Apple displays are all 16:10 or 16:9 wide screen with no rotation capability
Word is used almost exclusively for documents in portrait orientation on A4 or US Letter
The ribbon of tools is displayed across the top of the document reducing the amount of vertical screen real estate
For people who write documents this "evolution" from the Portrait display of the 1980's to the 16:9 display of the 2010's has been 3 steps backward and none forward.
The Inspector is hardly perfect either. Many simple tasks are hidden on tabs, numbered headings don't work very well either, especially for professional documents.
Think of it this way: You go to the grocery store to purchase breakfast cereal. You are overwhelmed by the number of choices available (to say nothing of the marketers who intentionally move products around to keep you impulse shopping. You cannot find what you want is a reasonable length of time. You give up, grab something you don't want, and go home irritated because someone has made your busy life more difficult...on purpose.
Personally, this has never happened in my experience. Each and every time, I buy exactly the breakfast cereal I want.
And I'm always glad to have extra choices.
Your comments apply, however, exactly to the App Store. You need to wade through too much crap, and there's no good way to browse for interesting new stuff.
But in general, most folks are not overwhelmed by choice. And lots of people relish choice.
But some folks want others to pick the best breakfast cereal for them to eat, and to give them only one choice, and they think that would be best. Not most folks, tho...
For people who write documents this "evolution" from the Portrait display of the 1980's to the 16:9 display of the 2010's has been 3 steps backward and none forward.
Agreed. Years ago, there were monitors that swiveled into portrait mode for word processing.
For those of you complaining about the screenshots, beta, and think it "crashed" maybe you shouldn't be using the beta... Actually you really shouldn't be. The beta was leaked by a Russian enthusiast site, none of you should even be on it - pretty sure it's illegal.
Hopefully now that Word has been out for 25 years, there can be a "save" function that does not have an erroneous "disk full" message. I understand Microsoft has great difficulty making even simple advances. But even Stephen Hawking coding through a blow tube should be able to correct that decades-old error.
Microsoft can possibly bring the Mac Office up to the Office 97 for Windows functionality. But personally I severely doubt Microsoft will approach Office 97. Instead it will be some gauzy eerie mess called "Mac Office" which no finance department could ever use, because it lacks core Office functionality across many different levels.
MS Office has very impressive features. However most of them are poorly implemented. Some examples.
Texts with footnotes/endnotes in MS Word cannot be cut/copy and past between applications.
Bibliograhy sources in MS Word cannot be exported, sorted or imported.
Cut and pat text from the internet into MS word does not display correctly, freezes screendisplay and slows down editing procceses.
Long documents (over 100 pages) to not longer format properly.
Entourage does not well integrate into MacOS
Compared to earlier versions of MSWord, MSPowerpoint for the Mac the graphic capabilities of these applications have not been improved.
Thirty years ago I was very impressed with MS Word 1.0 for the Mac (tables, graphics, page layout, printing etc.). In 1986 the next major upgrade was a huge disappointment. Everybody switched to Nisus Writer, MacWrite, Appleworks, Wordperfect, u.a.m. However, these companies did not offer powerpoint and a spreadsheet. As conseqence MS improved the office suite. Personally I do not consider iWorks an alternative to MS ffice. Did yo every open a Keynote application in MS Powerpoint? Graphic can no longer be modified, formatting has changed, etc.
I very rarely create any Office documents. I just need to open them when people send them to me. Sometimes I have to edit and save excel spreadsheets but Numbers does that just fine. If I really need Office I have a PC. I do wish there was an equivalent to Access in iWork that could open and save in Access format.
Does anyone know if the new version of Office will be able to offer support for key commands identical to / very similar to those offered on Windows. As a spreadsheet cruncher, the biggest downside to Excel for Mac is that so many of the functions / formatting that can be accomplished via key commands on Windows require using the mouse on a Mac.
support for RTL writing their version for MS 2011 is discriminating a world of hundreds of millions persons their language is written fro Right to Left
Agreed. Years ago, there were monitors that swiveled into portrait mode for word processing.
Do they still make such things?
Some. A friend just bought two dell 19" or 20" that do that. Flipped them up and put them side by side and did a split screen across them Why not just buy one big monitor? That setup is dirt cheap.
