Hi Elena;
You've posed a number of questions here so let's see if we can untangle them
one at a time
First, there is no Office 2004 for Windows. Office 2004 is a Mac version,
but both it & Office 2008 are comparable to Office 2003 for Windows. If
you're 'comfortable' with Office 2003 or Office 2004 there's no reason you
can't acclimate to Office 2008 if you give it a little time. The most
significant difference is that there is no VBA in Office 2008, but unless
you need to use Macros that shouldn't pose a problem.
Next, Office 2004 & Office 2008 are separate releases of Mac Office, so yes,
if you have one & want the other you'll have to pay for it... Unless the
vendor you bought 2008 from will allow an exchange, which is unlikely. There
is no "downgrade" option available.
Should you wind up with both versions you can have them both installed at
the same time & use whichever whenever. [The one exception is Entourage...
If you use it at all you can only use one version or the other. Once you
start using Entourage 2008 you can't revert to Entourage 2004. If you were
using 2004 you can upgrade to 2008 at any time or continue using Entourage
2004 as long as you have it installed even though you start using the other
Office 2008 programs.] There's no need to remove either version of Office,
but if you do you're able to re-install it whenever you're ready. Just make
sure to keep the disk & the sleeve with your Product Keys in a safe place.
As far as the distinction between the .doc & the .docx file formats:
Office 2008 can effectively work with either & you can set its default to
..doc if you wish. Keep in mind, though, that the new format is more stable,
more secure & more disk-efficient than the older binary file format, so for
any new documents you create it would be a better choice. The older format
does not support many of the features added in Office 2008, especially with
regard to the more sophisticated graphics features.
Other users continue to use the .doc format because that's what their
existing documents have been saved in. However, any Windows version 2000 or
later & any Mac version v.X or later can open & edit .docx files. Those
users only need the free converters supplied by Microsoft. If they've been
keeping up with their software updates they should already have the
converters whether they realize it or not.
HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac
