News: Mac BU sweetens Office 2008 upgrade deal (Updated)

[Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]]

Microsoft has modified its special offer for potential Mac Office users.
Those who are just dying for a copy of Office now but are waiting for the
January release of Office 2008 can now buy any version of Office 2004 for
Mac and upgrade to 2008 Special Media Edition for the cost of shipping.
That's $6.99 in the US or $10 in Canada-I guess Microsoft hasn't heard yet
that the US dollar is valued below the Canadian dollar now.

But how is this different from the previous offer? In September, the "free"
upgrade to 2008 was for an equivalent version of Office. So, for example, if
you bought Office 2004 Student and Teacher Edition today, you would be able
to get Office 2008 Home and Student Edition for the cost of shipping in
January. Instead, you can now get the Special Media Edition, which is a
couple of steps up. Special Media Edition comes with all of the regular
Office goodness along with Microsoft Expression Media, a digital asset
management suite.

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/go/promotions/supersuitedeal/

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Andre:

I'm not sure we are any more enthusiastic for commercials about Microsoft
Office in here than we are for commercials for any other product.

Given that you are a specialist in Windows Vista, you may not yet have fully
evaluated the scope of the differences between Office 2007, and Office 2004,
and Office 2008.

Cheers

Microsoft has modified its special offer for potential Mac Office users.
Those who are just dying for a copy of Office now but are waiting for the
January release of Office 2008 can now buy any version of Office 2004 for
Mac and upgrade to 2008 Special Media Edition for the cost of shipping.
That's $6.99 in the US or $10 in Canada-I guess Microsoft hasn't heard yet
that the US dollar is valued below the Canadian dollar now.

But how is this different from the previous offer? In September, the "free"
upgrade to 2008 was for an equivalent version of Office. So, for example, if
you bought Office 2004 Student and Teacher Edition today, you would be able
to get Office 2008 Home and Student Edition for the cost of shipping in
January. Instead, you can now get the Special Media Edition, which is a
couple of steps up. Special Media Edition comes with all of the regular
Office goodness along with Microsoft Expression Media, a digital asset
management suite.

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/go/promotions/supersuitedeal/

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John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Sydney, Australia. S33°53'34.20 E151°14'54.50
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

If he hadn't borrowed the text from Ars Technica, it wouldn't have
sounded so much like a commercial.
http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2007/11/01/mac-bu-sweetens-office-2008-upgrade-deal

I was going to post the announcement myself, seeing as how I've been
advising everyone who considers upgrading to take advantage of the deal.

 

[PhoenixAwe]

Microsoft has modified its special offer for potential Mac Office users.
Those who are just dying for a copy of Office now but are waiting for the
January release of Office 2008 can now buy any version of Office 2004 for
Mac and upgrade to 2008 Special Media Edition for the cost of shipping.
That's $6.99 in the US or $10 in Canada-I guess Microsoft hasn't heard yet
that the US dollar is valued below the Canadian dollar now.

But how is this different from the previous offer? In September, the "free"
upgrade to 2008 was for an equivalent version of Office. So, for example, if
you bought Office 2004 Student and Teacher Edition today, you would be able
to get Office 2008 Home and Student Edition for the cost of shipping in
January. Instead, you can now get the Special Media Edition, which is a
couple of steps up. Special Media Edition comes with all of the regular
Office goodness along with Microsoft Expression Media, a digital asset
management suite.

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/go/promotions/supersuitedeal/

What happens to people who bought Office 2004 Student and Teacher
Edition under the old promotion? Will I get Office 2008 Home and
Student Edition or Office 2008 Special Media Edition? If I had known
that the terms of the promotion would change I would have waited.

 

[Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]]

I do know the differences between Office 2008 and Office 2004 and Office
2007. I do not see any major disadvantage with this release except the lack
of VBA support, a change from formatting and standard toolbals to the
Elements Gallery, and stronger emphasis on graphics by improving the parity
between the drawing tools on Office for Windows and Office for Mac. Also,
with the support for Office 2007's XML format, it should be a lot easier and
a more sensible choice for many corporate roll outs. Especially with this
being the first Universal Binary release of Office, it would be a sensible
update for those who prefer performance over VBA support.

 

[Tom Stiller]

Personally, I see that as an advantage, considering how many Word marco
viruses and trojans use VB to do their dirty work.

Well, I have some rather Excel macros that I use every day and cringe at
the thought of converting them to whatever the VBA replacement is. I'll
stick with the version of Office that I have until it no longer works
and then I move to some version of OpenOffice.