I know there are people out there who will never use some of the functions Excel has to offer but for power users Numbers is no substitute for Excel.
iWork (Numbers) can't handle pivot tables on any kind of professional level so if you're a power user of Excel a better Mac version is good news. I was so disappointed when I tried to run a pivot on Numbers. I was hoping it could replace my need for Excel but it's not in the same ballpark, league etc. For those who don't know, a pivot table allows you to take tens of thousands of lines/hundreds of columns of data, in my case, and dig down into it to find all sorts of useful information.
MS Office has very impressive features. However most of them are poorly implemented. Some examples.
Texts with footnotes/endnotes in MS Word cannot be cut/copy and past between applications.
Bibliograhy sources in MS Word cannot be exported, sorted or imported.
Cut and pat text from the internet into MS word does not display correctly, freezes screendisplay and slows down editing procceses.
Long documents (over 100 pages) to not longer format properly.
Entourage does not well integrate into MacOS
Compared to earlier versions of MSWord, MSPowerpoint for the Mac the graphic capabilities of these applications have not been improved.
The biggest one for me that drives me nuts is the way it handles paragraph formatting. You create a paragraph, then click at the beginning of the NEXT paragraph and make a change to the first paragraph. WTF? I sometimes spend minutes just trying to change the formatting of a paragraph without messing up the surrounding paragraphs - and I've been using Word since one of the earliest versions.
I can't stand OO.org. I tried to make some postcards and I got so very frustrated. ...
Yeah, I can never figure out why people think Open Office is anything like a useable product. I've never found anyone who likes it except hard-core open source freaks.
If the "problem" with MS Office is that it's an ancient, bloated, overly-integrated suite of software that's laboured with an old fashioned design and pumped full of extraneous features that no one uses or needs, ...
... how can the "solution" be an open source copy of the ancient, bloated suite that's even *more* integrated, even *more* outdated in it's design, and pumped full of even *more* extraneous features that no one really needs or uses?
Personally, this has never happened in my experience. Each and every time, I buy exactly the breakfast cereal I want.
And I'm always glad to have extra choices.
Your comments apply, however, exactly to the App Store. You need to wade through too much crap, and there's no good way to browse for interesting new stuff.
But in general, most folks are not overwhelmed by choice. And lots of people relish choice.
But some folks want others to pick the best breakfast cereal for them to eat, and to give them only one choice, and they think that would be best. Not most folks, tho...
Actually they've done some experiments showing astonishing results when choice was cut back in consumer environments. However, despite what the experiments revealed about people's behavior, your point that people relish choice still holds.
Comments
Apple displays are all 16:10 or 16:9 wide screen with no rotation capability
Word is used almost exclusively for documents in portrait orientation on A4 or US Letter
The ribbon of tools is displayed across the top of the document reducing the amount of vertical screen real estate
For people who write documents this "evolution" from the Portrait display of the 1980's to the 16:9 display of the 2010's has been 3 steps backward and none forward.
The Inspector is hardly perfect either. Many simple tasks are hidden on tabs, numbered headings don't work very well either, especially for professional documents.
As for copying... seriously?
Yes, seriously!
Think of it this way: You go to the grocery store to purchase breakfast cereal. You are overwhelmed by the number of choices available (to say nothing of the marketers who intentionally move products around to keep you impulse shopping. You cannot find what you want is a reasonable length of time. You give up, grab something you don't want, and go home irritated because someone has made your busy life more difficult...on purpose.
Personally, this has never happened in my experience. Each and every time, I buy exactly the breakfast cereal I want.
And I'm always glad to have extra choices.
Your comments apply, however, exactly to the App Store. You need to wade through too much crap, and there's no good way to browse for interesting new stuff.
But in general, most folks are not overwhelmed by choice. And lots of people relish choice.
But some folks want others to pick the best breakfast cereal for them to eat, and to give them only one choice, and they think that would be best. Not most folks, tho...
For people who write documents this "evolution" from the Portrait display of the 1980's to the 16:9 display of the 2010's has been 3 steps backward and none forward.
Agreed. Years ago, there were monitors that swiveled into portrait mode for word processing.
Do they still make such things?
