Short questions about Mac upgrade to 3004 Pro

[Chuck M]

Greetings -

I have a 667 G4 Titanium Powerbook (with a gig o' RAM) as my main
system, running Office X. I'm hoping to upgrade from the regular
version to the Pro to work with a major client.

1. Can the non-VPC Office X be upgraded to Office 2004 Pro?

2. Will VPC run on my aging laptop in limited usage?

3. In August, I tried installing the test drive for Office 2004
(non-VPC), but apparently I had installed it some time back (although I
used it little or not at all). Would not install. Is there a way I
could demo the Pro version before upgrading/buying? Sometimes software
companies will issue a 2nd demo license if one explains the
circumstances.

4. The better solution, I believe, will be an Intel Mac running
Windows. But that's a year or so away for me. Any word on, let's say,
Office 2007?

TIA...

 

[Barry Wainwright [MVP]]

Greetings -

I have a 667 G4 Titanium Powerbook (with a gig o' RAM) as my main
system, running Office X. I'm hoping to upgrade from the regular
version to the Pro to work with a major client.

1. Can the non-VPC Office X be upgraded to Office 2004 Pro?

Yes, according to this page:

Office v. X, Office 2001, Office 98 or any of the individual applications in
these product suites, including promotional bundles.

2. Will VPC run on my aging laptop in limited usage?

Yes, but not very fast. It's barely useable on my 1.33GHz PBG4 with 1Gb ram,
but your definition of 'useable' may vary from mine.

3. In August, I tried installing the test drive for Office 2004
(non-VPC), but apparently I had installed it some time back (although I
used it little or not at all). Would not install. Is there a way I
could demo the Pro version before upgrading/buying? Sometimes software
companies will issue a 2nd demo license if one explains the
circumstances.

I don't believe there is a demo version of office pro, since it consists of
a standard Office install plus a standard VPC install.

4. The better solution, I believe, will be an Intel Mac running
Windows. But that's a year or so away for me. Any word on, let's say,
Office 2007?

The only word is that:
A. they're working on it
B. there won't be an Intel compatible version of VPC (but you can run
windows in Parallels, Crossover ot Boot Camp)
C. There will be no VBA in it.

My best guess for a release date is middle of next year at the earliest.

 

[Chuck M]

I much appreciate the useful info. (Sorry my fingers called it Office
3004.)

I won't need VPC to do much work on my system. Primarily, it will be
to:

* participate in on-line group training using interactive software that
is PC only. 90% of what I do is listen to a speaker, ask an occasional
question, offer an opinion (with keyboard, not microphone).

* use Internet-based software to work on some of the client's projects.
Most Mac browsers can't use them, though Mozilla has some capabilities.

Now it's back to the Microsoft site to see if there's a test drive of
VPC available.

Can't resist asking an OT question. How come in Word X, I can't mix ITC
Garamond regular and ultra italic in the same word - note: same word -
without it printing goofy? (With a what looks like a word space
between the two parts of the word?) Another of my client's has a name
that starts out in regular and ends in the ultra italic. Won't print
right for either of us (both Macs; his running OS9.x). Tried various
kerning; nope.

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Chuck -

Although Barry has address each question very well I just thought I'd throw
in another 2¢ worth:

1- Nothing to add except that 2004 Std & Pro differ only in that Pro
includes VPC

2- I run VPC/Win XP on a Dual 2GHz G5/1.5GB and find it to be "acceptable" -
comparable (a tad slower) to the 1.6 AMD Sempron/1 GB system I use at work.

3- See #1... Word, Excel & PPt are identical in both (S/T as well)


4- ...or an Intel Mac running Leopard? Office 2007 is still in Beta and as
Barry says, MS has not yet indicated a release date.

I get the impression that you have an immediate need & a limited budget
Based on what I've gathered from a number of professionals, you might want
to consider going with the 13" White MacBook (*not* the MacBook Pro), load
it up with RAM & use Parallels, Crossover or Boot Camp as Barry suggested as
an interim solution... I wouldn't be surprised to see more new systems from
Apple after the first of the year anyway.

 

[Chuck M]

Thanks. A laptop that has much (doesn't need to be all) of the current
processor speeds and has the Intel chip will be what I'm looking for.
The 13" White MacBook might be fine - IF it supports a second monitor.
Got to have that. I use a 2nd monitor in my home office, and have
another in the office of the monthly I work for (freelance). Because of
the 2nd monitor, the size of the laptop screen isn't crucial.

Didn't find a VPC test drive at Mactopia.

As a new participant in these forums, I'll now take my Word question to
the Word forum (assuming there is one).

Thanks again...

 

[CyberTaz]

I'm sure there is no test drive of VPC because it requires a live copy of
Windows OS in order to be of any value.

IIRC, the MacBook does support an external display - as per the Apple web
site:

Graphics and Video Support
a.. Intel GMA 950 graphics processor with 64MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with
main memory1
b.. Extended desktop and video mirroring: Simultaneously supports full
native resolution on the built-in display and up to 1920 x 1200 pixels on an
external display, both at millions of colors

 

[Chuck M]

Thanks, CyberTaz - for your answers here and in the Word forum. I'll
try the character spacing this weekend.

"I'm sure there is no test drive of VPC because it requires a live copy
of
Windows OS in order to be of any value."

If I read the MSN site correctly, it ships with Windows XP. So I
interpret you to be saying NOT that I also need to buy Windows but that
a test drive would be too difficult with both involved (perhaps size of
the download). If that's right, no reply needed.

 

[Mickey Stevens]

Yes, but not very fast. It's barely useable on my 1.33GHz PBG4 with 1Gb ram,
but your definition of 'useable' may vary from mine.

The system requirements for Virtual PC 7 and Office 2004 Professional
Edition <http://www.microsoft.com/mac/howtobuy.aspx?pid=sysreq> indicate
that Virtual PC 7 requires a 700 MHz processor, so I don't know if it will
run on your computer. I would normally recommend trying out the software
first, but since there is no Test Drive available, that won't work.

Virtual PC 6.1, which may still be available, should run on your machine.
<http://www.microsoft.com/mac/howtobuy.aspx?pid=sysreq#vpc>