Quick-and-dirty snapshots of Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac

[AppleInsider]

Microsoft Corp.’s Macintosh Business Unit this week revealed at Macworld Expo 2007 a new version of Office for Mac that remains under development.

The Mac BU said it intends to deliver the Universal software suite for PowerPC- and Intel-based Macs -- Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac -- in the second half of 2007.

As part of its exhibit at the Macworld conference, the Redmond, Wash-based software giant has been offering quick previews of Word, one of the suite's components.

Some snapshots of the software's new user interface follow:

Please Note: Microsoft is not previewing Office 2008 or Word on terminals accessible by attendees and is instead offering brief presentations via a projector screen. Therefore image quality is poor.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[trevorlsciact]

looks decent, and seems like allot of the inspiration comes from iwork, meh.

[bobsmells]

Jeez, even on a Mac, Word still looks soooo booooooooring.

[foreign_correspondent]

In my opinion, the only way to actually improve MS Office/Word is to remove features, not rearrange the ones that are already there. Sometimes (many times), less is more.

[rob05au]

Looks quite interesting and looks a bit more mac like in some ways.

[tbo]

Poor guys over there in Redmond,
they seem to have completely worked in vain. This looks even more mac-unlike than the first beta of OpenOffice running with X11. What a horrible interface! Bloated. This looks like everything MS has not understood when writing software: they throw everything in yout face. What good is it to have a constant look at 25 different layout options when you chose one already? Same goes for formatting. This cries for illegibility. Wild formatting without a clue. Office ladies will sigh at the options blocking them from writing, writers will search for options in a mess of icons.
What a piece of crap. Money don't buy brains, Miss Ho.

[Chucker]

Originally Posted by tbo

Poor guys over there in Redmond

Wrong.

Silicon Valley.

Try again!

[Steiner]

It seems that Microsoft is the largest user of the "Command C" option, they seem to copy everything.

To me it looks like they have just taken pages and created an inferior merger with word. There are a lot of design elements that are stolen from OSX. Same with Vista but that is old news.

Still I will get it since it fits in with OSX and hopefully it will be scriptable using apple script if it is compiled with X Code for real....

Let s wait and see.


By the way

The day Mircosoft makes a product that doesn't suck will be the day they start making vacuum cleaners.

Steiner

[ai51240]

I think the UI would like a lot better is they used a unified toolbar instead of the old pinstripes...

But I guess that would make it look like Pages.

[aegisdesign]

Hmmm, Pages' uglier, fatter sister.

Who are MacBU aiming this at?

It's going to be totally different to the old Mac Word, alienating their old customers and it's also totally different to any version of Word on Windows, alienating people who use both systems.

MacBU, if you're listening, you're one ace-in-the-hole was compatibility with Windows. You're going out of your way to screw it up.

Roll on Pages v3.

[office2008]

Well, it seems that the formatting palette disapeared. Is it false or did the MBu replace it with an page_like_non_user_friendly inspector ?

[mydo]

You know what I would like in a word processor ...

One that is more of a document database and management tool. Something that could make up for the deficiencies in windows and provide more version control and user level permissions. Much better integration of word excel and pp.

[Hattig]

Yeah, I'd like my Office suite to maintain a versioned document database for me, indeed it could even hide the file management from me, much in the same way that iTunes hides file management. Categorise documents (heirarchically), find documents by metadata (c.f., view by artist, view by album in iTunes), and so on. I have a Mac OS X text editor application that does this, albeit for text files only and in a limited manner, so it isn't that difficult. I think that such a system would be useful for many people.

You may wish to restrict document access (no-access, read-only, read-write, ...) to yourself, any user on the system, any user on a network, etc. I know that Microsoft will have server software that does this, but it doesn't scale down to small businesses and individuals.

Maybe Apple could put it into a future iWork ...

[josa92]

isn't Karen Walker from Will & Grace?

[Cubert]

Originally Posted by Steiner

It seems that Microsoft is the largest user of the "Command C" option, they seem to copy everything.

To me it looks like they have just taken pages and created an inferior merger with word. There are a lot of design elements that are stolen from OSX. Same with Vista but that is old news.

Still I will get it since it fits in with OSX and hopefully it will be scriptable using apple script if it is compiled with X Code for real....

Let s wait and see.


By the way

The day Mircosoft makes a product that doesn't suck will be the day they start making vacuum cleaners.

Steiner

I agree 100%. Look at the templates they demo! They are stolen right from Pages - even the Latin placeholding text!!! They even use the same phrase, "Lorem Ipsum Dolor", as Apple does in Pages!

Incredible gall.

[Galley]

Originally Posted by josa92

isn't Karen Walker from Will & Grace?

Yes, she is!

[BigMcLargehuge]

Cluttered, ugly interface. Myriad of tools that the vast majorty of Word users aren't going to use. A word processor shouldn't be a page layout tool. I wish they'd scale back a version that didn't offer to do 2000 things in a moderately crappy manner, and instead offer one that did 500 Word Processor things relatively well.

