November 17th, 2009

Microsoft offers Office 2008 promotion for the holidays

Posted by David Morgenstern @ 6:52 pm

Categories: Microsoft, Office

Tags: Apple Macintosh, Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Office, Desktops, Office Suites, Software, Hardware, David Morgenstern

Microsoft on Tuesday said customers can now purchase versions of Office 2009 for Mac with a discount ranging from $20 to $50.

The deal was promoted on Microsoft’s Mac Business Unit blog with a post by senior marketing manager Amanda Lefebvre. She called it the “gift of productivity,” which for some may not have quite the same heartfelt resonance as the famous O’Henry story.

So here’s the deal…starting today (November 17), you too can add a little productivity to your life AND save a few bucks. At participating resellers you can save:

- $20 on Office 2008 for Mac Home & Student Edition
- $50 on Office 2008 for Mac Business Edition
- $40 on Office 2008 for Mac Business Edition Upgrade

The promotion will run through January 5, 2010.

September 30th, 2009

iWork '09 adds security to Web service

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 9:21 pm

Categories: Microsoft, Office, Software, Software Update, iWork

Tags: Security, Web, Web Service, Apple Inc., Apple iWork, Apple Mac OS, Microsoft Office, Operating Systems, Software, Office Suites

Apple’s iWork ‘09 productivity suite ($79) enjoyed an upgrade to version 9.0.3 today. The update addresses general compatibility issues, improves overall stability, updates the help, and fixes a number of other minor issues in Keynote, Pages, and Numbers according to Apple.

The 66MB update addresses issues with the size of images and movies, working with dates and durations, exporting to CSV and improves the comment notification and security in Apple’s companion cloud service iWork.com.

Keynote is the best presentation application for the Mac OS – bar none. It blows PowerPoint out of the water. I like Pages because it comes with a lot of nice templates for flyers and such, but must confess that I rarely use Numbers.

What’s your take on Apple’s competitor to Microsoft Office? Do you use it?

August 13th, 2009

Coming in 2010: New Mac Office, and finally, Outlook

Posted by David Morgenstern @ 11:47 am

Categories: Microsoft, Office

Tags: Apple Macintosh, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Office, Desktops, Hardware, David Morgenstern

In a conference call on Thursday, Microsoft’s Mac Business Unit said it will add Outlook to its next release of Office for the Macintosh, due in the fourth quarter of 2010.

According to a post on the Office for Mac Team blog, Eric Wilfred, general manager of the division, said the next version of Office for Mac will launch in time for the 2010 Holiday season. The current version is called Office 2008 for Mac.

This next version includes a new application – Outlook for Mac. Outlook for Mac is being built from the ground up as a Mac OS X application using Cocoa. It will have a new database that delivers a reliable, high performance, and integrated experience with Mac OS X. Users will be able to back-up with Time Machine and search email, calendar and contacts with Spotlight.

Additionally, Outlook for Mac and the rest of Office will include Information Rights Management, which helps keep sensitive information for only audiences that you intend. IRM compatibility will make it possible for Mac users to share and receive sensitive information using Microsoft Office tools.

In addition, Wilfred said will reduce its SKUs for the current Office 2008 for Mac, leaving two configs: Office 2008 for Mac Home & Student Edition, and the new Office 2008 for Mac Business Edition.

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February 3rd, 2009

Microsoft vs. Apple: Beware of your 'killer instinct'

Posted by David Morgenstern @ 10:53 am

Categories: Microsoft, Office, Windows

Tags: Apple Macintosh, Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., Desktops, Hardware, David Morgenstern

Is Apple is putting such a big hurt on Microsoft that Redmond should retarget Apple and pull the plug on its Macintosh Business Unit? That’s what some blogsters are saying. What are they smoking?

