Filed under: Software, Switchers, Productivity, Tips and tricks
Making Microsoft Office on the Mac look more PC-like
Previously, I've mentioned that, despite their similar DNA and file interoperability, Microsoft Office for the PC and Mac are different in their own little subtle ways. This is part function: for example, Microsoft Excel on the Mac uses the 1904 date system, while its PC counterpart uses the 1900 system. But it's also part form. Upon first launch, Microsoft Word and Excel on the Mac present a more palette-oriented user interface, with a "toolbox palette," when compared to their pre-ribbon Windows counterparts. For some, this difference in UI schemas may serve as an annoyance.
Though I'll be using Word for this example, you can also make these changes in Excel using the same steps. To make Microsoft Office on your Mac look more Windows-like (pre-Office 2007, that is), first close the "toolbox palette." Next, click on "View," and then click on "toolbars," where you'll be presented with a host of toolbars to choose from. Despite a myriad of choices, choosing the "standard" (which is already selected by default) and "formatting" toolbars provides you with the most similar UI layout to that I've often seen in Microsoft Word on a Windows machine.
While it would be reasonable to assume that wanting to get rid of the toolbox palette would be more applicable to new PC-to-Mac converts, this isn't necessarily so. Regardless of one's sentiments toward Microsoft, most offices are, well, Microsoft Offices running on Windows. A consistent looking Word and Excel on our Macs could better facilitate one's workflow.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Dave Wood said 5:35PM on 12-28-2009
A tip for the criminally insane....
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Vladimir said 5:47PM on 12-28-2009
Yes. I paid $2600 for my mbpro so that I could run ms crap on it, and have it look like windoze, too
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Gav said 6:07PM on 12-28-2009
Vladimir, everything doesn't have to be black or white, all or nothing! Try having a more mature outlook. MS Office is the best office suite there is. Anything that helps those using it on different systems is a good thing.
Oh, and 'Windoze'. Nice one, we've never seen that before.....
Gary said 6:05PM on 12-28-2009
who cares..... iWorks is better application
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daytripper said 6:21PM on 12-28-2009
ha ha, good one.
dagamer43 said 6:07PM on 12-28-2009
I hate that palette because it floats everywhere and can get lost behind other windows!
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Russ said 6:16PM on 12-28-2009
I don't need quite that many toolbars visible, but I agree with you. Now I'd like a guide for CS4. :)
Mr Lizard said 12:01PM on 12-29-2009
I know what you mean dagamer... although drag it all the way to the top-right corner and it 'snaps' into place
:-)
sean said 6:45PM on 12-28-2009
i am a longtime mac user, but will admit that i prefer the windows flavor of Excel to the Mac version. perhaps its just what i've become accustomed to.
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James said 7:12PM on 12-28-2009
Why why Why. Seriously if you are that attached to MS office you can get a PC for way cheaper than a Mac (maybe even with a free copy of office) and it will look just like Office for PC.
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Damien K. said 12:13AM on 12-29-2009
Cuz he wants to choose the mac so he looks cool but realizes he must use what the world uses for software.
John.B said 1:19AM on 12-29-2009
I'm glad I can work on Office 2007 documents at home on my Mac with Office 2008 without running Windows. Pretty much seamlessly, there are only a few minor annoyances between versions that have more to do with keyboard memory that anything else. I actually prefer the "jumble of icons" in Office 2008 to that hideous ribbon bar in Office 2007.
hoser said 6:46PM on 12-28-2009
Apparently this does not work for Office for Mac 2008.
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Andrew said 7:13PM on 12-28-2009
I have Office Mac 2008, and the tip works fine for me.
I have actually been using this tip for awhile now. I used Windows and Office at work, and I find that not having to switch between the Mac and Windows look an advantage.
I rarely use Office at home, but when I do, it is nice to have the look I am used to. It has nothing to do with Windows vs Mac. I prefer a Mac hands down, but prefer the Windows look to Office.
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Mark Miller said 7:22PM on 12-28-2009
Just like hoser said, it appears this does not work for Office for Mac 2008, which I have on my MacBook.
I followed the instructions in Word and both the Standard and Formatting toolbars were already selected, and so Word for me doesn't show the same toolbar features as the screen shot attached by the author.
I also followed the same instructions in Excel, but this time only the Standard toolbar was selected (the Formatting toolbar wasn't selected). I added the Formatting toolbar in Excel and that provided me with more toolbar features, but since the author didn't provide a "before and after" screen shot for Excel, I don't know if Excel is now showing how it would be for pre-Office 2007 Windows.
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Rocky said 7:40PM on 12-28-2009
If anything, Microsoft should have taken the interface for Office 2008 and applied it to Office 2007. The "ribbon" is confusing and not intuitive. The handy palette in Office 2008 is easy to use, friendly, and intuitive. It took me NO time at all to figure it out after using Office 2003.
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dagamer43 said 12:02PM on 12-29-2009
Umm... no. Ribbon is FAR better than the myraid of menus that plague Office 2003. You are just afraid of change.
jayjay said 2:45PM on 1-01-2010
Agreed.
BOK said 8:25PM on 12-28-2009
I expected some manbaby replies in the comments. I was not disappointed.
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nucci.jeff said 8:44PM on 12-28-2009
I have both Mac Office '08 and iWork '09 and I prefer iWork. It's a nicer suite, with more templates and it's whole lot faster. However, it doesn't handle MS docs perfectly so that why MS Office is still on my MBP.
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