I love Macs and have had one at home for 25+ year. But, I rely on Excel a lot at work and Excel just sucks on a Mac, and it's just not worth emulating it when I can just use a cheap W10 machine.
Ummm, no. Microsoft developed Excel for the Mac, and later ported it to Windows. It is still a native application in MacOS and “emulating” is not required. If you really have had a Mac for 25+ years, you would know that Excel on the Mac used to be much more advanced than the Windows version and in more recent years the updates have not always remained in sync. Given the capabilities of Excel for Mac, you’d have to be doing some rather esoteric edge-case tasks in Excel in order for the Windows version to offer any advantage.
I imagine by emulation he means getting the Windows version of Excel to work on a Mac, via virtualised Windows, or Crossover.
I don't think it matters all that much that Excel for Mac used to be more advanced. And I agree with him that there are some significant power user features of Excel that are not available in the Mac version, especially around data connectors and analytic add-ins. These are not all that esoteric in a professional environment.
One of the last key systems I developed was a seamless, automated integration of a mainframe level financial application, Microsoft Access and Microsoft Excel -- tied together with macros and Windows commands. I doubt all that would have been feasible on a Mac due to its walled garden approach.
Pros often have a need for open architectures and power user features.
That's not to trash the Walled Garden. It has its advantages. It also creates restrictions.
Exactly. For better or worse, there are an extraordinary number of businesses out there where the IT platform is basically built on accumulated layers of Access and Excel.
I love Macs and have had one at home for 25+ year. But, I rely on Excel a lot at work and Excel just sucks on a Mac, and it's just not worth emulating it when I can just use a cheap W10 machine.
Ummm, no. Microsoft developed Excel for the Mac, and later ported it to Windows. It is still a native application in MacOS and “emulating” is not required. If you really have had a Mac for 25+ years, you would know that Excel on the Mac used to be much more advanced than the Windows version and in more recent years the updates have not always remained in sync. Given the capabilities of Excel for Mac, you’d have to be doing some rather esoteric edge-case tasks in Excel in order for the Windows version to offer any advantage.
Yes, I know Excel was first developed for the Mac and then the PC, but last I checked it was 2018 and not 1986. Of course I know Excel is a native app on MacOS; I thought it was obvious that by "emulating" I meant running the windows version in emulation such as with VirtualBox or Parallels. I do more in Excel than just adding a few number, I wouldn't consider what I do esoteric edge-cases. Excel for Mac didn't even get multiprocessor support until this year, while it's had it on the PC for decades.
And yes, I have been using Macs for 25+ years. I saw my first Mac in 10th grade (1988, Mac Plus) and have since owned an LCII, PowerMax 180, PowerMac G5 and several iMacs (my first computer was an Apple II clone Laser128. I bought Apple stock in high school and again when the iPhone was announced and have kept it the whole time and have done quite well.
I love Macs and have had one at home for 25+ year. But, I rely on Excel a lot at work and Excel just sucks on a Mac, and it's just not worth emulating it when I can just use a cheap W10 machine.
Are you at least using Mac Excel 2016 (with latest updates)? It's a lot closer to the Windows version than it used to be.
I consider myself fairly proficient on Excel, and find everything I need to do on the Mac version works well. But then, there are still plenty of advanced features that I don't use, so maybe this is where the comparison breaks down...
What are you doing on Excel that sucks on the Mac version?
I have used the lasted version of Excel for the Mac. I'm not saying it is unusable but it just doesn't have the fit and finish of the PC version. There's a lot of graphical glitches such as when cells are selected the cursor does not change appropriately. A lot of the keystrokes are different and I am used to and proficient with the PC ones. I constantly get the spinning beachball even for simple tasks. Multiprocessor support was only added recently. Many add-ins I use are not available for the Mac version. And finally, many of the power features such as Power Pivot and Power BI are not available on the mac.
This article fails to cite a source for 2018 results...
FTA: "Fletcher Previn, IBM's CIO that was appointed roughly two years ago, was on stage at the conference to discuss how the deployment has gone since the landmark announcement that they would allow employees to choose between Macs and PCs in 2015."
I love Macs and have had one at home for 25+ year. But, I rely on Excel a lot at work and Excel just sucks on a Mac, and it's just not worth emulating it when I can just use a cheap W10 machine.
Ummm, no. Microsoft developed Excel for the Mac, and later ported it to Windows. It is still a native application in MacOS and “emulating” is not required. If you really have had a Mac for 25+ years, you would know that Excel on the Mac used to be much more advanced than the Windows version and in more recent years the updates have not always remained in sync. Given the capabilities of Excel for Mac, you’d have to be doing some rather esoteric edge-case tasks in Excel in order for the Windows version to offer any advantage.
I imagine by emulation he means getting the Windows version of Excel to work on a Mac, via virtualised Windows, or Crossover.
I don't think it matters all that much that Excel for Mac used to be more advanced. And I agree with him that there are some significant power user features of Excel that are not available in the Mac version, especially around data connectors and analytic add-ins. These are not all that esoteric in a professional environment.
I love Macs and have had one at home for 25+ year. But, I rely on Excel a lot at work and Excel just sucks on a Mac, and it's just not worth emulating it when I can just use a cheap W10 machine.
So, Excel is the only software you use therefore Windows is a better choice. Got it.
For many, spreadsheets are the primary user tool they use. And, Excel is the industry gold standard for a reason.
Apple knows (or at least knew) that its first obligation was to meet the needs of its customers and make their lives better. He is simply pointing out that a Windows machine makes his life better.
Steve knew that he couldn't be everything to every person. His company still can't and never will. That's just reality.
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And yes, I have been using Macs for 25+ years. I saw my first Mac in 10th grade (1988, Mac Plus) and have since owned an LCII, PowerMax 180, PowerMac G5 and several iMacs (my first computer was an Apple II clone Laser128. I bought Apple stock in high school and again when the iPhone was announced and have kept it the whole time and have done quite well.
I have used the lasted version of Excel for the Mac. I'm not saying it is unusable but it just doesn't have the fit and finish of the PC version. There's a lot of graphical glitches such as when cells are selected the cursor does not change appropriately. A lot of the keystrokes are different and I am used to and proficient with the PC ones. I constantly get the spinning beachball even for simple tasks. Multiprocessor support was only added recently. Many add-ins I use are not available for the Mac version. And finally, many of the power features such as Power Pivot and Power BI are not available on the mac.
Agree with both, thanks.