According to my ZDNet colleague Jason Perlow, Microsoft must get its groove, or “killer instinct” back. So far, so good. But then he goes afield:

In fact, given the current economy, and the stress that Microsoft is now under to retain market share and preserve its bread and butter business — Windows and Office — that maybe it is time for the company to reconsider whether or not operating a Macintosh Business Unit is really such a good idea.

We’ve all heard about the supposed obsession that Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer has had for “Killing Google.“ I think that energy is misdirected — they should be focusing their efforts on Killing Apple instead and hurting them in their worst time of crisis. I know, it’s a reptilian, bloodthirsty, and horrible thing to propose — to pick on Apple when Steve Jobs is sick and everyone is worried about whether or not the company can weather the economic downturn with its luxury products. Exactly. I propose that you return to doing what you do best, Microsoft — being bloodthirsty.

Wow, there’s so much wrong here, it’s hard to know where to begin. Let me offer just a few counterpoints to this thesis:

First, the big problem with Microsoft is Microsoft, it’s not Linux, or Google, or Apple. It’s all about creating realistic strategic and product plans and then executing on them. This is something that Apple and IBM appear to know how to do and Microsoft doesn’t. Vista, anyone?

At the same time, Perlow presents an interesting view into Microsoft’s corporate culture. In the corridors of Redmond, it’s all about “us versus them,” with “them” being the target of the month, year or decade: Apple, Oracle, IBM, Google, Netscape, the EU, whomever.

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January 6th, 2009

Cloud Computing: Apple vs. Microsoft

Posted by David Morgenstern @ 12:13 pm

Categories: Mac BU, Macworld Expo, Microsoft, Office, iWork

Tags: Microsoft Office Live Workspace, Apple Macintosh, Cloud Computing, Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., Document Collaboration Companion, Microsoft Office, Desktops, Office Suites, Software

Both Apple and Microsoft rolled out the beginnings of a cloud computing strategy on Tuesday. Apple introduced a beta of its iWork.com document sharing service and Microsoft’s Mac Business Unit unveiled Document Collaboration Companion for Mac Beta.

At the Macworld Expo keynote, Phil Shiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, announced the beta of iWork.com as a trailer of its iWork ‘09 introduction. The service will let iWork ‘09 users post documents to the online site as well as send notifications users and workgroups.

According to Shiller, the program converts the iWork document into a number of cross-platform formats for sharing files with Windows colleagues, including PDF and MS Word.

In a browser, the iWork.com document supports multiple notes along with related discussion threads as well as separate, document-wide discussions.

Analysis: While some folks want more cloud strategy, this implementation is clean, user-friendly and looks do-able for Apple. With all the problems with Mobile.Me, this service looks like a winner.

Meanwhile, stealing a bit of Apple’s spotlight on the cloud, Microsoft took aim at Office for Mac users will soon have “simplified and efficient collaboration” with connections to Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies and Microsoft Office Live Workspace. Due later this year, will be the result: Microsoft Document Collaboration Companion for Mac Beta.

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June 24th, 2008

Microsoft releases critical update for Office 2008 for Mac

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 5:58 pm

Categories: Microsoft, Office, Software, Software Update

Tags: Apple Macintosh, Critical Update, Microsoft Corp., Desktops, Microsoft Office, Hardware, Office Suites, Software, Jason D. O'Grady

Microsoft just pushed out a 153.3MB update for Office 2008 for Mac that’s labeled “critical.” You will get notified of the updated via Microsoft AutoUpdate the next time it phones home or you can download the patch directly from the MS support knowledgebase.

According to Article ID 953822 the Office 12.1.1 update fixes an issue that causes Office 2008 applications to exit unexpectedly when you open or use Office 2008 applications and an issue that causes the dates in a chart to change unexpectedly when you open a Word 2008 document or a PowerPoint 2008 presentation that contains a chart.

In addition, the Office 12.1.1. update addresses the following individual application improvements:

Word 2008 for Mac

• Spaces between words are preserved.
• Macros are preserved when you save a document that contains macros.
• Word documents open correctly when you double-click the document or when you download the document from a Web site.
• Items in Notebook Layout documents are preserved when the document is converted.
• Font size is preserved for text in tables.
• Reliability is improved when you save a document that contains an Area or Filled Radar chart in the .doc format.