 

[Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]]

Please remember Microsoft is planning on phasing out VBA on Office for
Windows future releases. So, transitioning from it now with the release of
Office 2008 is not a bad idea, since the future successor on the Windows
side might use some open standard that compatible with Apple Script.

 

[Tom Stiller]

Please remember Microsoft is planning on phasing out VBA on Office
for Windows future releases. So, transitioning from it now with the
release of Office 2008 is not a bad idea, since the future successor
on the Windows side might use some open standard that compatible with
Apple Script.

I guess I wasn't clear. When my current version of Office, which
supports VBA, no longer works, I'll transition to a different product.
I'm going to have to rewrite the macros anyway so I might as well do it
for a product that supports open standards.

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Andre:

Not any more, according to my rumours. They are apparently intending to do
an upgrade release of VBA in Office PC. I understand that the death of VBA
is one of those about which reports have been "greatly exaggerated".

I would expect a migration to VBA.NET at some point in the future, but not
the abandonment of VBA.

I can't think of any "open standard" language that would simultaneously be
compatible with AppleScript and with the Microsoft Office object model.

The architectures are completely different.

I know there were some anti-VBA zealots in Microsoft on the PC side that
"wanted" to get rid of VBA. But the Fortune 500 companies all picked up the
phone to Bill Gates in unison and said "no". And some of them were not
especially polite. It won't happen. Not in Steve Ballmer's lifetime

I also believe that if the Mac business community can make enough noise (and
maybe resist buying Office 2008) that VBA will re-appear in a future version
of Mac Office.

The bottom line is that an Office suite without automation is simply not
useful in modern business. And no corporation can afford to develop and
maintain two versions of the automation code. Read my lips: this is not
going to happen Corporate automation is not simple stuff that can be
"recorded" from a few keystrokes or assembled from Automator Actions. Some
of these things are major development projects that may occupy three or four
developers for a year or more.

So: Unless Macs start to out-sell PCs in corporate business, the automation
will be written in VBA, and until Mac Office learns to speak VBA again, it
simply isn't "Office". It's just not "useful" in business.

That's why you are "hearing" a stunned silence from the Mac community.
Sure, the Mac Macs and the home users are rabbiting on at great length. But
they are easily impressed by the reality distortion field large software
companies can create.

The rest of us are looking at this thing with dawning horror, and wondering
how on earth we are going to get our work done in an Office 2008 world.

Abandoning our Macs is not going to happen VBA.NET is a possibility, if
we get the promised "automatic upgrade" from VBA.

There are other possibilities that I am sure Microsoft would rather we did
not speculate about

Cheers

Please remember Microsoft is planning on phasing out VBA on Office for
Windows future releases. So, transitioning from it now with the release of
Office 2008 is not a bad idea, since the future successor on the Windows
side might use some open standard that compatible with Apple Script.

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Sydney, Australia. S33°53'34.20 E151°14'54.50
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

What happens to people who bought Office 2004 Student and Teacher
Edition under the old promotion? Will I get Office 2008 Home and
Student Edition or Office 2008 Special Media Edition? If I had known
that the terms of the promotion would change I would have waited.

You are stuck with the old promotion, because of the date on the
receipt--the two promotions are applicable to different time periods.
You can access the old promotion coupon/redemption here:
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/go/promotions/

Might go ahead and download it now.

 

[JE McGimpsey]

The rest of us are looking at this thing with dawning horror, and wondering
how on earth we are going to get our work done in an Office 2008 world.

Abandoning our Macs is not going to happen VBA.NET is a possibility, if
we get the promised "automatic upgrade" from VBA.

I have two die-hard Mac-head clients (so far) that have to purchase a
number of machines before the end of the tax year. After much angst,
they've decided to go with loaded MacBookPros, Parallels, and
WinOffice2003.

They've been good clients for us, paying tens of thousands of dollars to
have us write MacVBA applications and to adapt WinOffice/VBA
applications for MacVBA. But the business case for
Office2008/Applescript over the three year life of the machines or six
to ten-year life of the applications just can't be made (even with
modeling software that *I've* written!<g>). Their tolerance for ugliness
is greater than their tolerance for mortally crippled productivity.

