Office 2008 for Mac hits beta

[Diane Ross]

I know we are all anxiously awaiting news on the next release of Office.
Office 2008 is scheduled to be available in the second half of 2007.

Office 2008 for Mac hits beta:

<http://apcmag.com/5780/office_2008_for_mac_hits_beta_shows_slick_ui_and_dra
ws_on_escher>

Not much mentioned about Entourage. It does show MyDay, a small stand-alone
app which works like a portal into Entourage's appointments and tasks.

Before you ask, there is no list where you can sign up to beta test and
there is no public beta.

MS Official Press Release:

<http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/jan07/01-09MacworldPR.mspx>

MacWorld article:

<http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/01/09/msftoffice/index.php>

--
Diane Ross, Microsoft Mac MVP
Entourage Help Page
<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/>
One of the top five MS Entourage resources listed on the Entourage Blog.
<http://blogs.msdn.com/entourage/>

 

[Pete]

Not much mentioned about Entourage. It does show MyDay, a small stand-alone
app which works like a portal into Entourage's appointments and tasks.

There has been basically *no* information at all on the new version of
Entourage, with the exception of MyDay. I wonder if it's because there have
been very few changes, or because the changes are so exciting that the MBU
wants them to be a big surprise... Let the unfounded theories fly!

 

[Guest]

You know, they say that ignorance is bliss and they're right. I had NO
IDEA how badly we Mac users had it with Entourage until I saw a
friend's copy of Microsoft Outlook last week. Do you guys even
realize how stripped down & incomplete & half-baked Entourage is, when
compared to Microsoft Outlook? And based on the (lack of) Microsoft
press releases on Entourage 2008, it looks like we're in for yet
another round of mediocrity.

I mean, Outlook has DOZENS of productive & useful features that Mac
users can only dream about, let alone the fact that Outlook works
seamlessly & completely with Exchange servers whereas Entourage does
not.

But lack of full Exchange server support aside (which is a gigantic
issue), Outlook has tons of stuff: mini calendar views; ONE SINGLE
VIEW that combines emails, calendars, tasks, notes, and to-dos all in
one (right within the program itself, not tacked on as some floating
after-thought of an application); the ability to view entire
conversation threads which is completely lacking from the Mac version
altogether; the ability to display as much criteria as they want when
they're in "preview pane on right" view; the ability to TRULY attach
URL's from websites instead of it dropping everything after a question
mark in a URL; and much, much more. These are just the first few
things that I can think of right now off the top of my head, so these
may not be the best examples to be posting, but you get the point. If
you put me back in front of Outlook again, I can give you a list that
goes on for an entire page.

So I really don't care for Mac users who try to defend Microsoft. The
only thing they ever did for us was continue giving us a "bare
minimum" version of Microsoft Office for the Mac, which does more for
them ($$$$ -- they sell a copy with every single Mac -- nobody buys a
Mac without it) then it does for us (we now have no real Office
competition and are at the mercy of Microsoft continuing development
on it). Meanwhile, Microsoft has discontinued every other product
they've ever offered to Mac users, including their latest: Visual
Basic support in Office for Mac, and last year's dumping of Windows
Media Player. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the final version of
Office for Mac to come out of Redmond, which would be a nail in the
coffin for the Mac's current resurgence in the workplace.

Folks, it's time to wake up: Microsoft is NOT our friend and we should
NOT be embracing the enemy.

Thanks.

 

[Keysaw]

Other than having real, complex HTML composition and editing support
and a host of minor bugs fixed, I really don't have a need for a new
version. The new features described seem ho-hum to me.

I certainly do not want Entourage to turn into Outlook. I hate using
Outlook on a PC, I can never find what I need. I need a good email and
calendar application, not a client management system.

Frankly, nothing in Office has made a significant advancement in the
last 7 years. On my home PC, I still use Office 2000, and I can't tell
a difference from Office XP on my work PC other than some color
changes. If Office 2008 shows nothing great beyond 2004 for the Mac, I
doubt I'll get it. Adding a great HTML editor would be one feature
that might get me to upgrade. Finally adding the missing Access
application would definitely get me to upgrade.

 

[JE McGimpsey]

Adding a great HTML editor would be one feature that might get me to
upgrade.

interesting - for me that would be a complete waste of development time.
I *trash* HTML email sight unseen, unless it's from someone in my
address book, in which case I convert it to plain text.

Improvements to the Project Center - now *that* would trip my trigger!

I won't even dare to hope for real thread-by-reference newsreading!

De gustibus non disputandum est.

Finally adding the missing Access application would
definitely get me to upgrade.

Won't happen. Ever. Too much investment for too little return.

 

[Barry Wainwright]

Won't happen. Ever. Too much investment for too little return.

That is so true. Unfortunately, it is also true of MS Project