details etc.) it really does seem like MS has delivered on most of the things asked for and is preparing for others.

 

[Nanotech]

I'm very glad that they decided to give us the choice of having the toolbar palette. Choice is good. And for all the "ribbon haters" you don't have to use it, and if you like iwork then sure go with iwork. But from what I see it doesn't really matter, because if you minimize it, it takes up as much space as the previous "elements gallery" but in the end is a lot more functional. I guess I'll have to try out the ribbon to see whether it works or not (I haven't had that much previous experience with it). But yeah I hope it loads faster, I'm looking forward to this release. Also I wonder what version of docx/xlsx/pptx it ships with?

Edit: Mac Messenger, on the other hand...

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

Microsoft wants to sell Mac software, sure, but ultimately the platform is a threat to their golden goose, which is the Windows + Office hegemony. And that surely manifests itself in their Mac software.

Thats a misunderstood statement. MS golden goose is services. Exchange, Sharepoint, SQL, etc. Microsoft's grip on the enterprise is astonishing and the amount of money they make on it is likewise astonishing.

 

[winninganthem]

Lots of great features built into Outlook as well like being totally Cocoa now. One of the biggest issues with Entourage was WebDAV well its now EWS only now. That in itself will greatly increase performance.

Is the whole 2011 office suite in Cocoa?

 

[mcmlxix]

I use MS Office 2010 on my work PC, and no "Microsoft's shift to the 'ribbon' toolbar display...over the 'toolbox' format" is not "a tremendous improvement." It takes up more screen real estate, some simple tasks take more clicks to complete, and while it can use the same keyboard short cuts as its predecessor, many of those would be unknowable to a new user.

I'd get MS Office for Mac before this new version rolls out!

 

[inlovewithi]

That's got nothing to do with Office on Windows being snappy, it's the result of SuperFetch on Windows 7. Your Win7 machine monitors which applications you start up often and builds up a cache that's loaded into RAM on startup. Since stuff like IE and Office apps are loaded very often, those are usually the first to be picked up by SuperFetch.

Do a fresh install of Win7 and a fresh install of Office and time the first launch, not very fast at all.

Since OS X has no technology resembling SuperFetch, apps load much slower, on the other hand OS X doesn't hog your hard drive for 3 minutes after bootup, like Vista and Win7 do when they're preloading the applications that you're likely, though not necessarily, going to launch.

Actually the really good thing about Office 2010 is that it loads almost instantly, even on a fresh install. 2007, kind of long.

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

Is the whole 2011 office suite in Cocoa?

Yes, Its funny because Word and Excel look very similar to Pages and Keynote in terms of buttons and UI.

 

[LagunaSol]

That ridiculous because whether MS likes it or not the Mac market is out there and growing.

.....

2004 and 2008 where trash.

Your second statement appears to contradict your first. Either the Mac BU is full of incompetent designers and programmers (unlikely), or there were some ulterior motives for the trashiness of those apps. Surely if mere end users like us can clearly recognize the inferiority of Mac Office vs. Windows Office ("Huh, why has Windows Office been able to do X for years and Mac Office still can't?"), I'm sure the Mac BU is even more intimately familiar with the shortcomings. I have a hard time believing they couldn't have kept closer feature parity with the Windows suite over the years if they truly had wanted to (or been allowed to).

Microsoft certainly doesn't like that the Mac platform is growing, and it would be naive to believe that they're not doing whatever they can to slow that growth.

2011 thus far seems like it has potential. From all the demos I have seen and the information delivered to me (technical details etc.) it really does seem like MS has delivered on most of the things asked for and is preparing for others.

I'll keep my fingers crossed. While tempering my hope with a healthy dose of skepticism, based on many years of disappointment.

Thats a misunderstood statement. MS golden goose is services. Exchange, Sharepoint, SQL, etc. Microsoft's grip on the enterprise is astonishing and the amount of money they make on it is likewise astonishing.

Take a look at a chart of their revenue sources. Office is their bread and butter. By far. Office provides a lock to Windows (see Mac Office inferiority arguments above). A successful Mac platform is a threat to Microsoft no matter how one wants to spin it.

 

[inlovewithi]

Amen.

I still run office 2004.

Personally the only thing of any value that microsoft produces for me is excel.

Outlook is just way to messy for me to even think about trying to use all its functions.

