Mossberg reviews, recommends Office for Mac 2011
The newest version of Microsoft's office suite is faster and better, although it is missing a few minor features from the Windows version, Mossberg said in his review for the Wall Street Journal. Office for Mac 2011 is due out Oct. 26.
One of the main draws of Office for Mac 2011 is the addition of Outlook, the email, calendar and contacts program popular with business users. Outlook, which has been built as a Cocoa application from the ground up, will replace Entourage, a Mac-specific email client bundled with previous versions of Office for Mac. Office for Mac 2011 will allow users to import Outlook data files, but it is currently unable to export its data to Windows.
Office for Mac 2011 also adds the ribbon interface that was added to Windows Office several years ago. However, unlike the Windows version, the ribbons can be disabled in favor of the more familiar menu and toolbars, which have been retained in the Mac version.
Though Office for Mac 2011 is missing several features from its Windows counterpart, it has also gained some Mac-only features. According to Mossberg, the "Dynamic Re-order" feature and a new Full Screen view with minimal distractions are features specific to the Mac. Pivot charts in Excel, full video editing in PowerPoint, and a "backstage" feature are missing from the Mac version.
Mossberg conducted several compatibility and fidelity tests between the Windows and Mac versions of Office with generally favorable results, especially with documents created in the most recent Windows version, Office 2010. Cross-compatibility between Windows and Mac versions of Office has been an issue in the past.
Office Mac 2011 is currently available for pre-order from Amazon.com, which is offering release-date delivery. The Home and Student edition is $110 while the Home and Business edition is priced at $175.
52 Comments
Slim comments about Outlook, but I'm looking forward to it never-the-less. Hopefully it will be full-featured and on pare with the Win version, finally. Archived mail support would be boon for sure.
Those prices are also quite attractive. This could be a major hit for MS.
i think iWork is better compare to the previous version of office for mac, will see how office 11 and iWork 11 are going to be once they are available...
This article and, I presume, Mossberg's review have a fatal flaw. Without question, it is very important that Office 2011 is compatible with Office 2010. However, it is even more important that Office 2011 be compatible with the user's existing files. I know from personal experience that Office 2008 cannot open many of my legacy files, files that Office 2004 open without issue. I also know from personal experience that the situation is worse for Office 2007 users. Office 2008 can open legacy files that Office 2007 can't. It would certainly be nice if this situation were fixed in Office 2010 and Office 2011, but I doubt that is has been fixed or that it will be fixed.
It is also critical that Outlook 2011 be compatible with the user's Exchange server. Unfortunately, Outlook 2011 is incompatible with all versions of Exchange server older than Exchange Server 2007. Until my firm upgrades, I am stuck with Entourage 2008 (12.2).
The sole reason for Microsoft Office:mac is compatibility with the the vast installed base across both Windows and the Mac. For a significant number of users, Office 2011 is a massive FAIL in this regard. The slobbering over it is not deserved.
Wish I could disable the ribbon on my work computer. After 3 years I still cannot find some of the more obscure commands.
So far, there is no word about update pricing from Office 2008
Office 2011 is amazing. I've been using it for a couple of months now. It's faster, outlook is awesome, has the same drag and drop feature as mail app, presumably has exchange, though I don't use it. Honestly I already pre-ordered the full version.