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Office 2008 for Mac - Home and Student Edition

Major Glitches

Written by JP from Portland

Jan 17, 2008

Often times when other applications like Safari or iTunes are open in conjunction with word or powerpoint, the office application "unexpectedly closes."

Great new features, but still waiting for an update from apple that will fix this extremely obnoxious problem

3658 of 4491 people found this useful

Office 2008 for Mac - Home and Student Edition

Excel 2008 not for power users

Written by RJ from Sierra Madre

Jan 18, 2008

The elimination of VBA from Excel 2008 means that users who depend on features like Solver, histograms, extended statistical analyses (such as ANOVA), and custom VBA enhancements are left out in the cold. We are left with two options: (1)stay with Excel 2004 or (2)buy the Windows version (Excel 2007). The first option penalizes Intel-based Mac users with reduced performance. I've reluctantly gone with the second option - which requires Vista or XP and Parallels (or similar program). The other problem with this approach is the new "Ribbon" interface to the Office products. Expect to lose a couple of weeks of productivity as your learn how to locate your favorite functions.

3165 of 4093 people found this useful

Office 2008 for Mac - Home and Student Edition

Backward compatibility

Written by CW from Clinton

Jan 29, 2008

After reading several reviews that stated problems with backward compatibly, I was hesitant to recommend this upgrade to my clients until my copy arrived and I could check it out myself. Microsoft Office 2007 (Windows) and Office 2008 share a new XML file format as their new .docx or .xlsx default file type. This can be changed in the Preference window of Word or Excel to default to the Office 97-2004 .doc file type for Word and .xls for Excel. This will ensure backward compatibility of your new documents until the balance of users have migrated to the new version which may occur in the next year or two. If you are on an Intel processor this version is definitely faster than 2004. The installer will also allow you to keep your Office 2004 or X version on the computer in case you want to be certain that you can always create a compatible document.

The path to change the default file setting in Word is from the menu Word>Preferences>Save>Save Word files as> Word 97-2004 Document (.doc)

The path to change the default setting in Excel is from the menu Excel>Preferences>Compatibility>Save files in this format> Excel 97-2004 Workbook (.xls)

493 of 531 people found this useful

Office 2008 for Mac - Home and Student Edition

Terribly disappointed

Written by RC from Nevada City

Jan 22, 2008

I was on the Apple waiting list to get Office '08 and couldn't wait to install it. A week later I have uninstalled it, gone back to Office 04 and now am unable to read the documents Word up-converted to 08. To say that I'm P.O'd would be a vast understatement.

Entourage '08 is like writing email with blunt scissors and Crayons. Why can't Microsoft (or Apple) come up with an email program even half as good as Outlook? Why does Entourage even exist? In the Microsoft Office suite, having Entourage instead of Outlook is an admission that MS doesn't want anyone to expect similar performance or compatibility (such as only being able to import 426 Outlook contacts out of my 2,600).

Word '08 is an upgrade and I generally find it more pro than '08. On the other hand, Excel '08 is juvenile . . . something you might expect in Works. Powerpoint '08 is incrementally improved, and I'd get used to it if I hadn't uninstalled the suite.

In short, DO NOT "upgrade" to '08, and if you are installing Office for the first time, I'd seriously consider shopping for the 2004 edition. Better yet, put VM or Parallels on your Mac and run the "real" Office from the Windows interface. I hate to slam a Mac product so badly, and I'm not into conspiracy theories, but it certainly seems like there is a concerted effort to keep Mac Office on a MUCH lower tier than it's big brother up in Washington.

376 of 422 people found this useful

Office 2008 for Mac - Home and Student Edition

ABOUT TO UPGRADE DONT DO IT UNLESS YOU WANT MASSIVE HEADACHES

Written by AD from SAN FRANCISCO

Jan 23, 2008

My Entourage was crashing every few weeks because my data base was too large. The MS guys at the Mac World Booth in SF told me this is the upgrade that would fix all that. HA!

You can't believe the number of things wrong with 2008.

#1 It changes docs to a format no one can read unless they have 2008! Wow! this is a light year jump backwards for compatibility - at least with 2004 PC users could read my Word Docs.

#2 It doesn't sync easily with your iPhone, at least 2004 managed to sync with address book

#3 They've removed VBA from Excel 2008 which means that users who depend on features like Solver, histograms, extended statistical analyses are SOL.

Overall MS 2008 has done a great job of making Apple look like a bad operating system.

