Office for Mac vs. Office in virtual Vista?

[NuovoMacUser]

I'm scoping out the applications that I'll need to get for my new MacBook Pro. I'm making the leap from PC to Mac for my personal computer, but I still need to retain interoperability with the MS Office suite for my work needs. I've seen the MS Office for Mac package, but I also understand that MS Office for the Windows platform can be run on XP or Vista in a VM environment in OS X.

Setting aside the obvious costs for the additional software, is there any advantage to Office for Mac versus the alternative? Which works better?

 

[thomahawk]

office 08 for macs and office 07 for windows are basically the same thing.
i think its a matter of programs you'll be using. if there are lots of windows programs you'll also be wanting to use. then use vmware, plus since you have office 07 already you wont have to spend the extra cash.
however if you just want to use office, then i see no need to buy vmware. just buy office 08 for macs and use it on your mac without vmware.

 

[robanga]

In my opinion Office 2007 is better than 2008 for the Mac, primarily because of the ribbon user interface on windows and the availability of the toolbar on a right click.

Having said that, 2008 is not bad at all and the advantage is the OS X look and feel on many things and getting docx files to open directly in the application without having to be in the VM.

I have both that is ideal, but if I had to choose one it would be 2007 under Windows and then rely on iWork for everything within OS X

 

[munkery]

If you already have Office 2007 and need to install windows for other software then I would use VirtualBox (which is free) to virtualize windows.

Office 2008 for Mac doesn't support VBA for Excel, you should keep that in mind if you need that feature.

If you don't need VBA or windows for other software, it is a lot cheaper to buy Office 2008 Mac than to buy a windows OS to virtualize.

 

[jlamb0]

Visual Basic isn't all that's missing from Mac Office 08. I've used both, and I've noticed some other features missing, especially in the way HTML objects are handled.

Also, I used a chemical modeling software just this last semester, and it completely integrated with Office 07 on windows to the point where I could edit the models from within Office. Mac Word couldn't even faithfully paste the objects (this was the HTML feature I found missing).

If you think you might need similar functionality, and can handle the extra expense of getting a copy of Windows. I'd say running 07 on XP or Vista in Virtual Box would be the way to go.

Otherwise, 08 is just fine. Since the semester ended I haven't had to paste in any odd objects and everything works just fine!

 

[reclusivemonkey]

office 08 for macs and office 07 for windows are basically the same thing.

Erm, NO. Office 08 for Mac and Office 07 for Windows are totally different. I would recommend you get Office 07 and run it via Boot Camp or Virtual Box. Office 08 for Mac is missing a lot of the advanced features of Office 07 which if you are familiar with, you will certainly miss. Also, if you want to maintain compatibility with 07 office documents, this will be your best choice.

 

[MacDawg]

Erm, NO. Office 08 for Mac and Office 07 for Windows are totally different. I would recommend you get Office 07 and run it via Boot Camp or Virtual Box. Office 08 for Mac is missing a lot of the advanced features of Office 07 which if you are familiar with, you will certainly miss. Also, if you want to maintain compatibility with 07 office documents, this will be your best choice.

Agreed... if you need the features and compatibility, better to run 2007 with Boot Camp or virtually.

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[macbwizard]

Agreed, Office 2008 for Mac is the most expensive piece of horrible software that I've ever bought. It takes forever to start up, crashes, and does a whole bunch of weird stuff.

The whole spaces issue irritates me to no end (I don't care that MS says its not their fault- use some ingenuity and write your software a different way so it won't suck). I just finished finals at uni and spent countless hours fighting with Office.

Go the 2007 route. I am beginning to wonder if anyone at the MBU actually knows how to program.

 

[Thunder82]

Office for Mac 2008 is the best Office suite for mac, but I will agree with everyone else that it is awful compared to the Windows 2007 version. Excel in particular is missing a lot of features and is almost painful to use at times compared to the Windows version. (especially at manipulating very large sheets!)