[Yose]

Originally Posted by Cubert

I agree 100%. Look at the templates they demo! They are stolen right from Pages - even the Latin placeholding text!!! They even use the same phrase, "Lorem Ipsum Dolor", as Apple does in Pages!

Incredible gall.

Well, to be fair, Lorem Ipsum is pretty much a standard for placeholder text.

[donebylee]

Originally Posted by Cubert

I agree 100%. Look at the templates they demo! They are stolen right from Pages - even the Latin placeholding text!!! They even use the same phrase, "Lorem Ipsum Dolor", as Apple does in Pages!

Incredible gall.

Umm, you do know that "Lorem ipso dolor" is placeholder text that has been used by almost every desktop publishing program. Pages didn't invent it, and neither did PageMaker, Quark or InDesign.

Still MS has not shown me why I should spend 10 x $$$ on Office, when iWork 07 (please, please, please have a spreadsheet app in it) will work just fine for me.

[zanshin]

Ya mean to tell me there are still people out there using WordArt?

I thought the U.N. banned it in 1996 when scientists found irrefutable links to workplace insanity, and ruled companies could flog and fire employees for it's use in documents or presentations.

[Mr. Me]

Originally Posted by zanshin

Ya mean to tell me there are still people out there using WordArt?

I thought the U.N. banned it in 1996 when scientists found irrefutable links to workplace insanity, and ruled companies could flog and fire employees for it's use in documents or presentations.

Yes, it was. Word Art users should be tried for crimes against humanity and turned over to the Iraqi government for execution.

[Outsider]

Originally Posted by Chucker

Wrong.

Silicon Valley.

Try again!

You don't give him the answer and THEN say try again!

[fuyutsuki]

The MacBU is jointly sited in Mountain View (in the valley) and Redmond (at the Death Star) so that argument's a tie. Apparently like Google, they consider it a good thing to keep their teams all over the place. I suspect shirking from managers has a role in this in reality!

Anyway, I actually feel for the Mac devs at MS. Their apps used to be pretty good, and still are of course the lingua franca for file exchange. But developing in Carbon must suck and they really must reconsider that after this version. Cocoa in Xcode is where its at and where it's all going to be. Considering the farce surrounding their dumping visual basic in Mac Office (which really screws a bunch of people as talked about in comments here) and the recent antics going on with the .docx etc. converter for Office 2007 files, you'd think they realise that their long term struggle is only ever going to get worse if they keep going where they have been.

Office 2007 is an advance on the Windows side, but what I'm seeing of Word 2008 at least does not give me much hope. I do want to give the MacBU the benefit of the doubt though, because having tried Pages with some real life work, my faith in iWork is far from complete. Apple's typical secrecy around its development really doesn't help. And for all you may or may not think about MS's style of UI and so forth, their apps are going to be used professionally in a way that Apple's iWork is not for a few years to come.

Nice ideas about a file database / iTunes inspired office app by the way. A code shop out there could be well advised to take that maxim and create their own up to date, robust, and responsively developed productivity app. I know a few prospective buyers including myself. For such an old genre, there's a world still left for improvement!

[icfireball]

AHHHHHHHH!

The pin stripping is HORID. Get with it Microsoft!

[ouragan]

Can't wait to use Word 2008.

I got used to Word on a Mac 20 years ago when I was writing my thesis with Word 5.1a.

I enjoy the general look, familiarity and usability of Word, still present 20 years later. In fact, I enjoy writing with Word so much that I can't get the same pleasure with OpenOffice, although it's free.

There is a place for software that you have to pay for, especially if the price is reasonable. In that regard, I appreciate the teacher/student edition, and special offers where you can bundle Microsoft Office products with the purchase of a new Mac.

As a comparison, Microsoft Word alone was costing $600 in 1989. It was really too expensive then, but revised prices and special offers make it much more affordable nowadays.

Thanks Microsoft for the good work and reasonable prices.

[gregmightdothat]

Originally Posted by ouragan

Can't wait to use Word 2008.

I got used to Word on a Mac 20 years ago when I was writing my thesis with Word 5.1a.

I enjoy the general look, familiarity and usability of Word, still present 20 years later. In fact, I enjoy writing with Word so much that I can't get the same pleasure with OpenOffice, although it's free.

There is a place for software that you have to pay for, especially if the price is reasonable. In that regard, I appreciate the teacher/student edition, and special offers where you can bundle Microsoft Office products with the purchase of a new Mac.

As a comparison, Microsoft Word alone was costing $600 in 1989. It was really too expensive then, but revised prices and special offers make it much more affordable nowadays.

Thanks Microsoft for the good work and reasonable prices.

[kim kap sol]

Originally Posted by ouragan

Can't wait to use Word 2008.

I got used to Word on a Mac 20 years ago when I was writing my thesis with Word 5.1a.

I enjoy the general look, familiarity and usability of Word, still present 20 years later. In fact, I enjoy writing with Word so much that I can't get the same pleasure with OpenOffice, although it's free.

There is a place for software that you have to pay for, especially if the price is reasonable. In that regard, I appreciate the teacher/student edition, and special offers where you can bundle Microsoft Office products with the purchase of a new Mac.

