Filed under: Software
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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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Peter Zich said 6:33PM on 2-29-2008
Wonder why...
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Adam Field said 7:13PM on 2-29-2008
Is it just me that thinks it really dumb that they didn't offer this up for extensive beta testing like they do with all their apps for 'other' platforms?
Steve said 7:26PM on 2-29-2008
I installed this updater update yesterday. Office 2008 on a daily basis puts My Day recovered files into my trash. Today I also found in the trash the version 2.1.0 updater. Strange I though and went to look what version is in my application folder. In app folder I found power PC version 1.1.2. The updater placed itself into the trash and the older version remained in the apps folder. I reinstalled it again as it came up over and over in updater as needing critical update 2.1.1 and each time it put the newer version into the trash. No kidding, this is no joke. Finally I just dragged it out of the trash and into the apps folder and it's working. Kudos to Microsoft for making an updater that trashes the newest version of software upon install. Way to go, I knew you could top most of the stuff I'd seen in the past......
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J said 8:49PM on 3-01-2008
I thought it was happening to me as well. However, if you look at the file in the MAU folder and click info, it has replaced it with 2.1.1
skyman375 said 8:14PM on 2-29-2008
Anyone else having weird problems with Entourage 08 and bizarre time zone issues with meetings originating from Outlook 03 or 07 on Windows?
I'm in the Eastern time zone, and so are my colleagues sending me meeting invites, but when they come through Entourage, they show up as GMT.
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rener said 8:50PM on 2-29-2008
I wouldn't know about any of this, since I've now received two (2!) notices from Microsoft saying they are "out of stock" on my free Office 2008 upgrade, and offering to cancel it for me. Since I went to the trouble of confirming I still want it, they told me maybe March (or maybe that's just when I'll get the next notice?)
How can Microsoft be "out of stock" on Office 2008? And is there any way TUAW could look into this? (Since I've seen other, similar complaints on the web about it).
Thank you for your recent order. The product listed below is currently out of stock.
Begin crazy:
Microsoft Corp Order #XXXXXXXXX
The new expected ship date for your product is 2/25/2008.
If you still wish to receive this product, if available by the new expected ship date shown above, please let us know by responding to this e-mail and placing an X in front of option #1 below, or by contacting our customer service department at 1-888-285-6247. If you do not respond to this e-mail or contact our customer service department within 30 days, your order will be cancelled and a refund issued, if applicable.
If you wish to receive the product when it becomes available, even if after the expected ship date, you may update your order by responding to this e-mail and placing an X in front of option #2 below, or by contacting our customer service department at 1-888-285-6247.
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Michael Rose said 10:26PM on 2-29-2008
I'll try to get some MS attention to this issue.
Stephen Mahoney said 9:28AM on 3-01-2008
I actually just got charged for this. My credit card shows the $7 shipping charge yesterday, and I checked order status and it says it has shipped. Yours should be coming soon too.
Steve
raminf said 2:48PM on 3-01-2008
Got the exact same letter. Two shipment postponed emails (from January to February, now to March) both with offers to 'cancel' even though the upgrade was already paid for.
I'm guessing they're waiting to see who blinks first.
claydough said 9:35PM on 2-29-2008
According to the Office for Mac blog, the 12.0.1 update will be out around March 11. See here:
http://www.officeformac.com/blog/Office-2008-Update
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Michael Rose said 10:26PM on 2-29-2008
Yep, Clay, it says that (and links out) in the first sentence of the post.
claydough said 10:29PM on 2-29-2008
Crap...sorry, it's been a long day.
Michael Rose said 1:05AM on 3-01-2008
:-) no worries.
bbbbb said 1:30AM on 3-01-2008
I 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??
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Jonathan Grynspan said 3:50AM on 3-01-2008
Okay, I just noticed that I don't even have a copy of Microsoft AutoUpdate. Odd.
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Fozz said 7:49AM on 3-03-2008
Open 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.
Jonathan Grynspan said 5:50AM on 3-01-2008
Thanks, Fozz! :)
MisterInvisible said 11:01AM on 3-01-2008
Maybe 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.
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petebar said 11:06AM on 3-01-2008
I 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.
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macman718 said 12:11PM on 3-01-2008
How did you check your order status?