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Office 2008 for Mac

Pyrotechnic

Pyrotechnic

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 28, 2009
300
18
United Kingdom
As a relative new Mac user, I have refrained from using any M$ products as I wanted to try and go cold turkey and just switch to everything Mac in one swoop.

However, I work with a lot of Word Docs and sometimes have to work on them at home. I have up until now been working with pages and muddling along with the odd difference here and there. I am now finding that I am having to wait until I am at work as using Word is more comfortable to use.

I have just bought Office 2008 for Mac and I am a little apprehensive about installing it and using it.

Is it just as full of bugs etc ?
Does it install like a OSX Software title ?
Are there any disadvantages ?

I really need convincing that I have to install this as I am taking a backward step in what I wanted to achieve when I first bought my Mac. I feel as though I have succumb to M$.

Any help or advice appreciated.
 
Pyrotechnic said:
As a relative new Mac user, I have refrained from using any M$ products as I wanted to try and go cold turkey and just switch to everything Mac in one swoop.

However, I work with a lot of Word Docs and sometimes have to work on them at home. I have up until now been working with pages and muddling along with the odd difference here and there. I am now finding that I am having to wait until I am at work as using Word is more comfortable to use.

I have just bought Office 2008 for Mac and I am a little apprehensive about installing it and using it.

Is it just as full of bugs etc ?
Does it install like a OSX Software title ?
Are there any disadvantages ?

I really need convincing that I have to install this as I am taking a backward step in what I wanted to achieve when I first bought my Mac. I feel as though I have succumb to M$.

Any help or advice appreciated.
Click to expand...

Well seeing as though you've bought it and its sitting right next to you, Im pretty sure your intention is to install it already.

I use office on mac and on windows and they're both just as good!! :)
 
iWoz87 said:
Well seeing as though you've bought it and its sitting right next to you, Im pretty sure your intention is to install it already.
Click to expand...

I work for a Government Agency so got it for next to nothing, so its not a real issue.

However, i appreciate your experiences of using it. Thank you.
 
The only reason I have it installed on my mac is because my work makes me submit my expense reports using an excel template that employs complex macros. Otherwise, I'd never think twice about it. There are other, less bloated and equally effective word processors (Bean, MarinerWrite) and I use iWork and much prefer Keynote over PowerPoint.

Just my 2¢!
 
Having just looked through the Wallpapers thread, I see there are a lot with the icons within their dock, so I am presuming its common place with users ?
 
I also got it for free from my university. I bring my MacBook Pro with me to college every day and type all my notes on Word. I've got A LOT of notes and haven't had a problem with it the passed 3 months it's been installed. It works great! :D
 
I have both office and iWork installed (as well as OpenOffice.org) and if your main concern is the feel then I think OpenOffice.org feels the most like a windows version of office, yes, it is a bit more bare bones but it does the job very well especially considering its free!

Between office and iWork I would say that neither is 100% better for example keynote is far better than powerpoint but exel is better than numbers. As for word processing I much prefer Pages, its a cleaner look and for me just makes more sence to use. I have to hand all of my university work in as .doc files and I've had no complaint from tutors yet after handing in .doc files created with Pages. I think it really just depends on what you need it for. If you have a lot of formatting and tables you might be best to stick with Word because Pages doesn't always play nice with all the formatting.
I suppose you could always use pages and then clean up formatting when you get to a windows machine but that is a bit too much hassle.

Office for Mac does work really well though, not quite as intuitive as office on a windows machine but I doubt that making office for mac perfect is Microsoft's biggest concern lol.
:D
 
If you're doing a lot of work with Office documents, then yes, use it. Neo/Open office CAN work...but not all the time. I find it easier just the bite the bullet and get Office - IF you have to open a lot of .doc files like I said. For taking notes and really simple word processing I love Bean. For other more complicated stuff, I use Pages. I just find Word to be a little bloated and slow personally. But it is the de facto standard so I use it when I have to. No biggie.
 
I have always used office, I have tried the free trails with iWork a couple times, but I find that I personally prefer office. It is probably because it is the one I am most used to and familiar with.
The only thing I would like on Office is a fullscreen focus mode like on Pages, where all you get on your screen is document.
 
I use it for college, as it was given to me. I had to use it in my Computer Fundamentals Class that I just finished, and I liked it. Found it easy to use and grasp.
 
stoplis said:
I have always used office, I have tried the free trails with iWork a couple times, but I find that I personally prefer office. It is probably because it is the one I am most used to and familiar with.
The only thing I would like on Office is a fullscreen focus mode like on Pages, where all you get on your screen is document.
Click to expand...

How Microsoft Windows of you.
 
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