As a comparison, Microsoft Word alone was costing $600 in 1989. It was really too expensive then, but revised prices and special offers make it much more affordable nowadays.

Thanks Microsoft for the good work and reasonable prices.

Really? Or is it "Merci, Uncle Bill...merci!". "Heille mon ami, t'aimes ça les pétates?"

[ouragan]

I thought Microsoft deserved a little praise for their excellent software, if only to counter the general negativity I read in previous posts.

Not everything Microsoft does is evil. And not everything Apple does deserves praise for either quality or fair pricing.

I guess that I don't fall for the Reality Distortion Field. I'm inclined to believe that 95% of people can't be wrong. They just put their money where they see value.

[ChrisDaMacMan]

Originally Posted by icfireball

AHHHHHHHH!

The pin stripping is HORID. Get with it Microsoft!

There is no pin stripping you moron!!! Its because the picture was taken with a camera of the screen so the camera is picking up on the lines of the pixels.

Idiots stop trying to pick up on every little thing just so you have a fucking piss and moan, JEEZ!!!!!

[kim kap sol]

Originally Posted by ouragan

II guess that I don't fall for the Reality Distortion Field. I'm inclined to believe that 95% of people can't be wrong.

Insults like that won't get you anywhere here.

[AgNuke1707]

To be fair to ouragan, I thought Office v.X and Office 2004 were both pretty decent products, although Office 2004 did start to piss me off with the little compatibility check thing and their desire for numerous alerts and palettes. Plus, if I create something in Pages, can I open it on a PC with Word, because I didn't think pages let you save as a .doc.

Of course, after looking at Office 2008, I was utterly terrified by the interface.

[icfireball]

Originally Posted by ChrisDaMacMan

There is no pin stripping you moron!!! Its because the picture was taken with a camera of the screen so the camera is picking up on the lines of the pixels.

Idiots stop trying to pick up on every little thing just so you have a fucking piss and moan, JEEZ!!!!!

You idiot. That is clearly pin stripping. Look at the desktop! Not pinstriped.

[rebel_without_a_pc]

Through Office 2008, Microsoft continues to willfully interact with (and therby invest in) the Mac community though its well-thought-out and meaningful, however limited, contributions in software and services.
...
How would you describe it?

[Mystic]

I have never under stood why Microsoft tries to make a "page layout" program out of a "word processor" They are two different things.

[Ireland]

Quick-and-dirty

[Aquatic]

Yeah. Office 2004 was decent, if somewhat limited. Office hasn't really improved much since 97. In fact Word 5.1 had a great interface. It just worked. This new version looks truly awful. And again, I'm a fan of Mac Office in general. I think it's probably intentional, and marching orders from above the MacBU. This is probably the last version of Mac Office anyway. It already lacks VBA. By the time this new Office comes out, NeoOffice + iWork will be enough to compensate. NeoOffice/OpenOffice is really coming along.

[Outsider]

Originally Posted by AgNuke1707

Plus, if I create something in Pages, can I open it on a PC with Word, because I didn't think pages let you save as a .doc.

Pages does let you save in doc format. However, if it is an moderately complex document, it will not look as intended. I simply styled document will convert fine though.

[Outsider]

http://arstechnica.com/journals/appl...ise-deployment

Looks like MS is getting with the program and using Apple's Installer. This is great news for ARD sers such as myself. Yay!

[RichardH]

Originally Posted by Aquatic

Yeah. Office 2004 was decent, if somewhat limited. Office hasn't really improved much since 97. In fact Word 5.1 had a great interface. It just worked. This new version looks truly awful. And again, I'm a fan of Mac Office in general. I think it's probably intentional, and marching orders from above the MacBU. This is probably the last version of Mac Office anyway. It already lacks VBA. By the time this new Office comes out, NeoOffice + iWork will be enough to compensate. NeoOffice/OpenOffice is really coming along.

Well it's Office... What exactly did you expect it to do? The point of Office isn't being best of breed, innovative, or to do anything special actually except remain 100% compatible with Office.

The only reason I ever use the mess is because nearly everyone I have to work with dumps Word and Excel files on me and I really have neither the time nor patience to play with NeoOffice in the hopes it will mostly work. Pages is very nice, I use it personally all the time, but once again the whole point of Office is... it's Office. that's about it. How much Micro$oft charges for this whole mess, I personally don't really care, every corporation I've ever worked with has a site license and throws copies of it at anybody who walks through their doors and has to work with them.

Personally I'm expecting very little so I doubt I'll be dissapointed. The only thing I'd really like for it to be is a universal binary, it's a little stupid when an old PowerBook G4 still launches the whole mess faster than a MBP C2D 2.40GHz.

Give me a UB of this mess and update it once in a while to remain compatible and that's about all I expect. I don't really expect to ever see another Office for the Mac after this one, hopefully it won't be necessary, Pages is coming along quite nicely. Of course I spend most of my day living in CS3, which is where I make my living and if I needed Excel to work right, I'd probably be running Excel under Parallels.

[aiolos]

Originally Posted by Ireland

Yeah, Quick and Dirty? I didn't get it either....