What's the word on Office X?

mac+mac+
Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
Very interested in changing from Appleworks to Office X. Any feedback on the M$ product would be appreciated.



(Will miss the database on Appleworks though, as I have an extensive thesis bibliography and CD inventory catalogued in this program. Don't quite want to spring for Filemaker as it costs way too much for the little that I require it for. Any suggestions?)



Thanks.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 45
    neomacneomac Posts: 145member
    I just came back from an Apple Retail Store, where I specifically went to check out Office X.



    It is definitely an excellent version of Office. By adopting the Aqua features, the UI has been dramatically improved and it looks just plain amazing to boot. I liked it.



    I'm buying Office X for sure.
  • Reply 2 of 45
    colonel paniccolonel panic Posts: 15member
    I like it a lot. Word can be a bit sluggish, and scrolling in millions can be slow on older macs (like everything else in OS X) but overall it's a very solid package.
  • Reply 3 of 45
    geefour(tm)geefour(tm) Posts: 9member
    I have to admit that it does look nice (ok, ok, one of my good friends is on the team, heh). I will still not use it though =D
  • Reply 4 of 45
    moogsmoogs Posts: 4,296member
    Honestly, I'm surprised we haven't heard from more people about the new version. Has it been hard to find, and thus most upgraders still don't have it yet...or is it just that unremarkable? The reviews I read in MacAddict and Macworld seem to bear out that it's worth the upgrade fee, but still no one has said much about it....



    <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" />
  • Reply 5 of 45
    neomacneomac Posts: 145member
    What do you want us to say about it? It's only Office, for pete's sake. It's not like it's the cure for cancer or something.
  • Reply 6 of 45
    escherescher Posts: 1,811member
    After a week of attempts in vain, I finally managed to download a copy of Office v.X to try out until Microsoft manages to produce and ship my boxed version.



    Obviously, Word is now able to print (unlike the Test Drive). Also, the style menus are now WYSIWYG. Excel works well. MSN Messenger got a new icon and version number, but I haven't seen any improvements. I rarely use PowerPoint and have yet to test it out. As for Entourage, there's no way I would abandon Eudora and trust my mail to MS.



    As a precaution, I turned off AirPort while starting up. I did a port scan later to see if Word would start broadcasting after I turned AirPort back on.



    If you start Office while disconnected from your network, it won't start broadcasting when you turn the network back on. However, if your network connection is live when you start any Office application, Office will broadcast on a random port in the 3xxx range. I tried this 10 times, and Office broadcast on a different port each time. I haven't tried blocking the 3xxx ports to see whether office will go beyond that range.



    Escher



    [ 12-05-2001: Message edited by: Escher ]</p>
  • Reply 7 of 45
    escherescher Posts: 1,811member
    PS: For a small shock, put Excel and PowerPoint icons next to each other in your Dock. Do you think MS intentionally put this subliminal reminder about Windows XP in Office v.X? I had to move the icons to remedy the situation.



    Escher
  • Reply 8 of 45
    andersanders Posts: 6,523member
    [quote]Originally posted by Escher:

    <strong>

    As a precaution, I turned off AirPort while starting up. I did a port scan later to see if Word would start broadcasting after I turned AirPort back on.



    If you start Office while disconnected from your network, it won't start broadcasting when you turn the network back on. However, if your network connection is live when you start any Office application, Office will broadcast on a random port in the 3xxx range. I tried this 10 times, and Office broadcast on a different port each time. I haven't tried blocking the 3xxx ports to see whether office will go beyond that range.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Eh? I fail to see the importans of this. Is it a way for MS to check if you are using a illegal copy?
  • Reply 9 of 45
    escherescher Posts: 1,811member
    [quote]Originally posted by Anders:

    <strong>Eh? I fail to see the importans of this. Is it a way for MS to check if you are using a illegal copy?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Anders: It's good to see you back on AI. Office broadcasts its serial number over the local network. If you try to run a second copy on a different machine at the same time, you will get a message that you do not have enough licences to do that. See <a href="http://forums.appleinsider.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=000022"; target="_blank">this thread</a> in the Mac OS X forum for a more elaborate discussion.



    Escher
  • Reply 10 of 45
    andersanders Posts: 6,523member
    [quote]Originally posted by Escher:

    <strong>



    Anders: It's good to see you back on AI. </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Thanks Escher. But as I said back on Badflamingo I won´t be posting here anymore so the above post was my first and last ( <img src="graemlins/bugeye.gif" border="0" alt="[Skeptical]" /> ) at the new AI.



