I use OpenOffice and OWA, navicat when I need to access MSSQL, safari for browsing. No issues. Barely an MS tool needed to navigate our enterprise. I won't be waiting for MSOffice for Anything.
MS are crazy to hold back their PR machine in the face of the growing markets of iOS, OSX, Android.
I don't find this much of a surprise...since 2007 Microsoft has been on a three year cycle regarding Office.
You have Office 2007, 2010 and now 2013 for Windows.
And you have Office 2008 and 2011 for Mac. The next Office of the Mac release will most likely be 2014!
Oh and even before that Office for Mac usually came out one year later than Office for Mac. Examples, Office 2001 for Mac after Office 2000 for Windows, Office 2004 for Mac after Office 2003 for Windows.
Oh, so I get another year between '11 and the next version, which will inevitably break compatibility with our third party 'exchange' mail server, and possibly add another new PITA file format to support? Great!
Please Apple, add support for password protected .doc files so I don't have to use OpenOffice for those when I'm working at home.
Just as Apple's iTunes has been the most often installed non-Microsoft software on PCs.
I would love to see your source for that claim, with non-microsoft app like adobe flash player been completely ubiquitous (then claiming about a 97% installation base), I am a bit doubtful about that bloated POS that is -according to me- iTunes.
I'd choose them over any Microsoft product in a heartbeat.
Open/LibreOffice are usually more than enough for most people office needs, but when serious work requires powerful functions like Excel macros, etc, then there is simply no viable alternative to some of Microsoft tools.
Once Windows 7 is forgotten about and Windows 8 and surface flops, MS will be back sniffing around for more profits, just like they did last time. May not be 2013, but the software will be back on the Mac platform. Interesting thing is that I use a Windows based laptop for work and my iMac at home, and the Mac versions of Office have always looked better and worked more efficiently on my Mac. Stupid but true.
Yup Office for Mac always comes out a year late. And by the way this isn't the first time MS decided to can Office for Mac and then a few months later come out with a new version anyway
Here here! This is such a 'no sh1t sherlock' article. Clearly written by a newbie within the AppleInsider staff. They've always had a tick tock approach to this. If they'd said no Office for Mac 2014, then they would have gotten my attention. The next version of Office for Mac was always going to be at least 2014.
Microsoft might get into FTC hot water if they tried to hurt Apple by not continuing to develop Office for Macs... or even not make an Office version for the iPad once they do so for the touch-based Windows devices. Europe, especially, is watching Microsoft like a hawk.
It's not likely to cause them any problems unless they break compatibility and/or stop selling Office 2011 for Mac. They have a great deal of freedom in whether to release new products - and which versions to release. if they actively interfere with competitors (such as releasing a new, incompatible .docz format), it might create problems for them - but even that would be a gray area.
However, the entire premise is silly. Microsoft didn't drop Office in 1997 when it wasn't clear that Apple would even survive as an independent company and their market share was 2-3% and their mind share was even lower. Why would they do so now when market share has increased dramatically and Macs (and other Apple products) have finally made their way into the executive suite? Fifteen years ago, few execs would have cared one bit. Today, there would be significant backlash. Furthermore, with signs that some of Microsoft's other revenue streams are leveling off, they can't afford to drop a major, profitable product line.
I'm pretty sure Microsoft scrambled to re-write Office for Windows 8 which is a completely new version of Windows. I think they will slightly update Office for Mac one more time and call it quits. If Apple doesn't re-write a version of iTunes for Windows 8 they will lose out on all the Windows customers than own an iPad or iPhone. It's all a game.
I've used Windows 8. It sucks. I think we are back in the Windows 3.1-Windows 95 era, except Apple now has the best operating system. Windows 8 still has a desktop hidden away, but you can't use Mail, Messenger and other Windows 8 apps on the desktop. Multitasking is critical in a business environment.
