Microsoft Office for Mac Home and Business 2011 - 1 Pack
by Microsoft Software
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Software Summary
Manufacturer: Microsoft SoftwareBrand: Microsoft
Audio: Italian (Unknown); English (Subtitled); English (Original Language); Italian (Manual)
Format: DVD-ROM
Release Date: 2010-10-26
Platform: Mac OS X
Model: W6F-00063
Product features:
- Office for Mac 2011 includes Mac versions of Word 2011, Excel 2011, PowerPoint 2011, and Outlook 2011; the most familiar
- And trusted productivity applications used around the world at home, school, and business.
- Reliable compatibility with the over 1 billion Macs and PCs running Office worldwide ensures you have the right tools to create, share,
- And collaborate with virtually anyone, anywhere, with no worries.
- New Office Web Apps let you post, access, edit, and share Office documents from where you want with nearly any computer with a browser;
Software Reviews of Microsoft Office for Mac Home and Business 2011 - 1 Pack
Customer Review: Seemed pretty cool at first, but only Word seems improved.
Summary: 2 Stars
I have to be frank in acknowledging that this is a negative review. There are plenty of favorable reviews, and most of them contain accurate information that you should read. However, I have increasingly noticed some issues that I feel need to be mentioned.
I am using an 11.6" MacBook Air and a 13" aluminum Macbook, both with Core 2 Duo processors and 4 gb of RAM and the latest update to Snow Leopard 10.6.6. I have installed Office 2011 alongside Office 2008, and have been able to compare them by performing the same task in each version after the other.
Office 2011 is faster than Office 2008 across the board in terms of the speed of loading the application and loading files. However, beyond that, although 2011 did seem faster than 2008 at first, it didn't take long for me to notice that Office 2011 remains one of the slowest programs that I run on my Mac. I find that completely unacceptable and inexcusable. These are relatively basic applications, and their fundamental functions are unchanged since at least the 1995 versions. They shouldn't be taking up over a gigabyte of space in my Applications folder.
The Office Update program takes obnoxious to a somewhat new level. Windows Update, of course, is one of the many reasons why I am glad I use a Mac. The Office Updater pops up out of nowhere and declares dominion over your computer. Today, I was spurred to writing a review after wondering why my computer was acting so incredibly sluggish, only to discover, after the SBOD popped up on me in an unrelated application, that Office Updater was insistent on installing 400 megabytes of updates. As I speak, it is interrupting me ever 30 seconds to insist that I close Safari, and it doesn't offer me a "cancel" button.
Now, you may ask why I continue to indulge this obnoxious little monster of a program. The simple reason is desperation. You see, I've paid good money for this software, and I can't get a refund. So I must cross my fingers on every update, that maybe THIS TIME they will fix the problems. But they haven't.
Speaking of installers, watch out for font issues. It turned out that the Office installer program created quite a few font conflicts, which caused some pretty severe system instability, with a few actual crashes and a whole bunch of "hangs". Since my Macbook Air was all of two weeks old when this happened, I've ruled out the possibility that I had somehow caused these conflicts over years of cumulative use. This is just sloppy programming, and in addition to the actually conflicting fonts, I found a few dozen that just lacked a real reason for existence, whether due to being duplicative of another, better font, or being so specialized as to bear no relevance to 99% of users. I get the impression that Microsoft's philosophy is somewhat akin to a stew; someone just says "Sure throw that in there too" without real consideration to its impact on things. Remember Office Assistant? But yeah, you may want to consider trimming your font library after installing this.
The new "document gallery" is actually quite good. I like how it collects your recently accessed documents, templates, etc, in addition to offering the (usually useless) standard templates. It would be nice to get rid of most of the templates altogether, and I'll experiment with that eventually, but I sure wish I didn't have to waste so much time just trying to "restore" a program to a commonsense configuration!
Speaking of a commonsense configuration, I simply can't understand what people are saying about the ribbon. As far as I can tell, the only good thing about the ribbons in 2011 are that you can easily get rid of them. For a while I simply eliminated the ribbons altogether, since at least the rational, sensible "File Edit View" etc menus are still where they belong. Nowadays, I'll expose the Home ribbon once in a while, and have disabled the rest of them altogether. It would be nice if the ribbons were functionally customizable, but they're not. Other reviewers have said that they are, but I can't seem to locate the option to customize them except for "on" or "off". I'd much rather have a conventional, customizable toolbar, but maybe add the "hide" functionality of the ribbon. The "quick format gallery" which is loaded with useless junk, can't be removed. I did eventually manage to remove all the content, but not the area itself. And it's huge. It's huge enough that I have accidentally clicked on it, and had to re-fix text formatting.
That's just the joke, though: word seems to have 4,000 tools for formatting text, but makes a whole big ordeal out of just setting up a "standard" document. Times new roman, twelve point, double spaced, one inch margin. How unusual is that? There's not even a built-in template containing the standard format for scientific and legal writing. It makes me really wonder who exactly Microsoft's target customer is, since it's apparently nobody that I know.
