Upgrading to Snow Leopard - will Office be affected?

[codywilliams]

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

I am thinking my Leopard to Snow Leopard and was wondering if I'll experience any 'sudden' problems with my Office suite after upgrading.

 

[Rob Schneider]

Who knows? We'll all have to wait and see. Watch here and in the news, I
guess.

My hunch: there will be few to no "sudden" problems that are actually
attributable to Snow Leopard. There will be a lot of people having
problems somewhere between the keyboard and the chair and they will
blame Snow Leopard. In time, thousands and millions of people using the
new software will find things and eventually they will get resolved.

My advice based on the hunch: if you need your Mac to work and you are
at all concerned about the risk of it not working ... do not upgrade.
Are there any real compelling reasons for you to upgrade soon?

--rms

www.rmschneider.com

 

[codywilliams]

There isn't any compelling reasons. I am just excited to start using the brand new creation!

 

[Rob Schneider]

That's why Apple (and Microsoft et. al.) make their money. People are
addicted to new versions.

--rms

www.rmschneider.com

 

[bobinson]

I'm no expert but if you can stand it, I would suggest waiting a week and looking over the forums to see what problems others are going through. Let them be the guinea pigs.

Then again, if you have a spare Mac you can use as a tester, go for it. I always wait until .3 or .4 until I upgrade the OS.

 

[Diane Ross]

There isn't any compelling reasons. I am just excited to start using the brand
new creation!

As long as you have a backup, go for it. Read as much as you can prior to
updating about some of the gotchas.

<http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20090813160052571>

One thing mentioned in this MacFixIt article has to do with Rosetta. I found
answers to many of my questions in this TUAW article: Mac 201: Preparing
your Mac for Snow Leopard <http://tinyurl.com/px2fts>

Office for Mac 2008 Installer will install both sets of code (Intel/PPC)
regardless of what machine type you are installing onto.

Office 2004 and Office X runs on Rosetta

I did a Google search and found these links helpful, but the easiest way I
found to know if my applications are universal is to use Apple System
Profiler. Select "Applications" in the list and it shows "kind". Sorting by
Kind column makes it really easy.

Apple's list of Universal Applications
<http://tinyurl.com/m8ttg3>

Be careful when checking out lists. Some have not been updated recently.

Universal Binaries and Intel-Native Mac Applications
<http://www.macintouch.com/imacintel/ubinaries.html>

Rosetta Compatibility: PowerPC Applications on Intel Macs
<http://www.macintouch.com/imacintel/rosettacompat.html>

Hope this helps!

 

[codywilliams]

Yes, I do have Time Machine enabled and I always have my system backed up so that's one worry off my list.
I will look at the rest of the info that you have provided me as well.

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

As long as you have a backup, go for it. Read as much as you can prior to
updating about some of the gotchas.

<http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20090813160052571>

One thing mentioned in this MacFixIt article has to do with Rosetta. I found
answers to many of my questions in this TUAW article: Mac 201: Preparing
your Mac for Snow Leopard <http://tinyurl.com/px2fts>

Office for Mac 2008 Installer will install both sets of code (Intel/PPC)
regardless of what machine type you are installing onto.

Office 2004 and Office X runs on Rosetta

I did a Google search and found these links helpful, but the easiest way I
found to know if my applications are universal is to use Apple System
Profiler. Select "Applications" in the list and it shows "kind". Sorting by
Kind column makes it really easy.

Apple's list of Universal Applications
<http://tinyurl.com/m8ttg3>

Be careful when checking out lists. Some have not been updated recently.

Universal Binaries and Intel-Native Mac Applications
<http://www.macintouch.com/imacintel/ubinaries.html>

Rosetta Compatibility: PowerPC Applications on Intel Macs
<http://www.macintouch.com/imacintel/rosettacompat.html>

Hope this helps!

Speaking of preparing your computer for Snow Leopard...