    [quote]Office broadcasts its serial number over the local network. If you try to run a second copy on a different machine at the same time, you will get a message that you do not have enough licences to do that.<hr></blockquote>



    Uh. Now I understand. Now I can continue using Office with the date thing as the only problem until I recieve my student license (any workaround that?)



    [ 12-05-2001: Message edited by: Anders ]</p>
  • Reply 11 of 45
    andersanders Posts: 6,523member
    [quote]Originally posted by Anders:

    <strong>



    the above post was my first and last at the new AI.

    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Damn



    [ 12-05-2001: Message edited by: Anders ]</p>
  • Reply 12 of 45
    mr.potatoheadmr.potatohead Posts: 99member
    One thing that is missing from Office v.X that has been in Office XP and Office 2000 that I find very handy...



    Your only option for emailing from Word and Excel is to email the document as an attachment. In the Windows version of Office, you can have it translate your page on the fly into an HTML email and send it off. I have one user who creates a company newsletter in Word and emails it right out, no Dreamweaver required. I have another user who emails tables built in Excel (well, she was doing that until she switched from PC to Mac).



    It sounds like a small thing, but it's surprisingly useful.
  • Reply 13 of 45
    horned_froghorned_frog Posts: 577member
    [quote]Originally posted by Moogs ?:

    <strong>Honestly, I'm surprised we haven't heard from more people about the new version. Has it been hard to find, and thus most upgraders still don't have it yet...or is it just that unremarkable? The reviews I read in MacAddict and Macworld seem to bear out that it's worth the upgrade fee, but still no one has said much about it....



    <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" /> </strong><hr></blockquote>



    I wasn;t even aware an update was available...any word when it will ship as the default version?



    Also, how compatible witht he Windows version is it really? Will I be able to save my documents to a CDRW or a Zip disc, stick it in a PC, and have it open flawlessly, saving all of my formating like margins, indents, lists, etc. etc.?
  • Reply 14 of 45
    jeffyboyjeffyboy Posts: 1,055member
    Horned Frog- Not sure what you mean by default version? You can buy Office X now.



    I've sent Word X e-mail attachments to a friend's PC and it worked perfectly, so I would imagine if the CRW's and Zip disks are formatted to work in Windows, the files should be just the way you want them.



    Jeff



    [ 02-23-2002: Message edited by: jeffyboy ]</p>
  • Reply 15 of 45
    smacstevesmacsteve Posts: 85member
    My only complaint about Word is the font isn't anti-alias, it doesn't look as good as it does in Apple Works.
  • Reply 16 of 45
    tigerwoods99tigerwoods99 Posts: 2,633member
    I got it soon after my dual GHz G4 purchase and from the little time I've used it seems very good. You guys actually paid for it?
  • Reply 17 of 45
    tigerwoods99tigerwoods99 Posts: 2,633member
    I'm wondering how Entourage is (and compared to mail) cause I might start using it.
  • Reply 18 of 45
    smacstevesmacsteve Posts: 85member
    [quote]Originally posted by TigerWoods99:

    <strong>I'm wondering how Entourage is (and compared to mail) cause I might start using it.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    I've compared the two. I think the Entourage isn't as stable as Mail, I've had to quit the Entourage whenever waking from sleep. It will act as if it's retrieve mail, but just keeps going. The only thing to stop it, is to quit and relaunch. Also the anti-aliasing isn't as smooth as Mail.
  • Reply 19 of 45
    quaremquarem Posts: 254member
    [quote] I'm wondering how Entourage is (and compared to mail) cause I might start using it. <hr></blockquote>



    Don't switch, I did and am regretting it. As soon as they add multiple email address fields per card in Address Book I am going to go back to Mail.



    Mail, as SMacSteve pointed out, has superior anti-aliasing at text. Also the interface is cleaner and more efficient. I just find Entourage too bloated: a lot of features I don't use. Plus to really use Entourage it must take up your whole screen, which I don't like again. I just find Mail a lot more fun to use, plus the icon changes in the dock to show how many new messages you have, something Entourage doesn't do.
  • Reply 20 of 45
    kidredkidred Posts: 2,402member
    [quote]Originally posted by Escher:

    <strong>



    Anders: It's good to see you back on AI. Office broadcasts its serial number over the local network. If you try to run a second copy on a different machine at the same time, you will get a message that you do not have enough licences to do that. See <a href="http://forums.appleinsider.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=000022"; target="_blank">this thread</a> in the Mac OS X forum for a more elaborate discussion.



    Escher</strong><hr></blockquote>



    library/application support/trash everything M$



    same with users/library/application support/M$

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