Excel seems to share that. I guess that standard misuse has given Microsoft the idea to make Excel into little more than an alternate view for Word's table function. Out of the box, it's print oriented. Personally, I don't want to print my spreadsheets. I'd say ever, but I guess I can safely say that for every 30 days I use Excel, I click "print" once, twice at most. I don't want fonts in my spreadsheets. I don't want formatted text. I want numbers, more numbers, formulas, and some simple data labels. And I want to sort my data. (The "buttons" for sorting, which do in fact turn out to be useless, share a cluttered ribbon with a bunch of text formatting stuff that has no place in a spreadsheet to begin with.)
If you like sorting your data, don't get Office 2011. Just don't. Stick with 2008, or anything else.
Microsoft has actually brazenly removed both the ascending and descending sort buttons. There is no way to get them back, I learned after some expensive time with MS support. They're just plain gone, and I have ultimately just switched back to 2008 as a result. Instead of a sort ascending, you get a sort-whichever-way-Excel-feel-like-it button. You click it the first time, it sorts your list ascending, beautifully, just like you would expect. Then you add some more data, and click "sort" again... and your list is upside down. Your dependent formulas are confused and returning pound signs. Because apparently, if you click the button again, it will go the other way. As far as I can tell, the only "solution" to this is to create another list, maybe in another tab, that you don't care about, and click sort over that list after every actual sort. You can also still sort through the menus the old fashioned way. If it is possible to "create" a proper ascending sort button using a macro, it is well beyond my technical abilities.
Speaking of Macros, I wish there was a way to disable macro support, but there doesn't seem to be. (There's no user's manual at all, so there are plenty of things that I don't know and can't figure out.) I don't know what if anything macro support actually offers me, but apparently it requires Office to tweak the file format just enough to be unwilling to save the file. Whenever you try to save a file that was created in 2008, it will warn you that you are changing the file format unless you click "save as". This means that even if you hit control-S the moment before walking away from your desk or closing your laptop lid, your file will not save, and if your battery dies, or your cat walks across the keyboard, you will lose all of your work. After 30 years of publishing office applications, apparently Microsoft still has not figured out a functional implementation of "autosave". (The document recovery feature is hampered by its tendency to open the "recovered" version of a file fully behind the "saved" version that you have manually opened, thus preventing you from ever even realizing that there was anything to recover until you have literally finished your work which includes re-typing everything you thought you lost.) You cannot disable this "helpful" warning against the dangers of saving your work, so that even if you do manage to figure out how to shut it up about a particular file, it will repeat the offense with other files.
Outlook will mess up your iCal calendars if you let it. It adds its own calendar which just... is. It took me hours to figure out how to get rid of it. I can't think of a compelling reason to use Outlook anyway, so ultimately I just deleted it.
Regarding word, the notebook layout is still unbelievably limited (no quick way to jump between many tabs; no word count or similar functions; overly limited font and formatting; heading information that gets dropped when printing; very limited "window" for text and acres of extraneous decorations) and full-screen mode, though theoretically a good idea, again needlessly the display options, primarily by forcing a full-page view instead of a more usable zoomed-in mode. Improvements are the existence of the full screen mode (assuming that some update makes it useful on anything less than a 22" screen), some overall speed and stability, letting me turn off the ribbons, and the improved gallery thingy.
On the whole this product seems to make me just more nostalgic for the Word 2.0 that I fell in love with back in 1993, which, incidentally, on my 286 was actually way faster than 2011 is on this 2.4ghz machine with about 10,000 times the system resources.
I would like to tell you to refrain from buying this product. I know that is ultimately useless advice; after all, it's Microsoft Office, not a game. You're not buying it because you want it. You're buying it because you need it, right?
If there's any other product out there that suits your needs, you should probably get that instead. If Apple's iWork will work for you, then go with that. If OpenOffice will be only moderately frustrating but get the job done, well, so will this, but this one costs about $170 more. If you, like me, don't like to pay other people to cause you pain, then you should probably consider getting your pain for free from an open source alternative, or getting a little bit more enjoyable (if not as powerful) experience with iWork. If you need 110% office compatibility for one reason or another (and there are many) or if you're at a university or other organization with affordable site licensing, then go with this, but don't say I didn't warn you.