I have to laugh. 'We're back in the Win3.1-Win95 era excerpt that Apple now has the best OS?' I think you're confused. In the 1990s, there was absolutely no question - Apple's OS was vastly superior in almost every respect (especially compared to Win3.1) except possibly buzzword compliance. Win3.1 was a hopeless POS and Win95 was only slightly better. Today, while Windows is still significantly inferior to OS X in many regards, it's a lot closer than it's ever been.
Or, how about AI does some homework for once, and looks at the history of Office releases for Apple's OS.
Traditionally, the Apple version of the OS lags 1 year behind the Windows release, but often has some of the innovations that make it in to the next windows version. The ribbon, for example, showed its first signs in the Office for Mac release before Office 2007 for windows. It's likely, considering the recent update (and therefore faith in sales) that there will be an Office 2014 for Mac.
But no, AI has to be a dick and be all anti-everyone-that's-not-Apple, as usual.
Because Mac releases of Office have never had the same year as the Windows release. Now if you had asked them when Office for Mac 2014 is coming out, PR might have given a slightly different answer.
Exactly. Dan Knight at Low End Mac has a great article showing the history of Office releases (and the release of its precursors) on the Mac here:
From the headline, Microsoft Won't Bring Office 2013 to Mac, but It Will Add SkyDrive Integration to Office 2011, you'd think that Microsoft was sticking it to Mac users. And from reading the article by Killian Bell, you'd never know that Mac users currently have a newer version of Office than Windows users - or that Microsoft has a long history of releasing new Office for Mac editions a year after every Windows version since 1997.
Apple,IMHO, has held back making Pages look and feel dynamic just to stay nice with MS. But if the gloves are coming off I would expect Apple to bring the pain and do up Pages like a beast!
On my Mac, iPhone and iPad Numbers is awesome but on the iPad it is crazy sick and so damn easy to bust open a spread sheet, put down your data and go baby! It is freaking heaven on earth.
'Staying nice with Microsoft' might be on the table now, but was thrown across the room a few years back. WWDC posters reading, "Redmond, start your photocopiers," and a keynote blasting Longhorn/Vista for being "DLL hell," etc.
Also: I like the way you rap about spreadsheet experiences.
Originally Posted by mstone
I hope Microsoft doesn't try to intentionally break stuff for iWork by leveraging their Office monopoly to support their Windows and tablet sales.
They tried that when introducing the .x formats (docx, pptx) and related controversy.
Seriously, what else is new? Since when has Office for Mac ever been released in sync with Windows? Windows is their flagship product; I'm surprised there's an Office for Mac at all.
It's not like we NEEEEEEED all these new features anyway.
I've been a loyal fan of iWork for years, but recently had need to use an equation editor, which Pages doesn't offer, except via a third-party app that cost $100. For that price, I figured, I could just get Office for Mac 2011. So that's what I did. Office has come a long way since I left it behind a few years ago. I'd still prefer Apple to flesh out iWork a bit more (not give it ALL of Office's unneeded features, but grow it up a bit).
Agreed. I tried to switch from Excel to Numbers last year when I upgraded to Lion; but the inability to simply do a "right click" in Numbers for cutting and pasting rows or columns made it very cumbersome.
Also, when I upgraded from the 2004 version of MS Word for Mac; I was horrified to find that MS had completely complicated the drawing functions. I used to use Word to take screen shots of my web page or my products and then paste them into text boxes in Word. Which could then easily mark up with additional text boxes or draw simple shapes to illustrate the design changes I need. Now it takes 3-4 times as long to do the same tasks. I also hate that the default for a line or shape is to have a shadow & the inability to change the default in preferences.
Apple would do the world a huge favor by copying the drawing functionality that Word 2004 had. Here's an image of one drawing I made in the old version, which would be almost impossible to do in the current version on Word 2011:
1) There is indeed plenty of money to be made in enterprise software, and in productivity software in particular.