In anticipation of Office2008, we've had exactly five clients ask us for
quotes for converting moderately complex VBA applications to
Applescript. For two, the inability to drive scripts via events stopped
the conversation in the first thirty seconds. One just belly-laughed at
our estimate, and I'm still waiting to hear from two (and those quotes
weren't billing for time to develop scripts and automator actions that I
figured we could resell).

And while I've pitched XL4M solutions (which still work just fine
cross-platform), I've had zero takers.

If MacBU can't make a business case to MS Corporate to get the *massive*
influx of resources necessary to develop automation that works
cross-platform in the next year or so, I don't see how Mac Office 14
(the planned successor to 2008) gets to the door, or even how MacBU
successfully justifies its own continued existence. At best, MacOffice
completes the slide to hobby software - MS Works for Mac.

My guess is that, by this time next year, whatever development business
we have will be 100% WinOffice.

I'd love to be wrong.

 

[Elliott Roper]

I have two die-hard Mac-head clients (so far) that have to purchase a
number of machines before the end of the tax year. After much angst,
they've decided to go with loaded MacBookPros, Parallels, and
WinOffice2003.

They've been good clients for us, paying tens of thousands of dollars to
have us write MacVBA applications and to adapt WinOffice/VBA
applications for MacVBA. But the business case for
Office2008/Applescript over the three year life of the machines or six
to ten-year life of the applications just can't be made (even with
modeling software that *I've* written!<g>). Their tolerance for ugliness
is greater than their tolerance for mortally crippled productivity.

In anticipation of Office2008, we've had exactly five clients ask us for
quotes for converting moderately complex VBA applications to
Applescript. For two, the inability to drive scripts via events stopped
the conversation in the first thirty seconds. One just belly-laughed at
our estimate, and I'm still waiting to hear from two (and those quotes
weren't billing for time to develop scripts and automator actions that I
figured we could resell).

And while I've pitched XL4M solutions (which still work just fine
cross-platform), I've had zero takers.

If MacBU can't make a business case to MS Corporate to get the *massive*
influx of resources necessary to develop automation that works
cross-platform in the next year or so, I don't see how Mac Office 14
(the planned successor to 2008) gets to the door, or even how MacBU
successfully justifies its own continued existence. At best, MacOffice
completes the slide to hobby software - MS Works for Mac.

My guess is that, by this time next year, whatever development business
we have will be 100% WinOffice.

I'd love to be wrong.

You don't have too much scope for being wrong with that analysis.
Rock(Mac Office)Hard Place

Office for Mac is not going to keep the pros happy.
Pages is more than good enough for the church newsletter bunch. [1]

it is not just VBA, it's the Carbon code base. Microsoft and Adobe are
stuck in the tarpit. Each must make some tough decisions about staying
in the Mac biz.

My bet is on Office 2008 being the last MS product for Mac that isn't a
mouse. Windows Office has to go .NET and there is no realistic chance
of a Cocoa .NET from MS anytime before hell freezes over.

1. But Apple has a lot of work to do on Numbers before it gets within a
bull's roar of Excel.

 

[mrdave1981]

I do know the differences between Office 2008 and Office 2004 and Office
2007. I do not see any major disadvantage with this release except the lack
of VBA support, a change from formatting and standard toolbals to the
Elements Gallery, and stronger emphasis on graphics by improving the parity
between the drawing tools on Office for Windows and Office for Mac. Also,
with the support for Office 2007's XML format, it should be a lot easier and
a more sensible choice for many corporate roll outs. Especially with this
being the first Universal Binary release of Office, it would be a sensible
update for those who prefer performance over VBA support.

XMP is a standard that many corporates are looking at when it comes to
digital media storage, archiving and retrieval. While the file system
is sometimes sufficient most corps are looking at XMP compliant DAM
solutions for media libraries. FotoWare developed out of Norway is
one of the leaders in this area. Entuitive Technologies www.en2tech.com
is a US partner, offering a Corporate focused solution called Cameleon.

 

[John McGhie]

Sorry, no commercials in here please.

XMP is a standard that many corporates are looking at when it comes to
digital media storage, archiving and retrieval. While the file system
is sometimes sufficient most corps are looking at XMP compliant DAM
solutions for media libraries. xxxxxxxxxxxx.

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Nhulunbuy, Northern Territory, Australia
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[John McGhie]

No

I sent it off to the de-spaminator as well. It's gone from the Microsoft
servers now

The spam bot doesn't miss much, but it let that one through

Cheers

You don't actually think they will honor that request, do you?

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Nhulunbuy, Northern Territory, Australia
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]