Excel 2008 for Mac

• International decimal separators are accepted for error bars.
• Reliability is improved when chart data is updated.
• Excel workbooks open correctly when you double-click the workbook or when you download the workbook from a Web site.
• Reliability is improved when you reference or link to a sheet name that resembles a cell reference.
• Reliability is improved when you calculate or edit a formula.
• Embedded movies are no longer duplicated when you save a workbook in the .xls format.
• Reliability is improved when you save a workbook in the Microsoft Excel 5.0 Workbook format or in the Microsoft Excel 95 Workbook format.
• PivotTable reports are improved.

PowerPoint 2008 for Mac

• Performance is improved.

Entourage 2008 for Mac

• Stability is improved when you wake the computer from sleep.

To install the Office 2008 for Mac 12.1.1 Update you must be running Mac OS X 10.4.9 (Tiger) or a later and have Microsoft Office 2008 Service Pack 1 (SP1) Update (12.1.0)  installed. To verify that the Office 2008 SP1 Update (12.1.0) is installed:

1. On the Go menu, click Applications.
2. Open the Microsoft Office 2008 folder, and then open any Office application. For example, open Word.
3. On the Word menu, click About Word.
4. In the About Word dialog box, examine the version number next to Latest Installed Update.

May 16th, 2008

Office 2008 for Mac: The straw that broke the backs of Microsoft's Windows developers?

Posted by David Morgenstern @ 10:53 am

Categories: Developer, Office, Windows

Tags: Developer, Apple Macintosh, Microsoft Office, Window, ISV, Microsoft VBA, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Corp., Engineer, Scripting Languages

Could it be that a Macintosh program will be the tipping point for the confidence that ISVs have in Microsoft as a technology partner? One c-level technologist for a Windows enterprise app says “no more” to Redmond’s vision.

I wrote the other day about Microsoft’s Mac Business Unit’s announcements about the Office 2008 for Mac Service Pack 1 and the eventual return of support for Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) to the Mac productivity suite.

One reader, a c-level executive at a enterprise ISV told me that this announcement out of Redmond was one waffle too many for his company, one that has relied on Microsoft since its beginnings. The company’s product is sold into Fortune 500 enterprises.

“Office 2008 is indicative of a larger problem at Microsoft. To borrow from Alan Cooper, the inmates are running the asylum [the author of the 1999 Inmates Are Running the Asylum: Why High-Tech Products Drive Us Crazy and How to Restore the Sanity]. The engineers are making changes with little regard for the millions — maybe billions — of people who depend on Microsoft technology. I wish the VBA flip-flop was the only example.”

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May 13th, 2008

The MS Office 2008 for Mac scandal continues

Posted by David Morgenstern @ 6:57 pm

Categories: Office, Software, Windows

Tags: Apple Macintosh, Microsoft VBA, Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Office 2004, MacTech, Ticktin, Scripting Languages, Microsoft Office, Desktops, Software/Web Development

Can Microsoft’s Macintosh Business Unit expect anything but frustration from its installed base of users? The excuses from the development team are wearing very, very thin.

The news today was that the group was able to get its first batch of 1,000 bug fixes, aka Office 2008 for Mac Service Pack 1, out in record time. This is good news and all Office for Mac users are pleased with the effort of the team. You can read the long list of “reliability” and “stability” improvements here.

But what are we to make of this comment by Mac BU General Manager Craig Eisler on the group’s blog:

We’ve paid attention to your feedback here on the blog as well as in other user forums and collected crash data through the Microsoft Error Report Protocol (MERP). The result is that you are going to have an even better experience with Office 2008 for Mac. This is a major update that focuses on overall stability, security and performance and you can get it for free from our download page.

