Word on Mac?

[Joe McGuire]

I am contemplating a new computer and figuring maybe the time has come to
trade the frustrations of Windows (and I don't even have Vista to complain
about!) for the charms and unknowns of the Mac world. But as I rely heavily
on Word 2003 (and also Outlook) I have to ask for some honest feedback about
how well the Mac version of Word runs on the up-to-date Apple PCs and
laptops. And as a practical matter, for a Word 2003 user with heavy
reliance on styles, will the transition be totally seamless, mostly
seamless, kind of seamless or will I have to invest serious time mastering
the Mac version? (Yeah yeah, I know one can supposedly use Word right out
of the box. Sure. You betcha! If it were that simple, we wouldn't need
our indispensible MVPs, would we? To be honest, the best thing about
Microsoft is not its software but the MVPs on this and a few other forums!
I'm serious!)

 

[JoAnn Paules]

There is a Office for Macs newsgroup. I'd ask them. Most of us in here use
Windows.

 

[grammatim]

When I had to move from Mac to Windows a few years ago, I found that
the graphics are somewhat different, and the keyboard shortcuts are
sometimes quite different (on a Mac, the shortcuts are standardized
across lots of applications, but not on a PC).

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Joe -

The first point I would emphasize is that Outlook doesn't exist on the Mac.
The email client in Mac Office is Entourage and although "similar" it is NOT
the same. Depending on how you use Outlook - especially if you will have to
interact with Exchange - you might do well to do some further investigation
on that. The microsoft.public.mac.office.entourage group is manned by some
very knowledgeable folks - MVPs & non-MVPs - who will glad to answer any
specific questions you may have.

The second consideration is your reliance on macros. VBA is NOT supported in
the current version of Mac Office (2008) although it is scheduled to return
in full force with the next major release. VBC is supported in prior
versions of Mac Office but generally runs one version of VBA behind Windows.

As for Word, itself, you should find that would be a rather straightforward
transitions. The UI is more closely akin to the "Classic" Office UI as Mac
Office has not (and probably won't, IMHO) adopted the Ribbon. In most
respects Word on the Mac has more of the "look & feel" of Word 2003 than
does Word 2008. Styles are handled & used in virtually the identical manner
as the Win version - after all, Word is a styles-based program that
originated on the Mac I can't guarantee "totally" seamless. There are
certainly some considerations for cross-platform documents, but if you're a
reasonably seasoned Word user the most challenging issues will be adapting
to the Mac OS - but that should be relatively painless.

As with Entourage, Word has its own microsoft.public.mac.ofice.word ng, so
head over there & get some additional input from others. Many - like myself
- work "both sides of the street" unlike the PC groups where they have a
tendency to be Win Office only [definitely NOT stated with any degree of
disrespect] so you should be able to get clarification from various
perspectives on any concerns you may have... I for example spend virtually
all of my business hours on the Dark Side but have never owned anything but
a Mac going all the way back to its introduction in the '80s

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

 

[Joe McGuire]

Thanks. I better be sure to check with the corporate IT people before
switching.

But VBA and I have never gotten along. A few simple "dorky" macros are all
I have been able to master--and then usually with help from MVPs-- before
finally throwing away all the VBA books I bought. I know that VBA mavens
will cringe when I say it, but from where I sit rocket science seems a lot
simpler!!!
--
Joe McGuire

Hi Joe -

The first point I would emphasize is that Outlook doesn't exist on the
Mac.
The email client in Mac Office is Entourage and although "similar" it is
NOT
the same. Depending on how you use Outlook - especially if you will have
to
interact with Exchange - you might do well to do some further
investigation
on that. The microsoft.public.mac.office.entourage group is manned by some
very knowledgeable folks - MVPs & non-MVPs - who will glad to answer any
specific questions you may have.

The second consideration is your reliance on macros. VBA is NOT supported
in
the current version of Mac Office (2008) although it is scheduled to
return
in full force with the next major release. VBC is supported in prior
versions of Mac Office but generally runs one version of VBA behind
Windows.

As for Word, itself, you should find that would be a rather
straightforward
transitions. The UI is more closely akin to the "Classic" Office UI as Mac
Office has not (and probably won't, IMHO) adopted the Ribbon. In most
respects Word on the Mac has more of the "look & feel" of Word 2003 than
does Word 2008. Styles are handled & used in virtually the identical
manner
as the Win version - after all, Word is a styles-based program that
originated on the Mac I can't guarantee "totally" seamless. There are
certainly some considerations for cross-platform documents, but if you're
a
reasonably seasoned Word user the most challenging issues will be adapting
to the Mac OS - but that should be relatively painless.

As with Entourage, Word has its own microsoft.public.mac.ofice.word ng, so
head over there & get some additional input from others. Many - like
myself
- work "both sides of the street" unlike the PC groups where they have a
tendency to be Win Office only [definitely NOT stated with any degree of
disrespect] so you should be able to get clarification from various
perspectives on any concerns you may have... I for example spend virtually
all of my business hours on the Dark Side but have never owned anything
but
a Mac going all the way back to its introduction in the '80s

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

I am contemplating a new computer and figuring maybe the time has come to
trade the frustrations of Windows (and I don't even have Vista to
complain
about!) for the charms and unknowns of the Mac world. But as I rely
heavily
on Word 2003 (and also Outlook) I have to ask for some honest feedback
about
how well the Mac version of Word runs on the up-to-date Apple PCs and
laptops. And as a practical matter, for a Word 2003 user with heavy
reliance on styles, will the transition be totally seamless, mostly
seamless, kind of seamless or will I have to invest serious time
mastering
the Mac version? (Yeah yeah, I know one can supposedly use Word right
out
of the box. Sure. You betcha! If it were that simple, we wouldn't need
our indispensible MVPs, would we? To be honest, the best thing about
Microsoft is not its software but the MVPs on this and a few other
forums!
I'm serious!)