Microsoft Office for the Mac?

TangoWhiskey

TangoWhiskey

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I just saw a TV ad from Microsoft touting their release of Office 2008 for the Mac.... ??? why?
 
Microsoft hasn't updated Office for the Mac in a while and vaguely threatened to not support it. (Oh, no!)

Now that there is a real threat that people will go through life without locking their data in a Microsoft format Microsoft HAS to bring out a version for the Mac. They also worked feverishly to arrange that Office doc format became international standards - without giving up MS's IP rights on it.

The Mac developers at MS are completely separate. The embarrassment was that Office/Mac actually had a few more features and worked better than Office on Windows. The files created weren't entirely transparently usable between the two.

The word is that when Microsoft bailed out Apple with the $50 million investment Apple had to promise to not do an Office suite. That deal has to be off since Apple brought out Pages, Keynote, and Numbers.
 
Mac actually started its own office suite years ago. It was a little utility you got with your new Mac. Worked fine too.
 
rpadula said:
LOL, not anymore. Mac '08 Excel doesn't have VBA or macros. How useless is that?
Click to expand...

Interesting.

Of course, the one Excel spreadsheet where I tried to use Macros annoys me because I get that damn warning every time I open it up... So I quit using the macros anyway.

mikea said:
Microsoft hasn't updated Office for the Mac in a while and vaguely threatened to not support it. (Oh, no!)
Click to expand...

They did? That would be dumb. They make a lot of money on the Mac...

It has been a little while, but it seems like Office on either side gets updated about every 3 years. This time, Mac office went from 04 to 08, so not too much longer than normal.

I'm still using Mac Office 2001, and it works fine for anything I really need M$ for. I won't be buying any updates - I've got iWork and that is soooooooooo much better.

Now that there is a real threat that people will go through life without locking their data in a Microsoft format Microsoft HAS to bring out a version for the Mac.
Click to expand...

They've always had a version for the Mac. Word and Excel came out on the Mac long before Windows was even a gleam in Bill Gates' eye. First version of Word I used on the Mac was Word 3.0 in 1986 IIRC. Word 5.1 is the best it ever got, and it's been downhill ever since. (Can you say "Bloatware?")

The Mac developers at MS are completely separate. The embarrassment was that Office/Mac actually had a few more features and worked better than Office on Windows.
Click to expand...

SHHHHHHHHHH!!!! They'll hear you!

The files created weren't entirely transparently usable between the two.
Click to expand...

Really? I never had a problem.

The word is that when Microsoft bailed out Apple with the $50 million investment Apple had to promise to not do an Office suite. That deal has to be off since Apple brought out Pages, Keynote, and Numbers.
Click to expand...

Apple seems to have a way of getting out of those things anyway. Plus, it's been a LONG time since that $150 million non-voting stock purchase.

M$ could really take a lesson from Apple here. I have never spent my hard-earned money on a copy of M$ Office. (Arrrr!) It's $400 fer chrissakes, and I don't use it much. (Yeah, software guys, I suck - I know.) But Apple charges $79 for iWork so as soon as iWork '08 came out with Numbers (a spreadsheet that kicks the living crap out of Excel), I went out and bought it without a second thought.

I wonder if M$ would have made more $ over the years charging a more reasonable price?
 
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