Word is the biggest piece of ***** ever... always has been and as far as Im concerned, I don't care how many ribbons or bows they attach to it, it will still be terrible. Formating in word has got to be the least intuitive thing ever. I use LaTeX because it does what I tell it to do, not the other way around... plus it actually makes documents that look presentable.

Anyway, enough with that rant. Excel 2004 >> Excel 2008

I think you might have a problem with changing routines, even if it might be useful in the long wrong. Perhaps you're overworked and stress out. I can relate, but curiosity wins over.

 

[Squeak825]

I knew it would probably happen, but the Outlook does not work with Exchange 2003.

If only my work was not so slow to upgrade.

 

[Jaro65]

Wonder if they manage to make equations made on PCs to work on Mac and make VBA and statistics package to work too.

Indeed! I am really hoping that they are going to make the Office for Mac much more compatible with Office 2007/2010.

 

[LagunaSol]

It has more to do with lukewarm interest than malice. Apple's apps for Windows aren't exactly optimized either.

While I understand that iTunes for Windows sucks in the performance department (based on what I've read - I don't run iTunes in Windows), I believe the two versions have feature parity. They look the same, they act the same, they provide the same features. Apple hasn't gimped the functionality of the app - they just don't provide great performance.

I've often had sneaking suspicions that they're trying to make Windows look bad.

Of that I have no doubt. I'm sure Apple could improve iTunes for Windows performance if they wanted to. They don't want to, and it's not due to indifference. And only a fool would believe that Microsoft doesn't do the same with its Mac software.

 

[MacMosher]

I think you might have a problem with changing routines, even if it might be useful in the long wrong. Perhaps you're overworked and stress out. I can relate, but curiosity wins over.

lol thanks for your response. I don't know if i have a problem with changing routines... maybe I do and I'm in denial.

But, I use to use word religiously and once I got half way through my degree I just can't stand it anymore. I mean, it does have some basic uses when I am trying to whip something up quickly... but anything with formatting it is more frustration than what it is worth. (and if you dig aesthetics, which I'm assuming most mac users would... than LaTeX kicks butt hands down ).

I guess, now that I step back and look at it. Excel handles all my very quick back of the envelope equations... if I wanted to get more in-depth I use Matlab/Maple/Mathamatica etc.

I just find with each new edition of MS office it makes doing the things I would actually use it for much less intuitive than it was before hand... or even have those same functions in the same general area. Maybe you're right, I am just too stressed out or overworked to be bothered to try and figure out where these functions are . Maybe Im going to be that guy that will complain when they stop making programs compatible to my OS because Im too stubborn to update ahah

 

[lewis82]

Now that the ribbons are here, all I want is an equation editor just like in Office 2007.

Office 2008 still uses the equation editor that shippedd with my copy of Office 98...

 

[shervieux]

now if Microsoft would just give us OneNote on the mac........ I NEED IT BAD. I use all windows based ms office for work, and use all mac based apps at home. it is a shame I have to buy Windows OS and keep a windows laptop just for OneNote. Everything else I can cross platform pretty easily (Mac Office, Omnigraffle works well with Visio). Access I could really care less about. I pretty much stopped using it, now that I support MS SQL server for work. but if I need a database at home there is always Bento or Filemaker for my needs.

I just need OneNote to come to the mac and then I could get rid of my Windows latop. I have too much invested, and share too much with Windows users (who use one note). It is a lot easier to give them my .One file and tell them to open that. then they have all my notes, and I can easily get all there's.

Please Please bring OneNote to the mac..... Naydine from MACBU if you still read these posts, please hear my plea........

 

[shervieux]

That's 6 seconds too long.

Office on Windows launches instantly.

I only seen that in Windows 7, and if you put the quick launch on task bar dock.

But I will agree either way it is still a lot quicker than how MacOffice 2008 opens on my macbook.

 

[shervieux]

Keynote kicks the crap out of PowerPoint.

Pages lacks some Word functionality, but bests it in other areas. It's probably a better choice for most users.

Numbers lags behind Excel and needs some real improvement.

To me the biggest downside of iWork vs. Office is the lack of any kind of integrated media collection. Sure, 90% of the stuff in the Microsoft image/clipart collection sucks, but at least there's something there. With Apple you get nothing (except for the handful of images that come with the templates).

And how many typical users want to go to iStockphoto and pay for an image (or several) to use in their neighborhood flyer?

Big, big disadvantage.

there has been times when I had to use both pages and word to get a document to look and be formatted how I needed it.