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| Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac | 
 enlarge | From: Microsoft Software
Category: Software
List Price: $399.95
Buy New: $125.00
You Save: $274.95 (69%)
New (50) Used (8) from $125.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  75 reviews
Sales Rank: 164
Format: Dvd-rom
Platforms: Macintosh, Mac Os X
Media: DVD-ROM
Edition: Standard
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3
Dimensions (in): 0.1 x 0.1 x 0
MPN: 73101727
Model: 73101727
UPC: 605433009974
EAN: 0605433009974
Release Date: January 15, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Office 2008 disappointing December 16, 2008
Having been a user of previous Office for Mac versions, I have to say, this is more like a downgrade than an upgrade. Out of the box, the first thing I noticed was that all previously created macros no longer function. (I found out this is because Visual Basic has been dropped.)
I have needed to have a Mac version of Office because my employer requires all documents to be in one of Office's formats (Word, Excel or PowerPoint.) While the documents can be opened cross-platform, I noticed that some of the more highly formatted Windows Word documents don't image as well on the Mac. (Alignment problems being the most noticeable flaw.)
Fortunately for me, most of the documents I need to create don't need fancy formatting, so the cross-platform capability is sufficient (I can have my Mac created documents opened on a Windows PC.)
Another fortunate note is that I can keep an older version of Office for Mac on my Mac so I can still use the macros I need in the old version. If necessary, I can then open the older version's documents, again, within Office 2008 to re-save in a newer format.
Hopefully Microsoft will address these issues and release a downloadable update. However, out-of-the box, I would say, stay with an older version, if you can, at this time.
 Fine, but iWork better for me December 13, 2008
Well I've spent about two weeks with this 2008 version, and my conclusion is... I still prefer iWork. Yeah I know Office has more features, but it's so dense compared to the Apple software. I still find it useful as my son needs it for school, but other than that I still find myself always wanting to use Pages or Numbers. On the plus side, this one seems better thatn Office 2004. It's more intuitive, and I do like the formula builder feature in Excel.
 A Fine Edition of a Fine Product December 12, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Past versions of Office installed the old fashioned Mac way, you dragged the program to your hard drive and presto, you were installed. Not so anymore. Now, like everything else in the Mac universe (the Vista universe as well) Microsoft has installed an installer program, which not only installs, but uninstalls your older version of Office. Not a big deal as far as I'm concerned, but if you use Visual Basic, you're going to be upset, because there is no VBA in this version, but I hear it's coming later.
As for the applications in Office, Word is the one I use most and almost exclusively, but if you're like me, I'd recommend Office instead of Word as a standalone, as it's not that much more and you never know when you're going to need to use Excel. Hey, now you can balance you checkbook with it with easy as all get out (wasn't so easy before), so you just might find you'll use it more than you'd think.
Back to Word, I use it all day, everyday, and I wouldn't say I'm in love with it, because to me it means work and who likes work? Not me, I'd rather be away from my computer any day, but I've go this bad habit I need to support, I like to eat and Word just plain simply makes it easier for me to get my work done. I've tried other word processors, from the nice Mellel to Apple's Pages, but I always come back to Word. I suppose because I know and understand it. Better the devil you know. However, Word is no longer a devil. It's pretty intuitive now. I know, shocker of shocker, hard to believe, but Microsoft's Mac Business Unit have really cooked up a winner here. I think so anyway.
If you were a Word 2004 user you might miss all those toolbars, I don't miss `em in the least, but if you do, you can get them back. You can make 2008 look just like 2004 if you want, but who'd want to. I like the new palettes and heck I've long ago learned all the menu commands, so who needs a toolbar or palette anyway?
All that said, I'm not all that pleased with the new docx which is Words new default way to save your work. I changed it back to doc in preferences. I don't know why Microsoft did this, but I'm betting they have a secret reason that's going to be revealed at a later day that will blow everybody away, but until then I'll be saving in doc format so that all my work is compatible.
Entourage is another program I never use, but I played around with it and I like the My Day floating app. It's now my exclusive calendar program and though I never used to make to do lists, I do now. I could go on raving about this version of Word, I really, really like it, but I think you've probably figured that out by now. In conclusion this is a fine edition of a fine product which is now more Mac like than ever. Check it out, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
No Longer the Enemy December 11, 2008
Right off the bat there is a couple things you want to do right after you install Office for Mac 2008 and you can do them both in Office's preferences. One, you want to change the program so it's save your Word docs in, well, the .doc format, instead of Words new, not compatible with anything else format, docx. Second you want to set the prefs to get rid of that annoying as all get out Project Gallery. Go the the settings tab and uncheck the "Show Project Gallery at Startup" box. You'll be glad you did.
I guess I'm one of those rare people who really likes Vista, so I don't object at all to the Vista like icons which ride on top of the Word documents in the new interface, but if all that stuff on top of your document bothers you, don't worry, you can turn them all off as all of those commands can be accessed via the menu items or the tools palette.
Like the Vista version there is now a toolbox which is a separate window which has seven tools palettes in it which let you manage things like Fonts and Styles or Alignment and Numbering or Margins or Borders. And one thing I really like about this version of Word is how easy it is to add pictures. Just drag `em onto your document and there they are. What could be simpler. Okay, you could do that before, but heck, it's nifty as all get out. You can also use the object palette to add clip art and the program comes with lots of it.
Word also now has new layout modes which makes publishing a newsletter or making flyers for your local PTA event easy peasy.
This program is very, very Mac like which you'll see and appreciate once you open the preferences panel. Amazing, it looks just like and works just like the systems preferences. I know a lot of this might be hard for a lot of Apple fans to swallow (and I am an Apple fan), because many of them (us) view or have viewed Microsoft as the enemy and they'd (we'd) go searching for anything we could find to replace a Microsoft program. Well, I'm here to say you (we) don't have to do that anymore. Microsoft is no longer the enemy. It's true, Microsoft has become the Mac's new best friend.
Better than Office 2004 and that's Really Saying Something December 11, 2008
I don't understand, the people at CNET can say Office for the Mac 2008 doesn't have all the features that Office for Windows 2007 has. I don't agree. I use the Windows version at home and have the Mac version on three different computers. One at work now and a desktop (iMac) and a laptop (PowerBook G4) and to me the Mac version is every bit as robust and feature rich as the Windows version. I don't then Microsoft skimped a bit here, in fact I think they went all out.
In my opinion this is the best productivity software you can buy for the Mac, bar none. Sure, I suppose there are less costly ways to go to get a lot of the features here, but hey, you bought a Mac, so you've already paid a bit more than you'd pay for a Dell or an HP machine. I know, money is tight for a lot of people these days, but if you use your computer to earn a living, then this is a program that'll pay for itself. If you don't have Office on your Mac, you need it.
However, do you need it if you have the 2004 version. Maybe not. Seriously, the 2004 version does everything I want it to do and though it's not running natively on my Intel iMac, I'd swear you'd never know. The new (2008) version seems a little snappier, but not so much that I'd spring for the upgrade. Also the interface is gorgeous, much better than the 2004 version, but still, probably not worth the price of an upgrade.
I guess that's Microsoft's curse, they made the last version so doggone good, that you hate to leave it and leave it I did, because when you install the 2008 version it removes the earlier version. That kind of ticked me off at first, but I don't really need it anymore as the never version is better. But, like I said, if you have the older version, you'll have to check the state of your wallet, before upgrading.
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