Microsoft can possibly bring the Mac Office up to the Office 97 for Windows functionality. But personally I severely doubt Microsoft will approach Office 97. Instead it will be some gauzy eerie mess called "Mac Office" which no finance department could ever use, because it lacks core Office functionality across many different levels.
Texts with footnotes/endnotes in MS Word cannot be cut/copy and past between applications.
Bibliograhy sources in MS Word cannot be exported, sorted or imported.
Cut and pat text from the internet into MS word does not display correctly, freezes screendisplay and slows down editing procceses.
Long documents (over 100 pages) to not longer format properly.
Entourage does not well integrate into MacOS
Compared to earlier versions of MSWord, MSPowerpoint for the Mac the graphic capabilities of these applications have not been improved.
Thirty years ago I was very impressed with MS Word 1.0 for the Mac (tables, graphics, page layout, printing etc.). In 1986 the next major upgrade was a huge disappointment. Everybody switched to Nisus Writer, MacWrite, Appleworks, Wordperfect, u.a.m. However, these companies did not offer powerpoint and a spreadsheet. As conseqence MS improved the office suite. Personally I do not consider iWorks an alternative to MS ffice. Did yo every open a Keynote application in MS Powerpoint? Graphic can no longer be modified, formatting has changed, etc.
Relax, I'm pretty sure that was a joke...
I don't think the original poster was either joking or serious; he was just crying out for attention.
Agreed. Years ago, there were monitors that swiveled into portrait mode for word processing.
Do they still make such things?
Some. A friend just bought two dell 19" or 20" that do that. Flipped them up and put them side by side and did a split screen across them Why not just buy one big monitor? That setup is dirt cheap.
To distracting for my taste.
1. For it to load as fast or faster than iWork does.
2. My vertical space back.
That is all.
iWork (Numbers) can't handle pivot tables on any kind of professional level so if you're a power user of Excel a better Mac version is good news. I was so disappointed when I tried to run a pivot on Numbers. I was hoping it could replace my need for Excel but it's not in the same ballpark, league etc. For those who don't know, a pivot table allows you to take tens of thousands of lines/hundreds of columns of data, in my case, and dig down into it to find all sorts of useful information.
MS Office has very impressive features. However most of them are poorly implemented. Some examples.
Texts with footnotes/endnotes in MS Word cannot be cut/copy and past between applications.
Bibliograhy sources in MS Word cannot be exported, sorted or imported.
Cut and pat text from the internet into MS word does not display correctly, freezes screendisplay and slows down editing procceses.
Long documents (over 100 pages) to not longer format properly.
Entourage does not well integrate into MacOS
Compared to earlier versions of MSWord, MSPowerpoint for the Mac the graphic capabilities of these applications have not been improved.
The biggest one for me that drives me nuts is the way it handles paragraph formatting. You create a paragraph, then click at the beginning of the NEXT paragraph and make a change to the first paragraph. WTF? I sometimes spend minutes just trying to change the formatting of a paragraph without messing up the surrounding paragraphs - and I've been using Word since one of the earliest versions.
I can't stand OO.org. I tried to make some postcards and I got so very frustrated. ...
Yeah, I can never figure out why people think Open Office is anything like a useable product. I've never found anyone who likes it except hard-core open source freaks.
If the "problem" with MS Office is that it's an ancient, bloated, overly-integrated suite of software that's laboured with an old fashioned design and pumped full of extraneous features that no one uses or needs, ...
... how can the "solution" be an open source copy of the ancient, bloated suite that's even *more* integrated, even *more* outdated in it's design, and pumped full of even *more* extraneous features that no one really needs or uses?
Personally, this has never happened in my experience. Each and every time, I buy exactly the breakfast cereal I want.
And I'm always glad to have extra choices.
Your comments apply, however, exactly to the App Store. You need to wade through too much crap, and there's no good way to browse for interesting new stuff.
But in general, most folks are not overwhelmed by choice. And lots of people relish choice.
But some folks want others to pick the best breakfast cereal for them to eat, and to give them only one choice, and they think that would be best. Not most folks, tho...
Actually they've done some experiments showing astonishing results when choice was cut back in consumer environments. However, despite what the experiments revealed about people's behavior, your point that people relish choice still holds.