I think MS could've picked a better speaker than Ros (ugh!), but so far looks like a pretty cool upgrade. I just hope the performance is the main improved feature.
Thank goodness this has finally been demoed...my QuickTime stream is choppy, but what I can gather this doesn't sound like an earth-shattering upgrade--I will use the note-taking ability, as i use Stickies for that now, but mainly I'm just glad to see that the MS Business Office has been working on something.
I just hope that searching within Entourage works faster--and I'd *really* love the app to stop using a giant, single database, but I'm not holding my breath.
Stage presence is not a strong suit at tech companies, period...so I doubt there's anyone better who could have shown up for the keynote.
Well, I grant you that but I have seen speakers from Adobe and MS before who were not just a little better than Ros but *clearly* a LOT better. Even if they were just tech geeks. An obvious example is the guy who did the actual demo (a programmer apparently)... he was *much* better on stage than she was. Spoke more clearly, showed a natural enthusiasm for the subject-matter, etc.
Not saying he's the next great speaker on the corporate circuit but he was good for a tech guy. Ros was terrible.
Doesn't matter who was up there--it was a remarkably content free demo of a new product. It would have been more interesting if MS had copped to Unicode support and real support for languages like hebrew and arabic. That would be much more interesting (AND USEFUL) than getting a window to display lines like binder paper or for the formatting palette to go translucent.
Office is a moribund piece of crap, but you can't sell new licenses for a piece of crap by fixing longstanding bugs or adding support for basic things (like long file names and Unicode).
And there;s not much more on the Microsoft website. They've added an Office 2004 "preview" which amounts to a brief description of the same points that were presented on stage. Check it out here. Still no mention of new PowerPoint features...
Even stranger is how, according to MacMinute VPC 7, which WILL work with G5s will be available first as part of Office. You'd think this could be mentioned elsewhere.
Gah, according to that page if you buy Office v.X before June 30th, you get a free upgrade to 2004. That tells me Office 2004 isn't anywhere near finished.
I can't wait until OpenOffice/Quartz comes out in 2006. For the moment, I'll stick with Mariner Write and Calc.
So in spite of everyone's complaining, maybe we were just shown everything that was finished. Heck, maybe the two we saw on stage are the only people left in the MBU
"according to that page if you buy Office v.X before June 30th, you get a free upgrade to 2004. That tells me Office 2004 isn't anywhere near finished."
They mentioned April specifically in the Keynote--did anyone else hear that?
It looks like a skippable upgrade to me. I went from Word 5.1 to Office 98 (I bought Word 6, but never used it, it was so damn slow on my Centris). And I went from Office98 to Office X, skipping 2001, when I completed my OS X transition.
I'm hoping with the next big Java update that ThinkFree will release their long-overdue Office update. Or perhaps they're rebuilding it to not be dependant upon Java at all, which would be great. Maybe they were waiting for MS to show their cards, which might also explain why MS didn't. They know people are ready to pounce, including Apple possibly.
The MS "feel good" talk was so apologetic almost. It was like "And thank you for making this great OS so we can do what we lo... uh, we suck. Thank you."
"according to that page if you buy Office v.X before June 30th, you get a free upgrade to 2004. That tells me Office 2004 isn't anywhere near finished."
They mentioned April specifically in the Keynote--did anyone else hear that?
Macworld says, "Customers who purchase Office v. X from January 6, 2004 until 30 days after the release of Office 2004 will be eligible for a free upgrade -- you will be required to pay for the shipping and handling."
Comments
oh look... built in excel print preview imitating PDF (admittedly editable)
still a closed format...
notice they didn't show powerpoint vs keynote
Roz sounds like she's been drinking cough syrup with Ellen Feiss.
I just hope that searching within Entourage works faster--and I'd *really* love the app to stop using a giant, single database, but I'm not holding my breath.
Originally posted by curiousuburb
Roz sounds like she's been drinking cough syrup with Ellen Feiss.
Stage presence is definitely not her strong suit. Apple probably requested her by name to contrast with Steve.
Originally posted by mrmister
Stage presence is not a strong suit at tech companies, period...so I doubt there's anyone better who could have shown up for the keynote.
Well, I grant you that but I have seen speakers from Adobe and MS before who were not just a little better than Ros but *clearly* a LOT better. Even if they were just tech geeks. An obvious example is the guy who did the actual demo (a programmer apparently)... he was *much* better on stage than she was. Spoke more clearly, showed a natural enthusiasm for the subject-matter, etc.
Not saying he's the next great speaker on the corporate circuit but he was good for a tech guy. Ros was terrible.
Office is a moribund piece of crap, but you can't sell new licenses for a piece of crap by fixing longstanding bugs or adding support for basic things (like long file names and Unicode).
Even stranger is how, according to MacMinute VPC 7, which WILL work with G5s will be available first as part of Office. You'd think this could be mentioned elsewhere.
I can't wait until OpenOffice/Quartz comes out in 2006. For the moment, I'll stick with Mariner Write and Calc.
Barto
They mentioned April specifically in the Keynote--did anyone else hear that?
So here's wondering what Office '07 will bring.
The MS "feel good" talk was so apologetic almost. It was like "And thank you for making this great OS so we can do what we lo... uh, we suck. Thank you."
Damned if i'd buy full price!
Originally posted by MiMac
Anyone know if there will be a Student and teachers edition?
Damned if i'd buy full price!
Pretty sure; at one point a slide was shwon quickly with 3 different boxes for office that look like updated versions of the present 3 boxes.
Originally posted by mrmister
"according to that page if you buy Office v.X before June 30th, you get a free upgrade to 2004. That tells me Office 2004 isn't anywhere near finished."
They mentioned April specifically in the Keynote--did anyone else hear that?
Macworld says, "Customers who purchase Office v. X from January 6, 2004 until 30 days after the release of Office 2004 will be eligible for a free upgrade -- you will be required to pay for the shipping and handling."