Hurray! We don’t have to pay for the fixing of 1,000 or more bugs! Oh, other than the time it takes to download and install the 180MB patch. (BTW, the MS download page tells me that the update will take 7 hours and 19 minutes at 56K speed. Maybe that whiff of nostalgia will make me appreciate my DSL performance.)

And are we supposed to jump up and kick our heels for joy when SP1 lead engineer Erik Schwiebert highlights the news that after SP1, Excel charts will get custom error bars and axis tick manipulation — again?

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May 13th, 2008

Microsoft: Office '08 sales skyrocket, SP1 released, VBA coming back to Mac

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 3:55 pm

Categories: Announcement, Finance, Microsoft, Office, Software

Tags: Apple Macintosh, Microsoft Visual Basic, Microsoft VBA, Microsoft Corp., Sales, Mac BU, Desktops, Microsoft Office, Hardware, Office Suites

According to CNet Microsoft is selling copies of Office 2008 for Mac at a clip three times higher than the former 2004 version. “The company wouldn’t disclose sales numbers, but said the sales are the highest in the 19-year history of the unit. That continues a trend that has been going on for some time.”

Microsoft also released Office ‘08 for Mac Service Pack 1 today which contains over 1,000 fixes and improvements, including the return of custom error bars and axis tick manipulation in Excel charts. The full release notes are available. You can download the 180MB update directly from Mactopia or simply launch your favorite Office app and select Help/Check for Updates.

Microsoft’s MacBU sent out a press release at 12:01am PST today announcing that Visual Basic will be making its triumphant return to the Mac:

VBA Returns to Future Versions of Office for Mac

The Mac BU also announced it is bringing VBA-language support back to the next version of Office for Mac. Sharing information with customers as early as possible continues to be a priority for the Mac BU to allow customers to plan for their software needs. Although the Mac BU increased support in Office 2008 with alternate scripting tools such as Automator and AppleScript — and also worked with MacTech Magazine to create a reference guide, available at http://www.mactech.com/vba-transition-guide — the team recognizes that VBA-language support is important to a select group of customers who rely on sharing macros across platforms. The Mac BU is always working to meet customers’ needs and already is hard at work on the next version of Office for Mac.

Erik Schwiebert a Software Design Lead at Microsoft Corporation in the Macintosh Business Unit who’s been at Microsoft since September 1996 (and has been in the MacBU since the beginning) posted the skinny on the return of Visual Basic to the next version of Office for the Macintosh on his blog:

Yep, you read that right. VB is (well, will be) back, baby! When we came to the realization in 2006 that there was no way for us to keep VB in the product and still ship Office 2008 on any semblance of the schedule we wanted, we announced its removal, but kept looking at how to bring it back into the suite even before we shipped. Many of the technical challenges I wrote about then still remain, but for a while now I and several others have been working with a group of people who know a heck of a lot about the internals of VB, and once we determined that we could achieve the revival VB in the new schedule for the next version of Mac Office, we locked it into place on the feature list

May 12th, 2008

OpenOffice.org 3.0 Mac Beta sports new Aqua look

Posted by David Morgenstern @ 1:58 pm

Categories: Office, Software

Tags: Beta, OpenOffice.org, Compatibility Picture, OpenOffice, Office Suites, Software, David Morgenstern

The OpenOffice.org productivity suite will ditch the need for Mac users to run the X11 windowing system with Version 3.0. The update, now with a Beta Version in release, will offer limited VBA support, unlike Microsoft’s Mac Office suite.

The compatibility picture is improving with OpenOffice.org 3.0 and persons trying to compute in a Microsoft-free zone should take a look at the Beta Version released late last week.

There’s a rundown of the new features (as well as the changes first introduced in Version 2.0 and expanded) on the OpenOffice.org site.

Here are a few items that caught my eye:

Office 2007: partial compatibility. OpenOffice.org has read-write support for the binary formats (no change there) and read-only support for the “x” flavors used in the latest versions of Office.

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