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Often times when other applications like Safari or iTunes are open in conjunction with word or powerpoint, the office application "unexpectedly closes."

Great new features, but still waiting for an update from apple that will fix this extremely obnoxious problem

(3001 of 3708 people found this review useful)

The elimination of VBA from Excel 2008 means that users who depend on features like Solver, histograms, extended statistical analyses (such as ANOVA), and custom VBA enhancements are left out in the cold. We are left with two options: (1)stay with Excel 2004 or (2)buy the Windows version (Excel 2007). The first option penalizes Intel-based Mac users with reduced performance. I've reluctantly gone with the second option - which requires Vista or XP and Parallels (or similar program). The other problem with this approach is the new "Ribbon" interface to the Office products. Expect to lose a couple of weeks of productivity as your learn how to locate your favorite functions.

(2610 of 3387 people found this review useful)

The first Excel workbook that I tried to open (written using MS Office 2000 for Windows) resulted in the following message - "This file contains Visual Basic macros. Visual Basic macros do not work in Office 2008 for Mac."

So treat with a little caution the wording on the Apple.com webpage for this particular product that says ".....so you can confidently share documents with friends and colleagues whatever system they're using."

The price of this software is very attractive (especially since it allows up to three Macs in a household to run the software simultaneously), but for me, because of the 'Visual Basic macro' problem, its back to my old Windows-based laptop!

(1026 of 1257 people found this review useful)

It's definitely better than previous versions of Office for Mac, and is arguably better than its Windows counterpart. However, I still find it very difficult to justify the cost for what you get, but if what you need is maximum Word/Excel/PowerPoint compatibility then Office 2008 is your only real option, as iWork, while great, still has some compatibility issues.

So, if you want it just to create nice documents, spreadsheets etc, then I'd recommend iWorks for the sheer value for money and ease-of-use. But if you need compatibility then 2008 is your best-bet. Microsoft are however showing that they can innovate and improve their software though, and Office 2008 is a definite step in the right direction.

(710 of 883 people found this review useful)

Installation was easy enough, but since installing i have had so many problems!
Office 2008 will not open, 2004 will not open either.
Fonts have been messed up (not just in office but in other applications), and printers within quark now have issues.
I cannot comment on compatibly issues with previous versions (inc cross platform issues) as i cannot open any office documents.
Microsoft have a habit of making substandard software which requires several updates to make it fully functional.
I would suggest waiting until a major update is released until you install.
I have now removed it and returned my mac back to normal.

(737 of 982 people found this review useful)

After reading several reviews that stated problems with backward compatibly, I was hesitant to recommend this upgrade to my clients until my copy arrived and I could check it out myself. Microsoft Office 2007 (Windows) and Office 2008 share a new XML file format as their new .docx or .xlsx default file type. This can be changed in the Preference window of Word or Excel to default to the Office 97-2004 .doc file type for Word and .xls for Excel. This will ensure backward compatibility of your new documents until the balance of users have migrated to the new version which may occur in the next year or two. If you are on an Intel processor this version is definitely faster than 2004. The installer will also allow you to keep your Office 2004 or X version on the computer in case you want to be certain that you can always create a compatible _aw_document.

The path to change the default file setting in Word is from the menu Word>Preferences>Save>Save Word files as> Word 97-2004 Document (.doc)

The path to change the default setting in Excel is from the menu Excel>Preferences>Compatibility>Save files in this format> Excel 97-2004 Workbook (.xls)

(435 of 470 people found this review useful)

I was on the Apple waiting list to get Office '08 and couldn't wait to install it. A week later I have uninstalled it, gone back to Office 04 and now am unable to read the documents Word up-converted to 08. To say that I'm P.O'd would be a vast understatement.

Entourage '08 is like writing email with blunt scissors and Crayons. Why can't Microsoft (or Apple) come up with an email program even half as good as Outlook? Why does Entourage even exist? In the Microsoft Office suite, having Entourage instead of Outlook is an admission that MS doesn't want anyone to expect similar performance or compatibility (such as only being able to import 426 Outlook contacts out of my 2,600).

Word '08 is an upgrade and I generally find it more pro than '08. On the other hand, Excel '08 is juvenile . . . something you might expect in Works. Powerpoint '08 is incrementally improved, and I'd get used to it if I hadn't uninstalled the suite.

In short, DO NOT "upgrade" to '08, and if you are installing Office for the first time, I'd seriously consider shopping for the 2004 edition. Better yet, put VM or Parallels on your Mac and run the "real" Office from the Windows interface. I hate to slam a Mac product so badly, and I'm not into conspiracy theories, but it certainly seems like there is a concerted effort to keep Mac Office on a MUCH lower tier than it's big brother up in Washington.

(337 of 377 people found this review useful)

My Entourage was crashing every few weeks because my data base was too large. The MS guys at the Mac World Booth in SF told me this is the upgrade that would fix all that. HA!

You can't believe the number of things wrong with 2008.

#1 It changes docs to a format no one can read unless they have 2008! Wow! this is a light year jump backwards for compatibility - at least with 2004 PC users could read my Word Docs.

#2 It doesn't sync easily with your iPhone, at least 2004 managed to sync with address book

#3 They've removed VBA from Excel 2008 which means that users who depend on features like Solver, histograms, extended statistical analyses are SOL.

Overall MS 2008 has done a great job of making Apple look like a bad operating system.

(351 of 411 people found this review useful)