Office and Spaces

[sun_also_rises]

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

It is obvious Office does not work with Spaces. It is all over the internet. I called Microsoft and was told as long as Office opened and I could type there was no problem. Apple told me Spaces works with Apple programs so it is a Microsoft problem. I understand sometimes things have glitches and that they need to be fixed. I'm looking for somebody to take responsibility and at least acknowledge the problem. Does anybody know if there is a fix in the works, if anyone is at least ready to admit there is a problem, or of any temporary solutions other than turning Spaces off?

 

[Diane Ross]

It is obvious Office does not work with Spaces. It is all over the internet. I
called Microsoft and was told as long as Office opened and I could type there
was no problem. Apple told me Spaces works with Apple programs so it is a
Microsoft problem. I understand sometimes things have glitches and that they
need to be fixed. I'm looking for somebody to take responsibility and at least
acknowledge the problem. Does anybody know if there is a fix in the works, if
anyone is at least ready to admit there is a problem, or of any temporary
solutions other than turning Spaces off?

A lot of programs do not work in spaces. Adobe GoLive is one. Even without
spaces if I hide GoLive I often cannot get it back.

You are talking to your peers here. It's best to send feedback to MSFT.

Send feedback to Microsoft.

When working in Office, you can use the ³Send Feedback² option under the
Help menu in all of the Office applications or visit

<http://www.microsoft.com/mac/suggestions.mspx>

 

[CyberTaz]

Not dismissing your complaint, but the situation isn't as cut & dried as we
might like it to be Software & its integration with an Operating System
is infinitely more complex than most end users should be expected to
comprehend - rarely can you just change a "$" to a "%" somewhere within
millions of lines of code in order to "fix" something - at least not without
the very real potential to "break" a number of other things.

It's kinda like having purchased a piece of equipment (OS X Tiger) and
buying an accessory designed for it (Office 2008) then turning around &
replacing the equipment with a new, redesigned model (OS X Leopard)... The
accessories designed for the previous model "may" or "may not" still work in
all respects as they did with the model for which they were designed - and
in some cases may not work at all. As a result, the mfr of the equipment is
going to assign responsibility to the mfr of the accessory, but the mfr of
the accessory may find it impossible - or just too costly - to retrofit the
product already in the field. The best you can hope for is that a future
version of the accessory - based on the newly designed equipment - will take
the features of the new design into consideration - but it's always a cat &
mouse / chicken & egg game.

In the final analysis, though, it really doesn't matter whose *fault* it is
- the requirements to resolve it remain the same & those requirements can't
always be met instantaneously.

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

 

[sun_also_rises]

Diane--Thanks for the tip. I did send feedback. I'm sure they are well aware of the problem which makes things a little more frustrating when dealing with them on the phone.

Taz--That is a lucid answer. Thank you. It seems to me that is the kind of statement that should be released by either Microsoft or Apple. Instead, I was more or less told by both companies that there was no problem. Not that I am assigning blame, but it seems that I have been burnt several times when purchasing Microsoft's newest product only to find it full of glitches.

 

[CyberTaz]

Trust me, I'm not absolving MS of anything - there are significant issues
with Office 2008... We know it & they know it, but it's equally true that
MacBU is busting their collective hump to make this bird fly

Unfortunately most people have no idea what circumstances are at play behind
the scenes & seem to think that anything can be changed at the programming
level just as readily as applying bold to text or changing margins. It's all
too easy to look at what's on the surface and speculate on the why's. Some
often loose sight of the simple fact that it does no developer any good to
intentionally alienate their clientele, nor are the people at the
development & product levels insensitive to the needs of the users.

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

 

[Mary Dryer]

Not to place blame, I'm sure if either side could make it work they would, but it seems Microsoft (yet again) created an inferior product and is making a lot of money with it. It sure would be nice to get a free version of the next product that did work. At least for those of us that plunked down a hundred and a half on a program that obviously has huge flaws. I honestly feel cheated.

 

[recent mac buyer]

I'd like to jump off the temporary solution request. My office seems to effect my other programs when it is open. Links pop up in different spaces for example. The last straw occurred when I could not get my gmail chat to work properly until I closed out Word and restarted. Yes, it sucks that this product does not work but for now it seems we are stuck with it. Does Office actually impact other programs or is this another issue that I need to address?

 

[Bob Greenblatt]

I'd like to jump off the temporary solution request. My office seems to effect
my other programs when it is open. Links pop up in different spaces for
example. The last straw occurred when I could not get my gmail chat to work
properly until I closed out Word and restarted. Yes, it sucks that this
product does not work but for now it seems we are stuck with it. Does Office
actually impact other programs or is this another issue that I need to
address?

I think it's another issue you need to address.

 

[CyberTaz]

Office does not "impact other programs". Running any software in an
environment with which known incompatibility exists very well may.

