Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition
by Microsoft Software
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Software Reviews of Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition
Customer Review: Big Improvement!
Summary: 5 Stars
You can tell right away that Microsoft Office 2008 has had a massive overhaul since the previous version (Office 2004). It has an improved interface and now has Intel processor compatibility. However on the downside, Visual Basic has been dropped plus the new version needs a lot more processing power so you need a PowerPC G4 processor at least.
This Media Edition is what used to be called the Professional Edition and it includes Microsoft Expression Media which replaces Virtual PC. Microsoft Expression Media is a media management / presentation program and in its own right a top product. Office itself is Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Entourage and Messenger. I am sure I don't need to explain what these are.
The new interface looks amazing and the changes are immediately obvious. You now get new integrated toolbars instead of the floating ones and everything looks neater and more organized plus you get the 'Elements Gallery' feature which is a new way to browse and insert document objects. There are also updates for all the individual programs within Office.
These new features and improvements make Office 2008, a big advancement over Office 2004 plus it is a lot more user friendly and easier to use. Overall I would have to say this is definite worthwhile buy and a must upgrade.
Customer Review: Standard performance from an industry standard
Summary: 3 Stars
I've only been using MS office 2008 for a short time, but it seems to be as stable and dependable as MS 2003 that I upgraded from. I was disappointed that the use of macros is apparently limited in the new version of Excel. I haven't explored all the features yet, especially the media management features, but I will update my review when I do.Customer Review: Not as bad as it used to be...
Summary: 2 Stars
I had previously reviewed Office 2008 as unusable -- which was true.
However, Microsoft has recently issued a major update to Office 2008 for Mac, and I feel obligated to re-review the product and say that it has become MUCH more usable. They've removed a lot of the palettes that cause so much trouble with spaces. I also have not experienced any lockups since the update, which was also a big problem.
If Amazon would allow me, I would bump my review up to 3 stars.
Customer Review: The media aspect is really good.
Summary: 4 Stars
I have already reviewed and voiced my concerns about the actual programs like Excel, Word, PPT et al, and their problems in another review. In short, this edition is only for children, people who have never used MS office before, or those using it only for the most basic of functinoalities. Professionals, those used to versions 2000-2003, and those who need expert control of the program (i.e. macros and the like in Excel), then do not get this program, you'll have a tought time finding the same functionalities as in v.2003. But, since this is the special media edition, I did enjoy this one part of MS Office 2008. It really does an excellent job of organizing all of my HD videos and photos, hence I give it 1 star over the regular version (which I rated a 3). The visual interface of being able to see what files you are actually organizing instead of just icons and numbers really helps group the pictures and videos into exactly what I need, this is really a neat feature. You can actually "preview" each media file without opening it, again saving you the time of figuring out what you are organizing. Make sure, however, that you have more than the minimum system requirements for this special part of MS Office. I put this version on one of my computers, I had more than enough RAM and processing speed, and the preview part would take up a lot of RAM, slowing down my computer quite a bit!!!
I'd reccomend staying with an earlier office product, and waiting for a new one to come out that is hopefully better for business professionals. Creative individuals or those in the creative work profession will probably not have ad tough of a time with this edition of office as I did. Those who need hard-core number crunching capabilities of Excel will have a very difficult time with this new version.
Customer Review: a really great update over the last version...
Summary: 4 Stars
If you are a long time Mac user, you will understand the love - hate relationship the Mac has with the MS Office product line. Some Mac users like to bash MS but the MS mac group has always turned out some solid software. I have always found the mac version of the Office suite a very great set of tools for surviving in a Windows world. Its literally a no-brainer.
So what's new here? Well the biggest thing is these are Intel compatible versions. Meaning if you are running an intel mac, these tools will run faster and smoother than the previous office osx version. After a few rounds of software updates I found the UI to be greatly improved and even pretty zippy. I can't say there are huge improvements in the individual tools, but small advances that make them better and easier to use.
Is this toolset better than the iWork package from Apple which has the same 3 types of tools? I believe iWork to be a superior toolset on its own, as a mac package. But if you NEED to be Windows compliant at work or home, you simple MUST have the latest version of Office for OSX, no question about it.
Well done Microsoft mac team!