Office 2008 for Mac - Word Updates

[Lindy]

Actually, I have three questions. I'm a Mac novice and haven't ever had a
home computer before. These problems are new to me. Thanks in advance for
any help!

I get the notice that updates are available and I take the steps indicated
to download. It says to quit Word, which I do. I click on "continue" and it
doesn't continue...it just beeps.

I saved a Word document, but it doesn't have a .doc extension. How do I get
that extension? I've tried to send this document to someone by email and
they can't open it.

The Word documents I have saved successfully have a .docx extension. Is
this correct? Will this make a difference in sending to others?

 

[Diane Ross]

Actually, I have three questions. I'm a Mac novice and haven't ever had a
home computer before. These problems are new to me. Thanks in advance for
any help!

For a fast and easy guide to the Mac, get Mac OS X Hints Superguide Leopard
Edition by Rob Griffiths $12.95. I used one of Rob's guide's to get me
started when OSX came out. It was easy to use and I found it invaluable. Get
the PDF. <http://store.esellerate.net/macworld/osxhints>

There is a free 1.5 MB downloadable sample for you to check out, just to
give you a taste. Download the sample.

<http://files.macworld.com/files/downloads/hintssample.pdf>

In addition, I have a few tips and links posted to help new users here:

I get the notice that updates are available and I take the steps indicated
to download. It says to quit Word, which I do. I click on "continue" and it
doesn't continue...it just beeps.

Not only do you need to quit Word, you need to quit all Microsoft
applications, Microsoft Messenger for Mac, and Office Notifications, because
they might interfere with installation. How to quit Notifications:

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/glossary/daemon.html#quit_daemon>

The easy way to do this is log out/in with Shift key down to disable any
startup items.

Do you see the AutoUpdate window?

I saved a Word document, but it doesn't have a .doc extension. How do I get
that extension? I've tried to send this document to someone by email and
they can't open it.

In Finder Prefs (Under Finder in the Menu bar) Select Advanced. Check Show
all file extensions. There might be a preference in Word where you can set
this for Word only.

The Word documents I have saved successfully have a .docx extension. Is
this correct? Will this make a difference in sending to others?

The .docx is the newer format. Use the older .doc for those using older
versions of Office.

Diane

 

[CyberTaz]

Hello & Welcome - Congratulations on your new Mac!

For the update, try going to the following page & downloading from there:

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.mspx

Mac doesn't "automatically" use filename extensions. However, they can be
added when saving a file by typing the appropriate extension as you type the
file name or by putting a check in the box labeled Append File Extension in
the Save As dialog.

The "can't open" issue is a little more involved It sounds like you must
have Office 2008 which uses a new file format (.docx) by default The same
format is used by Office 2007 on the PC so it should not be a problem if
that's what the recipient is using. If they are & still can't open the file
it's probably being mishandled by their email environment and/or they're
attempting to open the attachment rather than saving the file to disk first.

If the recipient is using an older version of PC Word (2000-2003) they need
to have SP3 applied in order to open the .docx files - there's nothing you
can do about that from your end other than to use the Save As dialog to save
a copy of the file in the older (.doc) format. Doing so, however, can cause
changes in the file if you've used any of the newer 2008 features that
aren't supported in the .doc format.

If the recipient is on a Mac using an earlier version of Word than 2008
(Office X or 2004) they need to have the Open Office XML converter
application available here (although other programs can also open the files
in those formats):

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.mspx

Sorry for such a long-winded reply, but there are even more possibilities to
be considered. That will give you some idea of how important it is to supply
as much complete & accurate detail as you can when you post a question
It's always a good idea to specify your exact version of OS & Office as
well as a basic description of your Mac in addition to whatever you can find
out in advance when the problem involves someone on the "other end".

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Lindy]

Thank you both so much! It'll take some real study for me to be able to
utilize all this info, but I know it will make all the difference.
Lindy