378 of 444 people found this useful

Office 2008 for Mac - Home and Student Edition

Disappointed (as an upgrade to 2004)

Written by BS from Salt Lake City

Jan 17, 2008

I'm going to write this from a 2008 vs 2004 standpoint.

The good:
1) You can have Office 2008 and Office 2004 installed at the same time.
2) Compatibility with the Office 2007 file formats (.docx and the like).
3) Universal...Though I didn't see any real speed increase.
4) PowerPoint '08 is a true upgrade. This is the only application where the expression bar is useful (easy access to themes, transitions, media, and so on). New templates are always nice.
5) Better default color palettes.

The bad:
1) The UI is almost the same as Office 04, and what they did change isn't helpful.
> The expression bar is basically an in application project gallery.
> In Office 2004 the document was in a separate window from the rest of the UI. Now it's tied to the main toolbar. Close the doc and lose the toolbar (with open, new and other icons on it). You've got to use the menus to open a document to get it back.
> The icons all got a color makeover, but they look harsh on the smooth gray background in Leopard. Microsoft needs to take note of Apples simple icons.

2) As an engineering student I use Excel often. I hate Excel '08.
> Excel '08 seems to run slower than Excel '04.
> The chart wizard has been replaced with the expressions bar, and it doesn't come close. Formatting chart elements (titles, data markers, trendlines, and such) is very unintuitive.
> Gone is the data analysis toolpak. Many of the functions are built in, but ANOVA and others are missing.


Overall, if you own Office 2004 stick with Office 2004. Office 2008 feels like the same product, with some unwanted changes. However, I couldn't survive without Office, so if you don't own Office 2004 get this product. iWork is also a fun set of applications, and is a great value if you don't need some of the advanced features the Office apps offer.

292 of 306 people found this useful

Office 2008 for Mac - Home and Student Edition

Extreme disappointment . . .

Written by CR from WHITEFISH BAY

Jan 23, 2008

Looking forward to the latestest and greatest Office available, I was slapped in the face with the simplistic and essentially worthless version of Excel that is provided. Why allow addins when there are none available? I am hopeful that they intend to rectify this sub standard offering.Quick list of why I am not happy - No recording Macros to make life easier, no Solver feature, No statistical add-ins. Maybe Great for simply balancing a checkbook, with the same tedium as by hand. I want to take it back , but am afraid I cannot. Don't make the mistake of purchasing until the offering becomes worth the price tag. Pretty graphics but worthless.

299 of 322 people found this useful

Office 2008 for Mac - Home and Student Edition

Maths and science tools out - surprising for a "numbers-oriented" tool...

Written by JT from Charlotte

Jan 20, 2008

For those of you who use Excel to do bits of maths, science, stats, the very very useful tools available out there as add-in can not be used anymore in this new 08 version. I can't say how upset I am that I just spent 150 bucks for that. I can't believe they present this version as an upgrade. Sure, it has pretty icons and all that eye candy. But it doesn't have the SOLVER for God's sake! (Well, okay, it's just for my own sake...) Gone, plain and simple. From all these new versions. It has been in Excel ever since I started using it, i.e. more than 10 years ago. So now what? I'm gonna have to re-instal the 2004 version. And try to sell this on eBay. Anyone who uses Excel just to do pie-charts out there..? As a matter of fact, if you just want a pie chart and eye candy interface, you should buy iWork. It's a lot cheaper. That's what I use it for. Excel was just for the solver and the like. Now it's gone, there's really no need for Excel anymore.

262 of 285 people found this useful

Office 2008 for Mac - Home and Student Edition

Let Down

Written by BS from Salt Lake City

Jan 19, 2008

I'm a college student using a Macbook. Screen size is precious on a notebook this size. In Office 2004 I typically used the formatting palette as little as possible. In Office 2008 Microsoft managed to combine the formatting palette and the toolbox into one monstrosity, then added control over more of your document to it. What I'm left with is a palette that chews up a huge chunk of my little screen, and now I need it more than ever. Take Excel for example. Creating a chart was simple using the chart wizard. Now you use the elements bar to create a basic chart, and use the formatting palette to add titles, labels, and such. Half the time I can't see the chart because the formatting palette is so big. Way to go Microsoft! Most Mac users have a Mac laptop...thanks for making a bulky interface that makes this must have tool impossible to use.

