IMO, the ribbon is a much better layout for new users learning how to use Office. As with most things, existing users hate it because it is different.
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Office for Mac 2011 Previewed Ahead of Launch Scheduled for Later This Year
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Oops! I lied! One other thing:The only other thing I need is for macro support to be added back in Excel.
I also need some way of editing a field in Excel via a keyboard shortcut!!!! (Similar to hitting F2 on Excel for Windows.) Please!!!!
A lot of people found features they didn't know about thanks to it... just because a lot of people are used to tiny, unmarked buttons to do things doesn't mean that that way is good. I despise having to use Office 2003 on Windows, even after years of using it and preceding versions... tiny little buttons made for tiny resoltuions. The Ribbon is much more intuitive and I am glad it is coming to Mac Office, and good to hear about it using Core Animation.
The move to the Ribbon with 2007 was very brave and I applaud it... though, there are many things about Office which I shall not.
Also good to hear MBU staff saying that following Apple's design philosophies is the way to go.
Can't wait for more news, I will be upgrading at launch, looks like. But I really want to know about the equation editor... 2007 has a rather decent (just rather) equation editor, while 2008 uses the cruddy old-style one, and cannot edit 2007 equations. And those 2003 system equations, when put into 2007, can only be edited by a glitchy on-top-of-everything 2003 editor. That's terrible. I really hope the 2010 editor makes its good way in... I need equation interoperability, for now anyway.
I love the toolbox/palette on the Mac version of Office 2008, as notebook computer screens are widescreen and documents are generally portrait format.
I like the ribbon, too, but the ribbon interface on Office 2007/2010 for Windows takes up too much vertical space for my liking.
This is especially true if you try using Office 2007 on a Windows netbook with a 1024x640 resolution. I like the ribbon because it does away with menu bars and is so much more intuitive (in fact, it is kind of similar to how Apple did away with menu bars on the iPad..).
I only wish it could be a vertical ribbon instead so as to make use of widescreen monitors.
And Microsoft please bring keyboard shortcut parity with Mac and Windows, maybe even including alt-indicators!
I like the ribbon, too, but the ribbon interface on Office 2007/2010 for Windows takes up too much vertical space for my liking.
This is especially true if you try using Office 2007 on a Windows netbook with a 1024x640 resolution. I like the ribbon because it does away with menu bars and is so much more intuitive (in fact, it is kind of similar to how Apple did away with menu bars on the iPad..).
I only wish it could be a vertical ribbon instead so as to make use of widescreen monitors.
And Microsoft please bring keyboard shortcut parity with Mac and Windows, maybe even including alt-indicators!
That would be very useful!
A previous poster mocked the "ribbon haters" for hating on it "because it is different". Well, you know what, they're right. It IS different. Sure, maybe it's more ergonomic, more efficient, easier for new users, whatever. There must be a good reason why they went with it. But that still doesn't negate the fact that there are people like myself who have been using Office for over 15 years, and have become accustomed to finding certain settings in certain places. It's going to take us time to re-learn this interface, and anything Microsoft can do to help us would be welcome.
Even something as simple as pasting: Quick, where is the Paste command? (Yes, I usually hit Ctrl-V, but sometimes I want to "Paste Special" which has no shortcut.) In 99% of other apps on Windows and OS X, "Paste" is under the "Edit" menu. In Office, they've broken all the UI conventions and changed it. You have to realize that it's in the "Home" tab of the ribbon. Call me an ignoramus but that took me a minute of exasperated clicking around before I found it.
Costs
This doesn't take account of development costs, licensing fees, research and development etc. You can whack on quite a bit extra for that. And then there's the risk of failure of course. Always nice to build in a good profit margin in case the product bombs.
This doesn't take account of development costs, licensing fees, research and development etc. You can whack on quite a bit extra for that. And then there's the risk of failure of course. Always nice to build in a good profit margin in case the product bombs.
The ability to not import the pst files from my PC really sucked back when I moved to a Mac. Hopefully it will be easier for people moving forward.
I hope the new version automatically converts my Entourage file to the new PST format...
Also, I REALLY hope that the new version doesn't mangle HTML emails that I forward or reply to...
I hope the new version automatically converts my Entourage file to the new PST format...
Also, I REALLY hope that the new version doesn't mangle HTML emails that I forward or reply to...
Yea, so IS IT 64-BIT?!
Doubtful. The press release makes a point to talk about Outlook being written in Cocoa (and therefore, it should be 64-bit capable), but says nothing about the other parts of Office. This seems like a bad sign.