Description of Microsoft Office for Mac Home and Business 2011 - 1 Pack
Work the way you want, where you want. With over 1 billion PCs and Macs running Office, Microsoft Office is the most-trusted and most-used productivity suite around the world. And Office for Mac 2011 is here to help you do more with your Mac on your terms. Use Word to create dynamic papers, Excel to format your data quickly, PowerPoint to help engage your audience and take your ideas further, and Outlook to stay close to your contacts and calendars. And since Office for Mac is compatible with Office for Windows, you can work on documents with virtually anyone on a Mac or PC. It?s the easiest way to create, share, and access your documents from almost anywhere. Office for Mac Home and Business 2011 includes Word for Mac 2011, Excel for Mac 2011, PowerPoint for Mac 2011, and Outlook for Mac 2011.With over 1 billion PCs and Macs running Office, Microsoft Office is the most-trusted and most-used productivity suite around the world. And Office for Mac 2011 is here to help you do more with your Mac on your terms. Use Word to create dynamic papers, Excel to format your data quickly, PowerPoint to help engage your audience and take your ideas further, and Outlook to stay close to your contacts and calendars. And since Office for Mac is compatible with Office for Windows, you can work on documents with virtually anyone on a Mac or PC. It's the easiest way to create, share, and access your documents from almost anywhere.
1-Pack Version
Licensed for one (1) user for install on one (1) Mac. A multi-user license is also available.
What's New and Improved
Manage your email and calendars with features that simplify staying connected and up to date.
Powerful writing tools help you create outstanding documents, then store, edit, and share your work easily on the web.
Clarify your financial picture with easy-to-analyze spreadsheets you can post online to view, edit, share, or coauthor with your team from virtually anywhere.
Create powerful, professional presentations that engage and inspire your audience, and present online as effectively as in person.
- Outlook for Mac
Keeps you connected to e-mail, schedules, calendars, to-do lists, and contacts. - Ribbon
Access favorite commands quickly, and personalize your workspace. - Office Web Apps*
Post, edit, and share files from virtually anywhere. - Coauthoring
Simultaneously edit a file with authors in multiple locations. - Template Gallery
Visually select the perfect template for your next project. - Photo Editing
Remove backgrounds or add color filters right within PowerPoint. - Full Screen View
Use full screen to maximize space for reading and writing. - Presentation Broadcast
Broadcast a presentation instantly online, even to people without PowerPoint. - Improved Publishing Layout View
Create visually rich newsletters, brochures, and documents easily. - Sparklines
Create small charts in a single cell to discover patterns in your data. - Visual Basic Support
Automate repetitive tasks by programming your favorite commands. - Dynamic Reordering
Rearrange layers of text, photos, and graphics quickly.
* Requires a Windows Live ID, internet connection and supported browser.
Work the way you want, where you want.
Microsoft Office for Mac adds rich new features to the familiar Office applications you already know, helping you to manage your home and business the way you want. Microsoft Office for Mac Home and Business 2011 includes:
Outlook for Mac 2011
Manage your email and calendars with features that simplify staying connected and up to date.
- Clean up your inbox by collapsing long email threads into a single Conversations.
- View your calendar within your e-mail and see your schedule displayed within a meeting invitation.
- Easily import your Outlook .pst files when you set up your new Mac.
- Consolidate e-mail from multiple accounts into a single folder.
- Manage your schedule and contacts without opening Outlook.
- Review your attachments with Quick Look, archive your files with Time Machine, and use Spotlight to search your e-mail.
Word for Mac 2011
Powerful writing tools help you create outstanding documents, then store, edit, and share your work easily on the web.
- Create visually rich newsletters, brochures, and documents in Publishing Layout view.
- Instantly see styles applied in your document with Visual Styles.
- Work in Full Screen view to maximize space for reading and writing documents.
- Rearrange layers of text, photos, and graphics quickly with Dynamic Reordering.
- View, edit, store, and share documents online with the Word Web App on Windows Live SkyDrive.*
- Share and coauthor Word documents with virtually anyone, whether they're using Office on a Mac or PC.
Excel for Mac 2011
Clarify your financial picture with easy-to-analyze spreadsheets you can post online to view, edit, share, or coauthor with your team from virtually anywhere.
- Clarify your data using Conditional Formatting with icons, data bars, and color scales.
- Spot trends with new Sparklines, small charts that fit in a single cell.
- Spend more time analyzing data and less time sifting through it with PivotTables.
- Organize, filter, and format related data with Excel tables.
- Increase efficiency and save time by automating repetitive tasks using Visual Basic.
- View, edit, store, and share spreadsheets online with the Excel Web App on Windows Live SkyDrive.*
- Share and coauthor Excel spreadsheets with virtually anyone, whether they're using Office on a Mac or PC.
PowerPoint for Mac 2011
Create powerful, professional presentations that engage and inspire your audience, and present online as effectively as in person.
- Remove backgrounds or add color filters to your photos right within PowerPoint.
- Move beyond the conference room and broadcast your presentations online.
- Rearrange layers of text, photos, and graphics quickly with Dynamic Reordering.
- Rehearse, check your timing, and take notes in Presenter View.
- View, edit, store, and share Office documents online with the PowerPoint Web App on Windows Live SkyDrive.*
- Share and coauthor PowerPoint presentations with virtually anyone, whether they're using Office on a Mac or PC.
* Requires a Windows Live ID, internet connection and supported browser.
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