234 of 257 people found this useful

Office 2008 for Mac - Home and Student Edition

Excellent, and compatible with the real office world

Written by RB from ANN ARBOR

Aug 4, 2009

This software is terrific, and I am always pleasantly surprised to see the low reviews from Apple fanboys who somehow think this is inferior product.

From a real-world point of view, there is not other software for Mac that is as compatible with the PC windows Office world as this software. IWorks defenders will spend paragraphs tearing apart the interface. PC users will complain about lacking certain business features in Excel.

For 99 percent of the working world, and the entire student/college world, this is the Office Software for your Mac. As a college professor, I always tell my students NOT to get iWork and then face all the conversion problems and incompatibility problems, even with the lastest 09 version.

It just plain old works. I've never experienced these "crashes" that people write of (it almost makes you wonder if the USE the product or just write bad reviews of it) and with the lastest 02 service pack, it runs FASTER than Apples own product.

You won't go wrong by choosing this over iWork. It works. It's the office you have always known, and the interface is fast, zippy, and nicely adopted for the Mac.

219 of 229 people found this useful

Office 2008 for Mac - Home and Student Edition

Just to clear things up

Written by CT from Lavalette

Jun 26, 2009

I must start out by saying that I never write reviews, but when I noticed that everyone was writing that Word crashed all the time I had to say something. I bought Office 2008 in February of 2008. When I first installed it, it crashed all the time. It was so frustrating. I kept sending the reports to Apple. I had to use Office because I was in college at the time and needed Word so my professors could read emailed papers. I would guess it was June of 2008 when Apple released a downloadable update (they make updates frequently, but this was a big one). Since this update, I have not had any Office program crash. Not once. It has been over a year since the last crash. I'm not sure if the people writing the crash reviews haven't gotten the update yet or what, but mine does not crash and I have it on three different Macs and am purchasing another Office set for my fourth Mac. The only downfall I can see with Word and Excel (that's all I use) is that you must ensure you save everything in compatibility mode so that people using Windows can open the file. Other than that, it actually works better than using a Windows operated machine with Office for Windows!!!

198 of 204 people found this useful

Office 2008 for Mac - Home and Student Edition

Don't listen to the bad reports

Written by JE from Westport

Oct 29, 2008

I've been a Windows user for many years (10+) and used MS Office everyday, Word, Excel mostly. The single reason that I never moved to a Mac was because I felt that I would experience a difficult transition from Windows to Mac in terms of my Office experience and ease of use. Like you, I had listened to and heard tons of great things about the Mac, but truthfully, couldn't risk any compatibility issues. Not to mention, I listed to and read the crazy reviews of Office for the Mac and it scared me to death.

Let me put all of your minds at ease. First of all, there are slight differences as any change in software platform will bring, but the slight changes will take you an hour to get a hold of and get used it. It's a GREAT suite of programs. Don't listen to all of the people here complaining about this and that. Again, my entire career was spent on Word and Excel and powerpoint for various on the road presentations at conferences. No worries. All of my documents moved over with no problems (even very old ones). The programs are virtually the same (even better in some regard) and I couldn't have been happier. I just can't understand why so many people complain about it! It makes NO sense to me.

I bought a Macbook Pro (the new machine) and think the world of it. I've told everyone, my days of using a Windows machine are OVER. Do yourself a favor - go to the Apple store, sit down in front of one and use it. It will change your computer experience forever. This machine is incredible and for any slight difference that I need to get used to from the move over to Mac is made up in spades with everything else Mac offers. All of the programs integrate perfectly. No more crashes, no more backup worries, no more incompatibilities, nothing.

I'm a Mac user and will be forever. So long Dell...

190 of 200 people found this useful

Office 2008 for Mac - Home and Student Edition

Wait a minute everybody!

Written by TD from Alexandria

Jul 13, 2008

Everyone that says this isn't compatible with PC word needs to dig a little deeper.

By default, office 2007 for pc, and office 2008 for mac, save all documents as .docx, .DOCX. .Docx is this new format micro$oft made for its more advanced 07/08 features.

However, what everyone uses, since the dawn of time with microsoft office, are .doc, not .docx. SO, when you go into save, you have to make sure to save the document as a .doc if you want to open that in office 2003, 2004, etc. .docs will also open on 07/08. You can make documents automatically save as .doc's instead of docx by going into preferences in word/excel/etc. by the way, there is an equivalent -x type of file for each program in office 2008/2007, so you will have to do it in all the programs.