2) The problem with iWork, OpenOffice, and even older version of Office for Mac, is that business users need bulletproof compatibility. I have to have the latest version of Office for Mac, because if formatting is off, I look like an idiot. So M$ gets $75 or so from me every couple of years. I don't like it, but Office remains the de facto standard.
A more urgent problem is getting them to fix Mac Office 2011 so that it doesn't look crappy on retina displays.
I totally agree. I'm surprised there isn't more of an outcry about it. Maybe all the retina MBP's went to photoshop/video editing types who don't use Office??
Comments
MS are crazy to hold back their PR machine in the face of the growing markets of iOS, OSX, Android.
cannot logically lead to these conclusions by AI:
is this just more shoddy, link-bait reporting by AI, or is there another quote we're missing? Never mind, the answer is obvious.
I'd choose them over any Microsoft product in a heartbeat.
I don't find this much of a surprise...since 2007 Microsoft has been on a three year cycle regarding Office.
You have Office 2007, 2010 and now 2013 for Windows.
And you have Office 2008 and 2011 for Mac. The next Office of the Mac release will most likely be 2014!
Oh and even before that Office for Mac usually came out one year later than Office for Mac. Examples, Office 2001 for Mac after Office 2000 for Windows, Office 2004 for Mac after Office 2003 for Windows.
So just chill until 2014
Oh, so I get another year between '11 and the next version, which will inevitably break compatibility with our third party 'exchange' mail server, and possibly add another new PITA file format to support? Great!
Please Apple, add support for password protected .doc files so I don't have to use OpenOffice for those when I'm working at home.
Once Windows 7 is forgotten about and Windows 8 and surface flops, MS will be back sniffing around for more profits, just like they did last time. May not be 2013, but the software will be back on the Mac platform. Interesting thing is that I use a Windows based laptop for work and my iMac at home, and the Mac versions of Office have always looked better and worked more efficiently on my Mac. Stupid but true.
You beat me to it haha
Yup Office for Mac always comes out a year late. And by the way this isn't the first time MS decided to can Office for Mac and then a few months later come out with a new version anyway
Here here! This is such a 'no sh1t sherlock' article. Clearly written by a newbie within the AppleInsider staff. They've always had a tick tock approach to this. If they'd said no Office for Mac 2014, then they would have gotten my attention. The next version of Office for Mac was always going to be at least 2014.What's Office for Mac???
Is that a M$ product?
Did someone here waste money on Office for Mac??
Are you throwing money at the enemy and a dying company?
With so many alternatives, some of them free, as in free beer???
It's not likely to cause them any problems unless they break compatibility and/or stop selling Office 2011 for Mac. They have a great deal of freedom in whether to release new products - and which versions to release. if they actively interfere with competitors (such as releasing a new, incompatible .docz format), it might create problems for them - but even that would be a gray area.
However, the entire premise is silly. Microsoft didn't drop Office in 1997 when it wasn't clear that Apple would even survive as an independent company and their market share was 2-3% and their mind share was even lower. Why would they do so now when market share has increased dramatically and Macs (and other Apple products) have finally made their way into the executive suite? Fifteen years ago, few execs would have cared one bit. Today, there would be significant backlash. Furthermore, with signs that some of Microsoft's other revenue streams are leveling off, they can't afford to drop a major, profitable product line.
I have to laugh. 'We're back in the Win3.1-Win95 era excerpt that Apple now has the best OS?' I think you're confused. In the 1990s, there was absolutely no question - Apple's OS was vastly superior in almost every respect (especially compared to Win3.1) except possibly buzzword compliance. Win3.1 was a hopeless POS and Win95 was only slightly better. Today, while Windows is still significantly inferior to OS X in many regards, it's a lot closer than it's ever been.
Or, how about AI does some homework for once, and looks at the history of Office releases for Apple's OS.
Traditionally, the Apple version of the OS lags 1 year behind the Windows release, but often has some of the innovations that make it in to the next windows version. The ribbon, for example, showed its first signs in the Office for Mac release before Office 2007 for windows. It's likely, considering the recent update (and therefore faith in sales) that there will be an Office 2014 for Mac.
