Office 2008 is it worth buying?

[Sly]

I am currently using Office 2004 on my two PPC Macs and have had no major issues at all. I use all aspects of MS Office all day everyday for my business so its pretty important to me. After 4 years I kind of feel it is time for an update, however after reading some of the issues other forum members have had with 2008 I am wondering what to do? Should I upgrade, or wait another 4 years for Office 2012, by then, i guess even I will have switched to Intel. Will I gain much by upgrading?

 

[MM07]

In my opinion, I would say go for it.

After the last update to 12.1 things seem to be running a lot smoother than before. At least for me it is.

 

[Sun Baked]

If you don't need some of the new features, why upgrade.

Though if you don't run into the need to make use of a specific file format you cannot open, there is NeoOffice or the 30-day free trial.

The upgrade for the Home/Student is reasonable for MS, no reason to toss money now if you don't need to.

Though the Office version does offer Exhange support if you need to toss a couple/few hundred at them.

 

[reclusivemonkey]

I agree with Sun Bake; if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

The change on Windows from 2004 to 2007 is huge because of the UI changes; as the Mac version doesn't have this, I don't think you would get much more from it, although I've not used any older versions on Mac so I can't say categorically. If you have all the features you need in 2004, stick with that I would say.

 

[Jenheta]

This has an easy answer. Even though docx files are smaller than doc files, there is no major reason to upgrade from version 2004. Actually, the next version will finally include macros on Excel, which has been a major blown.

As others said, if you do not need anything specific, do not buy it. The next version will be much more worthy the jump than the current release.

 

[Chappers]

I actually like Office 2008 - for me was it worth buying - Yes - but is it right for you well thats the eternal question that gets asked a lot around these parts.

I'd suggest pop into an Apple store or retailer who usually have Office running on a machine and have a play with it.

Good luck

 

[yellow]

I actually like it too. Once I got used to it, it makes sense.

The only thing I hate is the formatting in the default style template has too many spaces. I find that I have to change every document to "No Spacing" style.
But I don't know how to make that the default.

 

[Sun Baked]

I actually like it too. Once I got used to it, it makes sense.

The only thing I hate is the formatting in the default style template has too many spaces. I find that I have to change every document to "No Spacing" style.
But I don't know how to make that the default.

I just replace my default template with one that have the styles, fonts, etc. that I normally use.

 

[yellow]

I just replace my default template with one that have the styles, fonts, etc. that I normally use.

I tried, but couldn't get it to work.

But I did just figure out what does it and how to fix it:

Word 2008 -> Format menu -> Style.. -> "Normal" Style -> Modify button -> there's an icon with 2 vertical arrows pointing at each other, just click that till nothing happens ("Space Before" disappears from below) -> Check the "Add to template" -> OK button -> "Apply" button.

Now any new doc you open should have sane spacing.





So.. now, Office 2008 is definitely worth it! Though it's dog slow to open.

 

[MacDawg]

Unless you do some heavy using, it probably isn't worth the update. I echo what Sun Baked has said. For me, I wish I had not upgraded. The loss of VBA was a big deal, and it should come back in the next version.

If you need the features, do it.
If you are able to do everything with what you have, don't bother.

Woof, Woof – Dawg

 

[trip1ex]

What I read about 2k8 wasn't compelling enough for me to open the shrink wrap and so I sold my copy.

 

[theweber3]

Yes!

Yes I love office 2008. So easy and if you happen to be use to Office 2007 on a PC then you will be familiar with it on a mac. The compatibility is great.

 

[John01021988]

I tried, but couldn't get it to work.

But I did just figure out what does it and how to fix it:

Word 2008 -> Format menu -> Style.. -> "Normal" Style -> Modify button -> there's an icon with 2 vertical arrows pointing at each other, just click that till nothing happens ("Space Before" disappears from below) -> Check the "Add to template" -> OK button -> "Apply" button.

Now any new doc you open should have sane spacing.





So.. now, Office 2008 is definitely worth it! Though it's dog slow to open.

Thats exactly what I was looking for, thx!

 

[Sun Baked]

Thats exactly what I was looking for, thx!

Well at least there is an easy way around my brute force method, though I do keep several templates around anyhow.

 

[Bjohnson33]

Switched and happy

I upgraded to 2008 and I'm glad I did. It's not a huge change from 2004, but it I find the layout better. It seems more Mac-like to me. I tried using Pages for a while, and it's a fine program as well, but since I need to email files back and forth to work, it's easier to keep things in .doc format than importing/exporting through Pages constantly.