I'm guessing that rewriting the entire Office suite in Cocoa was too much (on top of starting from scratch with the email client). Maybe we'll see it in Office for Mac 2014...
Make iWork for Windows
Apple should create iWork for Windows 7.
WHY? --To make a bigger dent at lessening the world's perceived dependability on Office (and to wow customers with the superiority of Keynote. --and to make a few more people consider Mac experience for their next computer: If an Apple office suite can be this easy and fun to use, imagine what you can experience with and Apple computer...)
With Apple's brand name now seen as a viable player by corporate and consumers, such a venture would have a good chance of bearing fruit, especially with an ad campaign showing compatibility with word of all types. PC-guy would show his creation on Word, Mac-guy would then open the exact same Word document in iWork, and then Mac-guy would show what else you could do in iWork WITH EASE! --in ways that are way LESS SRTESSFUL! PC-gy would claim he could accomplish the same things with good old Word, but then he gets lost in ribbons and such, and gets confused and frustrated...
Ask PC people to give iWork-for-Windows a try; 90-day free trial.
A better experience, seamless compatibility, 25%- 75% cheaper than Office, cheaper for big business, happier employees, and people consider the Mac in the future.
Apple should create iWork for Windows 7.
WHY? --To make a bigger dent at lessening the world's perceived dependability on Office (and to wow customers with the superiority of Keynote. --and to make a few more people consider Mac experience for their next computer: If an Apple office suite can be this easy and fun to use, imagine what you can experience with and Apple computer...)
With Apple's brand name now seen as a viable player by corporate and consumers, such a venture would have a good chance of bearing fruit, especially with an ad campaign showing compatibility with word of all types. PC-guy would show his creation on Word, Mac-guy would then open the exact same Word document in iWork, and then Mac-guy would show what else you could do in iWork WITH EASE! --in ways that are way LESS SRTESSFUL! PC-gy would claim he could accomplish the same things with good old Word, but then he gets lost in ribbons and such, and gets confused and frustrated...
Ask PC people to give iWork-for-Windows a try; 90-day free trial.
A better experience, seamless compatibility, 25%- 75% cheaper than Office, cheaper for big business, happier employees, and people consider the Mac in the future.
YAY!! This is the best news for Mac users all month! Getting rid of Entourage is going to make me very happy. However, it might be too little too late now that OSX has built in support for Exchange in the mail client - but having Outlook is going to be huge in getting more corporations on board with switching from a PC to a Mac. Every corporate user I know who tried to switch either went back to their PC, or ran Outlook in a virtual machine because they couldn't stand entourage. Good riddance of Entourage!
Doesn't the "ribbon" go against Apple's UI standards? What will they put in the Menu Bar?
I see most new Mac users opting for iWork. If you're going to switch to a Mac, you'd be better off getting software that'll look and feel like the other apps your Mac comes bundled with. The customer may not realize the advantage of this at the beginning, but as they start to learn the ways of the iLife apps, Office will soon seem difficult for them to use. In my opinion, Microsoft is shooting themselves in the foot by bringing the "ribbon" to the Mac. I don't think Mac users will be willing to put up with it. Remember, we like a clean and simplistic UI.
I see most new Mac users opting for iWork. If you're going to switch to a Mac, you'd be better off getting software that'll look and feel like the other apps your Mac comes bundled with. The customer may not realize the advantage of this at the beginning, but as they start to learn the ways of the iLife apps, Office will soon seem difficult for them to use. In my opinion, Microsoft is shooting themselves in the foot by bringing the "ribbon" to the Mac. I don't think Mac users will be willing to put up with it. Remember, we like a clean and simplistic UI.
BTW, I think Microsoft is at a crossroads. They can either embrace the Mac, and put more resources and engineering on making all their software give Mac users the same experience they have using Microsoft software on a PC... +1 Or... They can continue to let their Mac counterparts stagnate, which in the end will just mean LOST revenue for Microsoft because Mac users will find alternatives rather then use a crippled Microsoft product, so if they want to make a lot of money they better get coding!!!
The only other thing I need is for macro support to be added back in Excel.
VBA is supposed to be back in Excel this version (don't know if it is or not). Which should bring back Macro support, which personally, without it, makes Excel useless on a Mac.
There's a lot you can do with VBA and Excel. Numbers has AppleScripting now, but it's still no match for Excel (though only on windows).
