Mac Office 2008 launches in SA
February 4, 2008 - By Justin Hartman
On Friday Office Mac 2008 was launched to the South African media and initial thoughts on this new version are that it’s definitely a step up from previous versions of the software.
This new version includes updates to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Entourage as well as a new version of MSN Messenger. Have a look at the video below for an introduction to Office 2008.
Get the Flash Player to see this player.
Some of the key highlights include:
- A new Universal binary built by Mac users.
- Office 2008 now supports Open XML file formats which allows for better compatibility with Windows users.
- A nifty new Elements Gallery which builds the foundation of the new interface.
- There is also a new OfficeArt engine which has *hundreds of graphics to choose from.
- SmartArt is a fantastic way to easily convert data into graphics or change styles in documents easily.
- The new Themes capability makes applying styles across documents much easier.
While this new version is a major improvement I’m not wowed just yet. The demo was great and it looks a hell of a lot better but overall it looks like Office 2008 has just caught up with Apple’s iWork applications.
Pricing of the new versions of Mac Office 2008 range from around R1,400 to R4,000 depending on what your requirements are. Most people in an office environment will need to buy the most expensive version to get all the applications in the suite.
Rate this review:
(5 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
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Filed Under Apple, Gadget News, Microsoft, Software
Hmmm. But better than MS Office 2007 for PC?
Andy I have to say MUCH!!!! - but then I’m a mac fan-boy
I would just REALLY like to know if a MacBook (maybe with a bigger HDD) is good enough - or if power users (it’s not like I’m rendering video!) should not think about anything less than a MacBook PRO.
Riddle me that!
As a Macbook pro user I would honestly suggest spending the cash, as you are clearly thinking about it, to get a Pro. Well worth it, well worth the peace of mind and the lack of hassle when processing masses of different processes.
Well Andy it’s a difficult decision that. I’ve contact Apple to get a MacBook so we can compare the two machines so this will definately be a review in the coming weeks.
I must say - its a big step to go from like R12,000 to R20,000 but for me it’s worth it. The one thing I don’t like about the MacBook is the 13″ screen. Entry level MacBook Pro comes with 15.4″ at a resolution of 1440×900 and in my option it’s worth it just for the 15 inch screen.
Personally I found a Macbook to be adequate for me as a priority was portability. I’ve used it for some pretty intense graphics processing and it has performed very, very admirably. That said the Pro is an awesome machine but for me it wasn’t worth paying more for a machine I would be lugging around multiple times a day and the only extra was a bigger screen (I have a 19″ external screen anyway) and a better graphics card.
On the topic of Office 2008: I just got a copy today and it definitely seems a bit faster than 2004 on an Intel Mac. It’s certainly not as fast as iWork but I feel as though iWork is a lot less substantial than the Office software.
While I haven’t had time to test it out extensively the new interface is fantastic and it seems a lot easier to use. I used to hate the old Word as finding a decent level of zoom used to drive me insane (possibly due to my “small” 13 inch screen :P). I’d recommend Office 2008, it’s a substantial upgrade purely from a visual point of view.
From reading this review I’m convinced that for serious power users, the windows version of Office is far superior. No SQL support, macros etc etc.
I found the iWork comment interesting, could you perhaps elaborate?
Iwork just doesn’t have the same level of features and templates in my mind. That said I have a minimal level of understanding of the features of iWork but Office seems to have more features.
Thanks Saul, that’s what I would have thought. I was more interested in Justin’s comment,
“overall it looks like Office 2008 has just caught up with Apple’s iWork applications.”
Hopefully, he can justify this.
@Andrew I think you’re potentially right. I’m no power user so Mac Office looks good for what I would need but I still prefer iWork personally. I think my viewpoint on iWork is that Apple know how to make things pretty and functional and it was a refreshing change from Office 2004.
PowerPoint can’t compete with Keynote (IMHO), Numbers is much more intuitive than Excel while Pages gives some nice features for actual page layout as well as being a text editor. But again, let me stress, I’m no power user!!!!
@SaulK - I agree with the template issues. There simply isn’t enough and while there are websites with templates on it they too are limited. The one thing that REALLY impressed me with Mac Office is that they’ve spent a lot of time developing hundreds of new templates and graphic art - they did very well here.
Stupid-question-with-zero-effort-on-google-time
Are iWork documents compatible with the Office counterpart? Ex. doc(x)?
My Mac book Pro really needs some software upgrades, collecting dust at this stage, since most documents I work with now is in the Office 07 family aka the x extension.
Damn it, sorry forgot to add something. Sorry for all these DPosts.
As much as I love my Mac Book Pro, I just wished they would give some bigger between the updates on the model. Missed the OLED displays by a month :/
From a psychological point of view, I feel outdated, and the sad thing is that even if I did upgrade now, I’ d probably be outdated with in 6 months.
Charl, to answer the question with compatibility the short answer is YES they are compatible. iWork opens up all Microsoft documents but automatically converts them to either Pages, Numbers or Keynote so you can keep re-editing a Word Doc for example.
You can also export to Microsoft formats as well as PDF but what I’d like to see in iWork is the ability to edit a Microsoft document without converting it to iWork first.
In terms of the upgrades I feel your pain. Personally I would have taken the MBP back to Apple and demanded an upgrade. This is a rubbish tactic to sell units and then upgrade models in a few weeks. I guess this is how technology goes
Thanks for the reply. Great to hear that they are compatible, even if it needs a conversion. I did go and complain, but I guess my bartering or my threats weren’t enough, usually the hellopeter approach works with people in SA, but I only walked away with a damn skin
The look and feel seems better in Windows Vista -but- the real hands-on work seems to be easier to do using the relatively “cleaner” MacOS (2008) version.
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