Also, i find going to view and having the formatting toolbar on the top all the time makes things 50 times better. Plus, getting the zoom in to 125 or 150 percent.

that seems to help microsoft word 2008 a lot.

program is fine, get it. I like 2007 more, but 2008 can be custmozed plenty to your likes.

If you don't like it, use neooffice, a free mac version of openoffice.

160 of 169 people found this useful

Office 2008 for Mac - Home and Student Edition

iWork is Better for Most Users

Written by SA from Orlando

May 24, 2009

Do yourself a favor and try Apple's own iWork before buying this. Not only is iWork much less expensive (especially if you can use the family pack) but it contains several applications that are much better than the Office equivalents. In particular, Pages is an incredible program, which blows the doors off Word and Microsoft Publisher combined. It's great for both word processing and page layout, fully integrates with iPhoto and other Mac apps, and is 100% compatible with Office file formats. Its import and export of Word files works great, even when using complex features such as markup and outlining. Keynote is also a fine presentation app, and Numbers, while less powerful than Excel, is a completely serviceable spreadsheet. They're both also fully compatible with Office file formats, so there's no problem exchanging files with those still stuck using Microsoft Office, on either PCs or Macs. Frankly iWork is so inexpensive it's silly not to try it first, and Pages alone justifies its acquisition.

162 of 180 people found this useful

Office 2008 for Mac - Home and Student Edition

Yikes!

Written by ER from Glencoe

Mar 25, 2008

I just tried the 2008 standard edition on my friends Macbook Pro, 2 Duo, 2.4Ghz, and 4GBs of ram. And I can't believe I'm about to say something so obvious, but I was SHOCKED at how Sllloooowwww this Microsoft software ran. I mean come on! On a 2 Duo Intel with 4Gigs of ram? And every time I tried to simply drag an open word document an inch across the desktop, I got at least 5 seconds of spinning ball before it actually moved. It was as if I were running it on my old Powerbook G3 or something. I don't know, maybe there was a problem with the install, or the files, or something. But if Office 2008 runs that poorly on a fully loaded, top of the line laptop, I'm saving my money and sticking with version 2004.

161 of 186 people found this useful

Office 2008 for Mac - Home and Student Edition

Excel 2008

Written by MG from Manchester

Feb 7, 2008

I have used Excel on Macintosh and PC computers since it first became available. I even taught Excel as part of an Introductory computing course. Unfortunately the latest version, 2008, is the most disappointing version to date. Gone are a number of features including Data Analysis Toolpack which made it such a useful product for students in particular. I have found installing it on the latest Intel iMacs has resulted in a product which is so slow (at least a factor of 2 slower than 2004), with such unacceptable screen update times and bugs as well as prone to crashing , that it is virtually unusable. I shall not be recommending this product to anyone until Microsoft fix the problems and indeed I intend to return it to the vender as soon as I can.

147 of 163 people found this useful

Office 2008 for Mac - Home and Student Edition

O Ye Gentle Haters of Word, Chill

Written by SS from Hillsdale

May 30, 2009

This addresses only MS Word 2008.

I have used this software more or less exclusively for one year, 8 hours a day, on two long book projects. During that time, the program crashed / hopelessly beach balled once. All I did was run Time Machine (which rocks, needless to say), then force quit - I recovered the whole document without issue.

The one issue that is real is that the first time you open MS Word, it can be a bit slow. Not horrendous, but slow for a MBP with 4gb RAM. After the first opening, however, it opens subsequent times almost instantly. I can live with this. I also gained some wisdom from one of the mac forums about disabling (in Preferences) the font thing-a-ma-gig that runs on startup of the program. This helps too.

I'm sure Pages is nice, but MS Word has done everything I wanted it to do, and compatibility has been perfect with the PC world. In short, I'm happy, and I thought I would let you all know after reading some of the other reviews.

126 of 132 people found this useful

Office 2008 for Mac - Home and Student Edition

Thanks Microsoft for ruining my Mac

Written by MM from Berwick

Feb 8, 2008

My Mac ran like a Mac. No bugs, no crashes, no annoying "windows" messages that cannot be understood.

Now, thanks to the installation of this piece of software by Microsoft, I get Safari Keychain error after Safari Keychain error. I thought I was alone until I spoke to a mate in Sydney. He, too, has the same problem.

PLEASE Apple, could you help Microsoft out next time when they decide to write some Windows-style install program???

139 of 158 people found this useful