Office 2001 for OS X

[Chris Belwinds]

I am glad you are satisfied with your office applications!
But the fact that you can hardly write the plural of "office suite for Mac OS X" clearly shows a problem, don't you think? Regardless of how good or bad Microsoft products are - the fact that you cannot choose anymore is definitely a bad thing. Therefore - and not because "I hate" Microsoft - I wish other software companies were to release carbonized versions of their terrific office suites, esp. Sun and Corel! One basic pillar of freedom is choice! Microsoft is about to take that away from computer customers worldwide and on all platforms.

[genghiscohen]

I also would love to see more choices in the "office suite" field. It is (very slightly) encouraging to see Apple actually making some improvements in AppleWorks, but I don't think they're aiming to put out a competitor to Office. I started out on WP, and wish it was still in widespread use.
That being said, I am very impressed with Office v. X. The tight integration of the different elements of the package, the Aqua appearance, the customization that is available, all are superior to Office 2001.

[GadgetLover]

Originally posted by VGZ
I just found out that M$ office 2001 for Mac OS X will ship this fall as a $300 upgrade even to people running office 2001. M$ has really lost it if they expect people to pay $300 just to get a carbon version. Star office for OS X is supposed to be available this summer. Gee I wonder how many copies M$ is going to sell.

Well, while I USED to agree that Microsoft Mac products sucked (Word 6!!!), I have to say that their quality since the Mac Business Unit was created by Kevin Browne, et al. is MUCH improved. I feel the need to also say that you mis-stated the upgrade price. According to M$'s OWN website, Office 2001 (or Word 2001) owners can upgrade to Office v. X for only $149 (half of your stated amount).

Also, Office X is hardly just a carbonized version of Office 2001 -- it is a total rebuild (it will run ONLY in OS X and ONLY in 10.1, sorry 10.0.x users!). And I must admit, I pre-ordered my copy last week and can't wait to lay my hands on it. I have seen it in action and it is MUCH improved. While I still share your view that Microsoft *PC* products suck and are clunky, "square", and outdated before they're even released, I feel that those who criticize MS without TRUE justification are just as improperly biased as the Wintel community is of us. Really.

In any event, I lift this text from M$'s website; I think it gives a (while biased) more accurate description of Office X's true potential -- its new interface alone is worth consideration ....

"Office v. X is a fully native Mac OS X productivity suite that features a new Aqua user interface, offers complete support for the modern architecture of Mac OS X, and provides new feature enhancements. Designed to run exclusively on Mac OS X, Office v. X is an unprecedented Macintosh product that builds on the history of innovation and commitment to the Mac community displayed by the Microsoft Macintosh Business Unit. Office v. X is a true representation of what a Mac OS X application should look and feel like.

Office v. X takes advantage of the fresh, new design of Mac OS X—starting with the Aqua interface, an innovation that makes features easier to find and use. All four Office applications—Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Entourage—have been given a complete Aqua overhaul.

'By adopting Carbon and Aqua, and by using Quartz to enhance the graphics capabilities throughout Office v. X, we've integrated system capabilities more deeply than ever.' - Kenny Wolf, Development Manager for Office v. X

"Sheets have replaced select dialogs in Office v. X. The way sheets work eliminates the need for you to react immediately to a dialog, giving you greater flexibility in the way you work.

Within each Office v. X application, components such as toolbars and navigation buttons have been redesigned for greater readability and to help you quickly move from one feature to the next. Over 700 new icons have been added, using anti-aliased graphics for a cleaner appearance, and these icons have Aqua-enabled mouse-overs for enhanced usability. And just like Mac OS X, Office v. X uses animation to improve discoverability. In addition, all Office v. X applications and supporting features such as the Formatting Palette have been designed to work with the Dock, providing Genie-style visual feedback and instant access to the things you use the most.

New features in Office v. X

* Clear Formatting: With the Clear Formatting feature in Microsoft Word X for Mac, you can easily reset character and paragraph formatting, set the default text style, and restore hyperlinks throughout your documents.

* Multi-selection: Use the command click function on multiple selections throughout Word documents to apply formatting, spelling, searching or any other operation that wasn't previously applied to the sections.

* AutoRecover: In Microsoft Excel X for Mac, the new AutoRecover feature lets you set specific time intervals to automatically save the latest version of the spreadsheet you're working on. Should you experience a power outage or system failure, Excel automatically recovers the file that was last saved automatically.

* Customizable keyboard shortcuts: In Excel X, you can now customize your keyboard.

* PowerPoint packages: In Microsoft PowerPoint X, you can copy and collect links in one PowerPoint Package, which allows you to easily transfer intact movies, sounds, and images to other computers and electronic media, such as CD-ROMs.

* QuickTime™ movies: The QuickTime Movies feature in PowerPoint X has been improved to allow you to incorporate animation for richer video clips.


MSN Messenger 2.1 for Mac

MSN Messenger 2.1 for Mac is integrated with the Office v. X for Mac suite through Office Notifications. A Mac OS X Carbonized instant messaging application, MSN Messenger 2.1 adopts the UI of the operating system that you're running, whether it's Mac OS 8, OS 9 or OS X. Powered by Microsoft .NET Messenger Service, MSN Messenger 2.1 includes new emoticons, improved integration with the Hotmail® Web-based e-mail service and enhancements to the overall instant messaging experience. Key improvements include the following:

* The ease of one-click integration with Passport profiles, which makes generic e-mail addresses valid Messenger IDs and keeps Buddy Lists and preferences intact with any e-mail address.
* Log on with the same sign-in name and password they use across their favorite MSN® sites as well as other sites that support Microsoft Passport.
* Fully localized into the international language versions of Office v. X, with support for the double-byte character system in Japanese.


Pricing and Availability


Entourage X will be available as part of Office v. X in November. The upgrade price [from Entourage] is $299 (U.S.); the full price of the suite is $499 (U.S.). Users who have purchased Office 2001 for Mac, Word + Entourage 2001 Special Edition™, or any individual Office 2001 for Mac application (Word, Excel or PowerPoint), can upgrade to Office v. X for the special upgrade price of $149. This special upgrade price will be offered for a limited time and will only be available directly through Microsoft. The special offer is not applicable for institutional purchases made through Microsoft Volume Licensing Programs. Check back here for details on fulfillment at time of availability."

Any way, just another point of view. I hate the OLD Microsoft for stealing our look-and-feel and gettng away with it (at least we had permission from Xerox), but the MACINTOSH division (actually it's a stand-alone company) of Microsoft is NOT the Evil Empire -- they are Macintosh lovers, really!