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

 

[recent mac buyer]

Taz, you are saying it is possible that Office is impacting some of my other programs. They do work fine when Office is closed. My other question is, do you know if any of these problems exist for earlier versions of Office? I heard they did not. I agree with Mary about the waste of money but if an earlier version "solves" the problem than it sounds like that answers a lot of questions. Thanks.

 

[recent mac buyer]

Sorry. I meant to pose this as a question. Are you saying it is possible that Office being an incompatible program is "impacting" my other programs? The rest stand as it is. I should have proofread.

 

[sun_also_rises]

Recent--I have friends who claim the older versions work fine with Spaces. I am reluctant to spend more money on an MSN product, though. It may be worth a try and I may see if I can load one of their copies onto my computer before committing to anything. If it works I'll let you know. As far as the other programs question, I don't know but I have been experiencing similar occurrences.

 

[CyberTaz]

My reply was within the context of your previous message - and the theme of
this thread - which is the incompatibility of Office 2008 apps with the
specific, singular OS X Leopard feature called Spaces. Office 2008 is most
certainly *not* incompatible with OS X itself, nor does it conflict with any
other programs [AFAIK] unless Spaces is involved.

The behaviors reported are not consistently the same. The symptoms are quite
varied & disparate even for any one specific user on any one specific system
from instance to instance. I'm not saying that Office inherently is
affecting the other apps, I'm saying that *running Office in Spaces*
apparently can produce any number of erratic & unpredictable results.

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

 

[CyberTaz]

Hello sun -

That's correct - Office 2004 doesn't seem to have the same - or any -
problems with Spaces. The windowing implementation (as I understand it),
however, is distinctly different in 2008 than the design of 2004.

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

 

[sun_also_rises]

Just to get back to whomever I said I would, I loaded Office 2004 onto my MacBook and so far (after a half day of use) it is working fine with Spaces. It looks like Taz answered the question. I at least have Office 2008 should "the fix" ever present itself or should I need to open docx documents.

 

[JMath]

We all agree that there is a problem and that the fix is not as easy as some people think. But will there be a fix?? If so when can we expect it? My productivity has taken a a definite hit since I installed Mac Office 2008.

The only reason I still use MacOffice is because I am on an Exchange environment. Snow Leopard is promising out of the box support for Exchange and if this issue is still around (in a year when the new OS is slated) I am definitely switching to back to Mac Mail, iCal & Open Office which for my use is extremely less buggy (and less costly).

 

[hugh Jass]

Unfortunately your complaints are falling on deaf ears. Microsoft doesn't
read this stuff.

For me, Office 2008 for MAC is the WORST software I've ever used, since
Microsoft Bob. Entourage is a pig, with poor HTML handling, poor exchange
support, no support for notes and exchange, limited calendar functionality
with Exchange, no way to import PST files...no VB support for Excel... The
list of crippling features is too long to list here.

The office arena was Microsoft's business to lose, and they're losing it one
user at a time.

 

[Tim Standish]

I just got off the phone with Microsoft Office Support. The number is:

866 474-4882

The tech I talked with was both arrogant and angry. He, at first, clearly didn't know what Spaces is. After a very detailed explanation, he acted as if he did, claimed to have never encountered this problem and that no one at Microsoft has. I got the impression I was talking with a very ignorant and angry person.

In talking with the Apple support people about it (two of them) they were a lot more friendly, but had no more solutions than the Microsoft guy. The bottom line is that they blame each other and act as if they have never heard of the issue.

I encourage everyone with this problem to at least call Microsoft. The problem only arose on my computer with the most recent updates from Microsoft. They clearly are not looking at this or other web pages where this issue is discussed.:

866 474-4882

The Spaces problem appears to be linked to floating pallets in MS Office 2008 on Macs running Leopard.

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Tim -

I want to emphasize that I'm not dismissing the issue at all. It's a valid
complaint & I completely understand your frustration. You're also justified
in encouraging folks to complain directly, but I'd further suggest they
complain to Apple as well as to MS.

OTOH, please don't base your conclusion on conversations with level one
support people - Apple's, Microsoft's or any other You're most likely
correct that they have no idea what's going on, but that extends to their
knowledge of what's happening at the development level to address any given
situation. Just because a phone jockey hired to field complaints can't
provide insights on technical issues doesn't mean that they aren't being
addressed at a higher level. I'm certainly not defending their attitudes,
lack of courteousness or or anything else, but they certainly aren't privy
to a great deal of information beyond the typical "How do I save my file?"
type of question.

As I understand it, MacBU is working very hard on getting the matter
resolved. Apparently it's an issue that requires cooperation & integration
on both sides of the fence & can't be simply "dropped in" - and keep in mind
that Apple & MS are not only collaborators, they're competitors as well
There's probably a good deal of politics tangling up the strings involving
"trade secrets", legal issues, and all kinds of other BS, but I can assure
you that it isn't being ignored. It's just a matter of *when* it will be
resolved.

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

 

[JMath]

Once again, we all agree that there is a problem and that the fix is not as easy as some people think. But will there be a fix?? If so when can we expect it?