Filed under: Software
Mac BU slowly releasing Office 2008 details
Microsoft Office: no matter what your feelings are about Microsoft as an entity there is no denying that their eponymous office suite is an important application for the Mac. Sadly, the newest version, Office 2008 for the Mac, has hit some bumps along the development path and has been delayed until January 2008 (one assumes Macworld 2008 will be its coming out party). There is a limited beta going on, but few have been invited to participate and the only glimpse into the next version of Office that most Mac users have had has been right here on TUAW with our gallery of screenshots from Macworld 2007 (which, I should point out, Microsoft was nice enough to provide to us).Now comes word that the Mac BU (that's the Microsoft Mac Business Unit, which is responsible for most Mac software that comes from Microsoft) has started to post some new tidbits about Office 2008 for the Mac on the Mac Mojo Blog. They'll be sharing more and more info as the ship date gets closer and closer.
During Macworld I was able to sit down with some Microsoft folks and get a brief look at where Office 2008 for the Mac stood at the time. I was very interested in seeing the next version of Entourage, since that is the one Office app I use everyday. Sadly, at that time Entourage 2008 was so unstable they weren't comfortable showing it to me. Luckily, for me, the first new feature highlighted by the Mac BU is one that is new to Entourage 2008: Out of Office replies. That's right, in order to set Out of Office replies in an Exchange envirnonment Mac users are forced to turn to the Exchange web interface (which offers few options for Out of Office replies). Entourage 2008, paired with Exchange 2007, allows Macs users to set Out of Office messages, as well as configure different messages to be sent depending on who is emailing you, and have the message automatically turn itself off after a certain time (which is killer).
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Quix said 9:16AM on 9-06-2007
Wow, an Out of Office Assistant? Groundbreaking!!!
Microsoft: The Freedom to Innovate (R)
:P
Sadly, I think the MacBU is officially a has-been. Goodbye, Office. Hello iWork 08.
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Adamba said 9:32AM on 9-06-2007
why dont you just run outlook in parrells.
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Renaud said 9:51AM on 9-06-2007
Until OpenOffice STD has a Cocoa interface that doesn't suck, or until iWork looks more like office and less like the KOffice suite (while being inferior to the latter thank-you-very-much), I am so totally sorry, but I'll prefer using MS-Office for Mac.
And what about you, Quix, using the has-been AppleWorks suite rebranded and re-ui'ed into a sexy office suite that doesn't do half of OpenOffice?
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Angela said 9:32AM on 9-06-2007
Brevity is next to godliness.
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mark platt said 9:39AM on 9-06-2007
Those of us stuck in a "office " environment are desperate for a message read confirmation feature.
Is there any sign this might appear in January (it has been on outlook for some time)
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Johnny Thrash said 10:28AM on 9-06-2007
iWork 08 FTW
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Rafe H. said 11:37AM on 9-06-2007
Hah! The F5-refresh thing from yesterday surprised me, too. Lost some cred, TUAW.
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stealth43 said 12:25PM on 9-06-2007
Jeeze where did the trolls come from?
@ "huh"
The TUAW team ARE Mac users, so get off the peyote. Some of them also have to use PCs at work, usually not by choice. Furthermore, each of them seem to have their own niche of expertise OUTSIDE of our little Mac bubble, which I personally, find invaluble!
Spread your FUD somewhere else please.
@Renaud
No offense, but I dont see iWork as being a reworked copy of Apple nee Claris Works at all. Furthermore, it "Just Works". Intuitiveness IS a killer feature. I dont care that OpenOffice can do X million functions, if it cant let me produce rockin content in minimal time, then its not as good. Period.
Also, please don't suggest that I am just another dumb "user". Sysadmins and webdevs like their simplicity too.
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stealth43 said 12:26PM on 9-06-2007
Jeeze where did the trolls come from?
@ "huh"
The TUAW team ARE Mac users, so get off the peyote. Some of them also have to use PCs at work, usually not by choice. Furthermore, each of them seem to have their own niche of expertise OUTSIDE of our little Mac bubble, which I personally, find invaluble!
Spread your FUD somewhere else please.
@Renaud
No offense, but I dont see iWork as being a reworked copy of Apple nee Claris Works at all. Furthermore, it "Just Works". Intuitiveness IS a killer feature. I dont care that OpenOffice can do X million functions, if it cant let me produce rockin content in minimal time, then its not as good. Period.
Also, please don't suggest that I am just another dumb "user". Sysadmins and webdevs like their simplicity too.
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stealth43 said 12:29PM on 9-06-2007
And. There. is. a. double. post. Im an idiot.
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Tod said 4:01AM on 9-07-2007
Wow! Out of office replies! What a concept, such bleeding-edge technology, what a killer feature! Not!
If you've ever been a subscriber to forums or listservs, you know the pain that list admins must go through because some schmuck turned on his "out of the office" automatic response to incoming emails. Here's what happens:
1. Someone posts to the list, the list sends the post to all subscribers
2. The email client of another person who has set "out of office" on his email client replies to the post with an "out of office" message to the list.
3. This "out of office" message is posted to the list and is now emailed to all subscribers.
4. Repeat 2 and 3 until a human takes charge and "unsubscribes" the offending subscriber.
5. Person who was out of the office returns and belatedly discovers they're no longer subscribed to whatever lists have deleted them, gets upset, sends flames to the admins, etc etc.
"Out of office" responders are really hostile entities in the business world.
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