Several strategies:
1. Run DiscWarrior, TechTools Pro, or DriveGenius on your hard drive and
Time Machine drive before installing Snow Leopard
2. After installing Snow Leopard, use Disk Utility to repair permissions.

Then start exploring every Mac application to see if anything has
changed. You'll smile a lot, I'm sure.

-Jim

 

[codywilliams]

Could you explain to me why I have to follow those two strategies? What will happen if I don't follow them?

 

[codywilliams]

Matt,
Could you name some obvious utilities not to run. I think I only have the ones that came with my MacBook on mine.

 

[codywilliams]

Looking at Jim's response, I do not have TechTool Pro, I have TechTool Deluxe. Not sure if that will matter or not.

 

[CyberTaz]

Deluxe is an "Apple Care Only" utility that provides Directory rebuild plus
basic diagnostics. It won't provide the capabilities I *believe* Jim is
referring to -- since he didn't specify I can't say for sure. For a
comparison see:

http://www.micromat.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=37&Itemid=51

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur]

DriveGenius

I believe they officially support Snow Leoapard with version 2.2:
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/17099/drive-genius


Corentin

 

[codywilliams]

I do have TechTool Deluxe but the other two utilities mentioned I do not own and don't really want to pay for them if I am going to only use them once.

 

[CyberTaz]

I didn't want to put words in Jim's mouth, but it isn't fair to leave you
hanging. In case he doesn't get back in time to elaborate, I believe he's
simply suggesting that you get your house in order [Leopard or Tiger] & back
up your current configuration *before* upgrading to Snow Leopard... The less
tidy things are to begin with the more likely they are to get blown out of
proportion by the upgrading.

I also have a recent report from a reliable source in an earlier time zone
that there are likely to be font issues with Snow Leopard. I'd suggest
resolving duplicates, verifying your current fonts & cleaning caches before
upgrading. Other than that he indicated that his software -- including
Office 2008 -- seems to be running fine thus far.

 

[codywilliams]

Is it even necessary to run anything on the drives before upgrading? What would happen if you didn't run anything and just upgraded?

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur]

I also have a recent report from a reliable source in an earlier time zone
that there are likely to be font issues with Snow Leopard. I'd suggest
resolving duplicates, verifying your current fonts & cleaning caches before
upgrading.

Before... and after since the system is likely to isntall new fonts or
new versions of some fonts.
If anything, use FontBook after your installation to resolve duplicates.

Corentin

 

[CyberTaz]

That's just the point --- Nobody has any idea what the result might or might
not be... Did you ever hear the expression "An ounce of prevention is worth
a pound of cure."? Why take the chance?

As to your earlier question: It's quite unlikely that if you invest in
either of those 3 utilities that you'll "only use them once" because they
each have features which -- once installed -- work continuously. Either of
the 3 [IMHO] should be an integral part of every Mac user's software
library. Not having at least one high-caliber disk maintenance utility
package is asking for trouble. Apple's Disk Utility can only do so much.
I've had both TechTool Pro & Disk Warrior for years & once I upgrade my MPB
to SL I intend to get a copy of Drive Genius. They each have their relative
strengths & features.

 

[Diane Ross]

Add Xslimmer. It's one of the applications that will removes files in Office
that will cause your next update to fail.

I believe if you remove languages etc during the OS install THEN install
Office you'll be OK. It's removing files afterward that causes the problem.

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Could you explain to me why I have to follow those two strategies? What will happen if I don't follow them?

The utilities I mentioned go through a hard drive's volume & header
information and correct errors. They can also rebuild the directory from
scratch, which eliminates the possibility of errors.

Hard drives are mechanical things that spin at high rates of speed.
Sometimes errors are made when writing to hard drives. These utilities
make sure everything is in good working order.

If your file system and hard drives are all in good order, then the
chances of you having problems with a bad upgrade are minimized to the
point that you can be pretty darn sure everything will come out just fine.

As soon as Snow Leopard is released, visit the web sites of the utility
makers to ascertain the compatibility with Snow Leopard.

-Jim