Transfer Office files on a PC to a new Mac

[Bob Y]

Is it possible to do a one-time transfer of Office files from a PC to
a new Mac? I don't care about file sharing I just want to copy the
files, dispose of the PC, and be able to access the old files. Of
course, I want to add new files (Word and Excel only) in Mac Office.
Can I buy Mac Office and do these things?

 

[Diane Ross]

Is it possible to do a one-time transfer of Office files from a PC to
a new Mac? I don't care about file sharing I just want to copy the
files, dispose of the PC, and be able to access the old files. Of
course, I want to add new files (Word and Excel only) in Mac Office.
Can I buy Mac Office and do these things?

Just to be clear....

Office is an application that is available for the PC and the Mac. Both can
open files created in the other platform. The applications are not cross
platform.

You should be able to copy over your documents without further actions, but
for mail you'll need convert the files. I'm sure the Word and Excel MVPs
will correct or add to this if further action is needed.

Check out the options on the "Convert Mail from Windows to Mac" Page:

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/cross_platform/win_mac.html>

 

[CyberTaz]

As Diane replied, as long as you mean user files & not the programs
themselves you should be able to do so easily. A USB stick is very useful
for that purpose... Just drag the folders from the PC's HD to the stick then
plug the stick into the Mac & drag the folders to the HD there. [I'd suggest
that you reformat the PC's drive afterward before you "dispose" of it.]

The Word & Excel files should not present a problem in Mac Office -
Office:Mac 2004 uses the same file format as Win Office 97-2003 - other than
for a few possible exceptions:

Fonts used on the PC may not match the fonts on the Mac, so some formatting
issues may have to be addressed (print drivers may also cause some need for
adjustment, but usually not serious),

If there are Macros in the PC files they may not execute on the Mac,
depending on a number of variables,

If the documents contain images there could be a problem depending on image
file format & how they were inserted into the PC files. If the original
image files are still on the PC you might want to copy them to the Mac also,

Depending on which version & what features were used to create the PC files
there could be some other content that doesn't translate "perfectly" (such
as some Pivot Table features in Excel), but any 'typical' Word docs &
spreadsheets should make the move without incident. If any files do give you
a problem, close them without saving, copy them back to a PC for revision,
the return them to the Mac... But that most likely won't be necessary.

If you do run into difficulties you can post here with specifics & someone
will be happy to help out.

Good Luck |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[dfwenigma]

Is it possible to do a one-time transfer of Office files from a PC to
a new Mac? I don't care about file sharing I just want to copy the
files, dispose of the PC, and be able to access the old files. Of
course, I want to add new files (Word and Excel only) in Mac Office.
Can I buy Mac Office and do these things?

Just a note. Many of the conversion issues will be resolved with Mac:
Office 2008. The movement towards Microsoft Office documents which
are based on XML rather than proprietary office formats will take care
of many of the issues - but not all. There is a Mac client for
Microsoft Outlook for the Mac if you need true Exchange services but
Entourage 2003 will handle the most common POP/MAPI email needs of
most home and small business users. I would recommend the file
conversion strategies already suggested.

Kevin

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

Side Note for the archives:

Many people think that MacOffice comes with Publisher or Access or
whatever programs came with WinOffice the last time they bought it. It
sounds like you know this, but MacOffice consists only of Word, Excel,
PowerPoint, Entourage (similar to Outlook). And Messenger.

Publisher, Access, Visio, OneNote, FrontPage and probably other programs
I can't recall right now, do not exist for the Mac, although there are
programs that will let you do the same things, and in some cases, can
import the MS files. Or the MS programs could be run in
Parallels/Windows on the Mac.