No Visual Basic Macros in excel 08

[LG_DK]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel

I would not have bought this for me and my wife if I knew that there were No Visual Basic Macros in excel 08.

I would have used openoffice.org.

Now I will have to pay for yet another upgrade to microsoft when they decide to have a work around.

I cannot wait for linux/java to catch up.

This is the DK of the LG DK.

 

[JE McGimpsey]

I would not have bought this for me and my wife if I knew that there were No
Visual Basic Macros in excel 08.

We all understand your frustration.

However, given that the lack of VBA in Office08 was announced nearly two
years ago, it's a bit surprising that pre-purchase research didn't turn
up that lack.

In any case, since nobody here can do anything to overcome that
deficiency, it's unlikely you'll get any sort of helpful response on
this newsgroup, especially since most of the people who post here are
users, just like you.

I would have used openoffice.org.

You still can, of course.

Now I will have to pay for yet another upgrade to microsoft when they
decide to have a work around.

I'd suggest investigating very carefully what MacOfficeNext will have to
offer. It won't be a workaround, surely, but it most certainly won't be
a clone of WinOfficeNext.

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel

I would not have bought this for me and my wife if I knew that there were No Visual Basic Macros in excel 08.

I would have used openoffice.org.

Now I will have to pay for yet another upgrade to microsoft when they decide to have a work around.

I cannot wait for linux/java to catch up.

This is the DK of the LG DK.

Hi,

You're not stuck with the software. There is a money-back guarantee.
http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/productrefund/refund.mspx

I think you'd be better off using Office 2004 over OpenOffice because
OpenOffice's implementation of Visual Basic is pretty lame. You're not
allowed to call one sub from another, many commands have not been
implemented, the OO object model is different so some commands will
never work, the syntax is often different, and VB applies only to Calc,
not any other app.

If you install Office 2004 and update it with the Open XML converter
you'll be able to work with the new XLM office files and also to save in
the new format. There are some nifty new things in office 2008, but 2004
is a fine product and will certainly do the job for you.

Microsoft took it in the chin by dropping VBA support in 2008 and
learned the hard way that VB is more important to Mac customers than
they thought it was.

Even though Office 2004 was discontinued 2 years ago, you'll find it
selling at a fairly high price on eBay ($110 or so for student/teacher
edition). That indicates there's a very strong demand for the older
product. Normally you would expect an older product such as this to have
fallen much more in price by now. Incidentally, watch out on eBay for
OpenOffice being offered in a way that you think you're getting
Microsoft Office. You find misrepresentation postings have the word
"compatible" buried somewhere deep in in the description. If you do
decide to try OpenOffice, don't pay for it. OpenOffice is free.

Yes, you can look forward to paying for the next version of Office for
the Mac, where VBA will return, and you'll finally be able to take
advantage of the nice stuff that was added to Office 2008, along with
some really great additional new features. I don't think MacBU is going
to screw up with the next big release, and that you'll find the new
version well worth the price for the upgrade. I am looking forward to
the new version very much.

-Jim