Microsoft axes Virtual PC for Mac, Office still planned
Its being reported that MS is stopping support of VB on the Mac. Stopping support of VB, espeically in Excel, will kill cross-compatability for serious users - again, especially in Excel. This may be the beginning of the end for MS Office between Mac and PC. Anyone know what the scripting/macros are like in open office?
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It being reported that MS is stopping support of VB on the Mac Stopping support of VB, espeically in Excel, will kill cross-compatability for serious users - again, especially in Excel. This may be the beginning of the end for MS Office between Mac and PC. Anyone know what the scripting/macros are like in open office?
I guess Monkey boy didn't like the jokes about 'Leopard being Vista 2.0' and "Redmond start your copiers'. Oh well, I hope that numbers thing makes it to market. I might need it.
In a statement obtained by MacNN, the Redmond, Wash.-based software developer said it has made great strides in gradually transitioning its software applications to Apple's new Intel-based platform, but has also made several product roadmap decisions along the way.
As a first order of business, Microsoft said it has decided not to move forward with a Universal version of Virtual PC at this time. However, it will continue to provide support to existing Virtual PC customers.
Microsoft's decision to indefinitely retire Virtual PC comes just as other software developers have announced their own solutions for running Windows on a Mac.
Apple introduced its Boot Camp dual-boot software in April. Parallels followed with its self-titled virtualization software in June. And just today, VMware said it also plans to offer a beta of its own virtualization software later this year.
"Developing a high-quality virtualization solution, such as Virtual PC, for the Intel-based Mac is similar to creating a version 1.0 release due to how closely the product integrates with Mac hardware," Microsoft said. "[Microsoft] still recognizes that customers continue to need access to Windows applications from their Intel-based Macs, and feels confident that alternative solutions offered by Apple and other vendors, combined with a fully packaged retail copy of Windows, will satisfy this need."
Similarly, Microsoft said it will be discontinuing support of Visual Basic scripting in the next version of Office for Mac, but is working hard to increase support for standard Mac scripting methods such as AppleScript and Automator.
"As always, cross-platform compatibility remains a top priority. As we develop the next version of Office for Mac, the files will continue to be compatible across platforms, including 2007 Microsoft Office system for Windows," the company said. "Although VB macros within files will not be accessible and cannot be viewed or modified, the files themselves can be edited without affecting or changing the macros."
On the other hand, Microsoft said it has updated "tens of millions of lines of code" in its quest to deliver a Universal version of Office. However, it did not provide a timeframe for release. What the company did say, is that it would provide free converters to allow users of current versions of Office for Mac to read the new Microsoft Office Open XML formats following the availability of Office 2007 for Windows next year.
Sometime later this year, Microsoft said it will release its first Universal application, Messenger for Mac 6.0. The new version of the instant messaging software will add such features as "federation for Messenger," customized emoticons and spell check.
Microsoft also plans to release a free Universal update to Remote Desktop Connection software, which allows Mac users to access Windows-based computers on their network. However, the company said it will not offer customers support in using the software. Details of Remote Desktop Connection are due at a later date.
[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]
If Microsoft Office 2007 uses Visual Basic for scripting, and Microsoft Office 2008 (which I guess will be the Mac version) uses Automator and AppleScript for scripting, then exactly how can script-reliant files be at all cross-compatible?
These people are evil. They are still developing Office for Mac, but they are killing off a feature that allows many people to use Macs in a corporate environment.
You don't need it any more. Microsoft can go to hell and scrap all their crappy Mac products if they want. It's not like they put the development effort in to make them worth anything. You're better just running virtualization software and the Windows version or better yet find a way to phase out using their stuff altogether.
A nice thought not really possible in the real world. I will get Office documents - from buisness partners, acdemic journals (I just had trouble submitting as artical to PhysMedBio because it was a Mac Word document. I had to re-save in Word '97 format or some such) If I have to pay for Windows XP(Vista) and Parallels and then spend a good part of my time in that environment it defeats the 'ease of use' purpose of the Mac. This is not a minor issue, unfortunately. I agree with your sentiment but.....
Virtualisation is not an answer completely because while they are at it they may as well just run it on their non-apple branded computer on their copy of windows. It's all extra cost otherwise and it makes macs look awfully unattractive in some fields.
You'd be surprised just how widely VBA is used. It is very good for automation and presentation. I could design models and put a UI on it so even people with no idea could get the results they needed out from data.
University science labs will be particularly effected. Macs are very well accepted in biological sciences and now all of them that use VBA, which will be a lot, won't have it available for their next round of purchases. So will they purchase macs again and add the cost of virtualisation and windows or will they just consider some more windows PCs and phase out the Macs?
My local dressage club uses it extensively for competitions to manage the data as the process is the same for each competition. For their next purchase they were going to switch to macs, it is very unlikely they now will. They could switch over to macs and recode everything in Applescript but before they could have just used the same file on either platform.
Gone are the days when I could use OS X for the vast majority of my work and only boot windows for the rare specialised app that I use. Now windows would be a daily load for me as another word processor for the Mac OS would be even more cost and I need to guarantee 100% file compatibility. Suddenly the mac is considerably less attractive than it was 24 hours ago and I'm certain I not alone. This just makes Macs an even tougher sell now.
Mac Office allows for REALbasic programming though.
But don't the macro's, even just the recorded macro's, use VB?? If so, this would be the majority of the scripts that would need to be cross-platform operational and so would go away. Isn't that correct?
Don't underestimate how this might stifle corporate acceptance, and even academic acceptance as has been pointed out. Unless someone (apple) would create a cross-platform real competitor to (unlikely for a long time, if at all) this will make choosing Macs significantly more difficult and a large number of situations.
Flame me if you will, but have you ever noticed that something that you make in Word for mac doesn't always look the same in Word for windows? And don't even get me started on Excel.
For me I simply won't upgrade to the next version. That's assuming the new file formats don't remove compatibility in the current versions too.
Flame me if you will, but have you ever noticed that something that you make in Word for mac doesn't always look the same in Word for windows? And don't even get me started on Excel.
I've noticed this going between 2 of my own computers so I'm not entirely certain it is a cross platform thing I think it often falls to differing settings on two different computers. Then again I have certainly heard enough horror stories but I've always found Powerpoint is the one with the most cross platform issues.
I've noticed this going between 2 of my own computers so I'm not entirely certain it is a cross platform thing I think it often falls to differing settings on two different computers. Then again I have certainly heard enough horror stories but I've always found Powerpoint is the one with the most cross platform issues.
OMG YES! I had a group presentation that was done on a windoze box, and when we opened it up on my mac the font had all sorts of funky characters and it just looked really bad.
By that time, iWork should be up to snuff with office or better.
Does this mean that you have to run MS Office XP through bootcamp/paralels for it to be 100% compatible? I'm buying a Macbook Pro in 1 month, which will be my first Mac and I need all Word, Powerpoint and Excel documents to sync correctly with windows users. What are my options?
Office 2004 is usable, functional, and compatible. And Excel 2004 has VBA. Don't worry. MS office is better than Office 2003 for PCs.
Things are in the crapper at MS.