Office 2008's first update is for updating the updater

Even though the Mac BU is targeting March 11 as the ship date for the first official update to Office 2008 (12.0.1), there's groundwork to be laid and preparations to be made. It's in that spirit of watchful readiness that we note the appearance this afternoon of Microsoft's AutoUpdate 2.1.1 updater, available through... well, through Microsoft AutoUpdate 2.1.0, part of the base Office 2008 install. After that, you know, it's turtles all the way down.
Other than the criticality of the update and that it's 2.0 MB in size, we don't know much else, but it's safe to say that this updater updater is a prerequisite for the real updater coming soon. As an Entourage 2008 user who is suffering consistent crashes each time the main window is closed and auto-reopens, I'll count myself among those eager for some fixes as rapidly as possible.
Thanks Kyle
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Even though the Mac BU is targeting March 11 as the ship date for the first official update to Office 2008 (12.0.1), there's groundwork to...
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I too downloaded the updater update and also now have a PPC version 1.1.2 sitting in Apps, and this new Universal version 2.1.1 in my Mac HD/Library/App Support/Microsoft/MAU2.0 folder. Should I dump the 1.1.2 one?
March 11 2008 at 8:03 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyPft! I just got this:
Dear Microsoft customer,
Thank you for your e-mail.
Your order has been updated per you request.
We apologize for any inconvenience this back order may be causing you.
Thank you for your interest in Microsoft products,
The Microsoft Back Order Processing Team
I've been using Entourage 2008 for about 3 weeks now and totally no problems. Not a single crash or freeze-up of any kind, and I even use a custom e-mail notification sound (Scully asking Mulder, "Mulder. Yeah? What's that in your pocket?")
I don't have any other Office 2008 apps installed though, scared of compatibility issues still. I am a proofreader and don't want to have to worry about that kind of stuff while working on a deadline.
I do wish the gray DAY bars in the inbox weren't so huge. Good thing I upgraded to a 24" monitor recently as my Powerbook's screen alone would have been able to only show like 6 messages at once.
Any idea if it will fix the Spaces bug?
March 02 2008 at 1:45 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI also ordered my upgrade in November 07, and have a "confirmed" (for the 3rd time delayed) ship date of March 9th.
I upgraded from S&T edition to the Professional version; friends who just went Student and teacher 2004 to S&T 2008 got their copy 6 weeks ago!
In fairness to MS (not that the article is particularly unfair), for a long time after Apple started distributing its automatic update app with Windows iTunes the only thing that it ever updated was itself.
March 01 2008 at 11:41 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI just checked the order status on my free copy of Office 2008 Media Edition, purchased through the Super Suite Deal. I have a tracking number that gives an expected delivery date by DHL of 3/4 on Monday. The ship date was listed as 2/28.
March 01 2008 at 11:05 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyHow did you check your order status?
March 01 2008 at 11:59 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThe order status was checked via the link in the email sent from MS regarding my order. The order status at MS then had a tracking number link to DHL.
March 01 2008 at 2:54 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyMaybe Excel will calculate dates correctly in a future update. Currently, if someone makes a spreadsheet in Office 2003 in Windows and I open it on my Mac with Excel 2008, the dates are totally off by several years. I felt like Desmond on Lost the first time it happened.
March 01 2008 at 10:58 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyOkay, I just noticed that I don't even have a copy of Microsoft AutoUpdate. Odd.
March 01 2008 at 3:49 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyOpen any Office 2008 app and it's under Help -> Check for updates.
Alternatively, Macintosh HD -> Library -> Application Support -> Microsoft -> MAU2.0 -> Microsoft Autoupdate.
God know why they put it in there for this version. Pop an alias in the Application folder.
Thanks, Fozz! :)
March 01 2008 at 5:44 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI am concerned about my free update to Office 2008. I purchased Office 2004 under the "Super Suite Deal" in November. I'm reading that MS have notified people asking to cancel or keep etc, but I have not received any notification at all. Can we do a survey on TUAW for people who are supposed to receive this update to see how it's going? I see the product on the shelves, what gives??
March 01 2008 at 1:29 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyHot Apps on TUAW
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