My university gave me a free copy of Microsoft Office 2011 Professional for Mac, and I'm debating on whether I should install it. I've gotten along fine since 2008 with iWork.
Does Office:
1) Run as well as iWork '09?
2) Compare well to Office 2010?
3) Seem like a native OS X application?
Thanks.
Well,
1) No, it doesn't run as well as iWork '09. iWork' 09 is an Apple product, and it run seamlessly on the Mac OS. But Office 2011 has more features than iWork '09, and it is fully compatible with Microsoft Office files. Although some people challenge the claim that Office has more features than iWork, it is the undeniable truth. Perhaps you don't need them, but they are there.
2) Office 2010 is way better than Office 2011. Office 2011 for Mac replicates most of the functionality of Office 2010 for Windows, but is is much more sluggish. Word 2010 for Windows takes 50 MB of RAM, while Word 2011 for Mac would easily consume 150 to 200 MB. A memory hog. A slow and buggy memory hog. And Office 2010 is a great piece of software, and it runs like nothing else on Windows. In addition, the interface in Office 2010 for Windows is clearer and lighter. Despite all these drawbacks, Office 2011 is useful if you want to replicate Office functionality on the Mac.
3) Kind of. It does a better job in that department than the previous versions of Office for Mac.
I would recommend installing it. It's among the best-selling piece of software for Mac. If you want to do real work, better not count on iWork. You should use this or a Windows version running on Parallels.