But no, AI has to be a dick and be all anti-everyone-that's-not-Apple, as usual.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dagamer34
Because Mac releases of Office have never had the same year as the Windows release. Now if you had asked them when Office for Mac 2014 is coming out, PR might have given a slightly different answer.
Exactly. Dan Knight at Low End Mac has a great article showing the history of Office releases (and the release of its precursors) on the Mac here:
http://lowendmac.com/musings/12mm/office-2013-panic.html
Quote:
From the headline, Microsoft Won't Bring Office 2013 to Mac, but It Will Add SkyDrive Integration to Office 2011, you'd think that Microsoft was sticking it to Mac users. And from reading the article by Killian Bell, you'd never know that Mac users currently have a newer version of Office than Windows users - or that Microsoft has a long history of releasing new Office for Mac editions a year after every Windows version since 1997.
Originally Posted by maccherry
Apple,IMHO, has held back making Pages look and feel dynamic just to stay nice with MS. But if the gloves are coming off I would expect Apple to bring the pain and do up Pages like a beast!
On my Mac, iPhone and iPad Numbers is awesome but on the iPad it is crazy sick and so damn easy to bust open a spread sheet, put down your data and go baby! It is freaking heaven on earth.
'Staying nice with Microsoft' might be on the table now, but was thrown across the room a few years back. WWDC posters reading, "Redmond, start your photocopiers," and a keynote blasting Longhorn/Vista for being "DLL hell," etc.
Also: I like the way you rap about spreadsheet experiences.
Originally Posted by mstone
I hope Microsoft doesn't try to intentionally break stuff for iWork by leveraging their Office monopoly to support their Windows and tablet sales.
They tried that when introducing the .x formats (docx, pptx) and related controversy.
Care-O-Meter: [|||--------------------------]
Seriously, what else is new? Since when has Office for Mac ever been released in sync with Windows? Windows is their flagship product; I'm surprised there's an Office for Mac at all.
It's not like we NEEEEEEED all these new features anyway.
I've been a loyal fan of iWork for years, but recently had need to use an equation editor, which Pages doesn't offer, except via a third-party app that cost $100. For that price, I figured, I could just get Office for Mac 2011. So that's what I did. Office has come a long way since I left it behind a few years ago. I'd still prefer Apple to flesh out iWork a bit more (not give it ALL of Office's unneeded features, but grow it up a bit).
Agreed. I tried to switch from Excel to Numbers last year when I upgraded to Lion; but the inability to simply do a "right click" in Numbers for cutting and pasting rows or columns made it very cumbersome.
Also, when I upgraded from the 2004 version of MS Word for Mac; I was horrified to find that MS had completely complicated the drawing functions. I used to use Word to take screen shots of my web page or my products and then paste them into text boxes in Word. Which could then easily mark up with additional text boxes or draw simple shapes to illustrate the design changes I need. Now it takes 3-4 times as long to do the same tasks. I also hate that the default for a line or shape is to have a shadow & the inability to change the default in preferences.
Apple would do the world a huge favor by copying the drawing functionality that Word 2004 had. Here's an image of one drawing I made in the old version, which would be almost impossible to do in the current version on Word 2011:
1) There is indeed plenty of money to be made in enterprise software, and in productivity software in particular.
2) The problem with iWork, OpenOffice, and even older version of Office for Mac, is that business users need bulletproof compatibility. I have to have the latest version of Office for Mac, because if formatting is off, I look like an idiot. So M$ gets $75 or so from me every couple of years. I don't like it, but Office remains the de facto standard.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Parsec
A more urgent problem is getting them to fix Mac Office 2011 so that it doesn't look crappy on retina displays.
I totally agree. I'm surprised there isn't more of an outcry about it. Maybe all the retina MBP's went to photoshop/video editing types who don't use Office??
Quote:
Microsoft has no plans to release Office for Mac 2013
There, I fixed the article title.