Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition
by Microsoft Software
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List Price: Category: Software See more product details and other editions |
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Software Reviews of Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition
Customer Review: The Good News: It's MS Office. The Bad News: It's MS Office
Summary: 3 Stars
I'm a cross platform guy. I started using MS Word for Mac in 1986, then PowerPoint when it was released, before Microsoft bought it. I've been using Office on Windows daily since 1997, now version 2007 on Vista.
The good news: if you need MS Office compatibility on the Mac, all of the Office for Mac packages will do the job well. Nearly every feature is compatible and interoperable between Windows and Mac. There is no translation going on, the data files are binary compatible across platforms. Just open the Excel, PowerPoint or Word document from a Windows machine on your mac. Every formatting detail is there, although there may be some pagination differences to deal with. Because all the MS Office functionality is here (except VBA macros!), I'm giving this package 3 stars
The other good news: Entourage is flat out better than Outlook. It's a good product for email/calendar/contacts/tasks. Plus one star.
The bad news: it's MS Office, warts and all. Compared to the iWork suite, it has a bit more functionality, but it does it in that special Microsoft way. You have to respect Microsoft for the market position they have achieved. Word, Excel and PowerPoint are all capable products. They just aren't really Mac products. To be fair, they are very good Mac ports, they are stable, they work as well as their Windows counterparts. iWork is just more Mac-like. No deduction for this, because if you spend money to buy a Microsoft product for your Mac, you deserve what you get.
This Special Media Edition package contains two extras, Automator Actions for Workflows in Microsoft Office, and Microsoft Expression Media (formerly iView). Besides having names that are a mouthful, I'm not thrilled with either one as Mac products. Animator Actions seems to be a lame replacement for VBA macros, which are gone from this version of Office Mac. Sorry, microsoft, you weren't able to replace my custom macros with your generic Automator Actions. Some of these Actions perform useful functions, but they don't replace my macros, many of which perform very unique tasks. Minus one star.
Finally, Expressions Media. I'm conflicted on this one. It does things that iPhoto does not do, like managing Photoshop and Flash files, and doing a better job with RAW files. If you need these, add a star to my review and take a serious look at what Expressions can do for you. I do not need these. Therefore, iPhoto's superior integration into the rest of the Mac experience does a better job for me. Again, the Mac experience trumps the Microsoft product, at least for me.
Bottom line: If you need Office compatibility, buy one of the other Office for Mac packages for a bit less money. Read the comparison chart on Amazon to see which one has what you need. If you need Expressions, buy this package. But if you don't absolutely need seamless Office compatibility, buy iWork. It will import an export Office files just fine, and it is much more Mac like.
Customer Review: What I expected.
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm back to Mac products now after several PCs. I have never tried the Apple line of software that competes with the MS Suite. I didn't like the 2007/8 version at first. I was so frustrated when I had to use the help feature to find out how to print. I work at a library and a lot of people ask for help because they can find the print feature. I'm getting used to it now, but I still say things like go to Edit then Copy and that's not how it works anymore. The library computers have the right mouse button disabled... I'd have preferred an update, that wasn't so radical that I can't find things anymore. I can't really find any special features that I must have in this version of the Suite, but I did need a copy of MS Office 2008. I had used Office 2007 so overall it is what I expected.Customer Review: Must have for Mac owner
Summary: 5 Stars
Microsoft Office 2008 is an essential part of my day, and has been for years.
Entourage is my "go to" application for email, calendar, and address book. I use these with my iPhone, iTunes, and Gmail. Syncing is flawless, for the most part. I've never been able to see the logic of using three separate programs, even though I'm a loyal Mac user.
I continue to find subtle improvements in the workhorse applications Word and Excel. There isn't any huge learning curve going from earlier versions (and I've used each of them) to 2008. Business users will easily justify the upgrade with addition of forms for accounting, marketing and publication. Formula Builder should help those nex to Excel. For those of us who notice these things, the programs design gets more Mac-like each time.
As for PowerPoint, I try to pretend it doesn't exist.
Installation went without a hitch, and my document migrate over to the new version without any issues. Documents can be saved in Windows-friendly formats.
Solid upgrade to a favorite suite of programs.
Customer Review: Bells & Whistles - yes. More functionality - not really.
Summary: 4 Stars
I was pretty excited to try this product.
You can read all the details in the very comprehensive reviews provided here so I won't repeat a lot of what's already been said.
The interface changed a bit, but nothing that took too long to learn. There are a lot more/better templates which I always like to start out with. I liked this new interface. It felt more "mac" but of course, still like Microsoft.
I have noticed the junk mail filtering is improved in this version of Entourage. Like that!
I won't use the asset management feature (I use something else) but can see how it would come in handy for those without one.
The Excel formulas were more accessible and easier to use. That's a plus, too.
Drag-and-drop is always good and the capability within this Office suite seems better.
No reason though to get the special media edition if you have no use for the extras.
Customer Review: Looks good, works well, but a bit clunky and non-intuitive.
Summary: 3 Stars
I've been using Office for Mac for a few months now and have a few things to report. It has a very nice interface. It just looks good and looks at home on the OSX desktop. Excel works like a charm. Loads quickly and works flawlessly. MS Word, while impressive looking, tends to have too many fancy bells and whistles that I don't see many people actually using them. More templates would be nice next time around. There were a few things that I just couldn't figure out in word and gave up in frustration only to go back to working in Adobe InDesign. The interface isn't exactly easy to navigate and the way you go about getting things done can seem counter intuitive. You really have to spend some time to get to know this one. Overall, I still think Apple and Adobe have the market for better, easier to use software. Great if you need the compatibility, but better products can be found elsewhere that'll get the job done. Thankfully, Office 2008 seems super stable and has never crashed on me. Keynote from Apple is an easier and more sophisticated program that accomplishes the same thing. If you can snag one at a discount, its not a bad suite to have, but I would only recommend it to those truly in need of cross platform (OSX/Windows) compatibility.