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| Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac Home & Student Edition | 
 enlarge | From: Microsoft Software
Category: Software
List Price: $149.95
Buy New: $124.96
You Save: $24.99 (17%)
New (38) Used (2) from $93.90
Avg. Customer Rating:  198 reviews
Sales Rank: 2
Format: Dvd-video
Platforms: Macintosh, Mac Os X
Media: DVD-ROM
Edition: Home & Student Edition
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3
Dimensions (in): 19.7 x 19.7 x 19.7
MPN: GZA00006
Model: GZA00006
UPC: 882224526302
EAN: 0882224526302
ASIN: B000X86ZAS
Release Date: January 15, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: (Authentic Microsoft Retail Version NOT Oem or Academic) Item Is Brand New in Factory Sealed Original Retail Box Never Opened, Registered, or Used with UPC Intact. Fully Registerable and Eligible for future updates, Orders are shipped out within 3 business days and delivery confirmation is emailed to you so you can track your packages arrival time online.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Where's the beef? February 18, 2008
14 out of 14 found this review helpful
Office 2008 is little more than window-dressing over the now-antiquated Office 2004. There are a few improvements to a few minor details, such as in Powerpoint 08's custom animation workflow, where one can now select more than one graphic element to move order of appearance in the animation order panel, that is now optionally persistent (i.e. no longer in a modal dialog box that you have to click out of in order to see your changes.) Much like iMovie 2008, the software advertises a streamlined, simplified workflow for beginners to the software, with a few new predefined templates for such things as posters, collateral campaigns, etc. Yet also like the new iMovie, the "updated" software ignores the needs and wishes of its original constituency, more advanced users who have dutifully ponied up money update after update.
For example, Office-for-Mac users have been waiting patiently for years and years for Office to enable its users to customize command key actions, to speed up workflows -- such as the ability to tell office to link the key combination COMMAND + OPTION + I, say, to the action "import a new image." Yet this ability, so fundamental to expert users, is missing from this update -- and Microsoft has done nothing even to enable such repetitive actions with its own keystroke functions. The user is forced to import images using laborious menus or icon clicks.
Even more galling, however, is the apparently anachronistic relationship between "Office 2008 for the Mac" and its analogue on the Windows side, Office 2007. Whereas Office 2007 offers a dramatically redesigned, much more contextual user interface (for better or for worse), Office 2008 for Mac features no such redesign -- only a greatly fattened, Leopard-style grabber bar that features a few tools in its toolbar strip, a gross misuse of this new Leopard feature that, as far as I can tell, is impossible to remove.
Further, new features included in Office 2007 for Windows are missing from Office 2008 for Mac. The former's new ability to animate page elements along a path -- moving them from one place on the screen to another -- is missing from the latter. Although this new feature is primitive and buggy in Office 2007 (most attempts to zoom in and edit an animation path resulted in an abrupt move of the windows focus back to the center of the screen, for example -- which is fine if you are editing a path that happens to BE in the center of the screen, but vexing and tedious if you're editing an element on an edge of the slide, as you keep needing to rescroll over to it after everything you do).
These and more features from Office 2007 I simply assumed would be in any product labeled "Office 2008". Boy was I wrong.
But wait -- there's more. Microsoft's own registration system not only failed to complete, but was actually able to corrupt my Leopard MacBook's keychain to boot -- this last "surprise" leading to an apparently unnecessary deletion of my entire keychain -- a HUGE pain). A look at Apple's discussions revealed that apparently many users are experiencing such frankly inexcusable issues.
To summarize, two familiar latin words come to mind for this clearly unambitious and half-baked piece of software:
CAVEAT EMPTOR
(BUYER BEWARE)
Microsoft Office 2008 February 18, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This software has less to offer and results in more problems on my computer than any other software.
I will be moving back to the previous version because it does more and causes fewer problems.
Just keep it off your machine until they decide to make the "beta" a real product. February 17, 2008
16 out of 16 found this review helpful
I just bought a MacBook Pro 15". I love it. I am an Attorney and so I was concerned about making sure everything I produce on this machine is compatible with microsoft documents and programs. I bought the Macbook Pro because I didn't want to deal with Vista and because I am over microsoft in general --hot fixes, service packs, all sorts of SLOP work...and then this most recent and astounding inability to produce a stable product. Anyway, it was a big deal for me to buy a Macbook Pro rather than a Toshiba with Vista preloaded..I digress.
THE PROBLEM: I loaded microsoft Office for Mac, 2008 Home and Student Edition with hopes of using it. I shortly found that COMMON fonts do not transfer in Word, Excel does not work as smoothly and then I received a "Welcome to Entourage" email from microsoft that literally overwrote a weeks worth of emails. Poof! all gone! (gratefully I only had a weeks worth before my welcome email) I called microsoft to ask if there was a way to unwrite the overwritten and was promptly told that I need to establish a "case number" before they could process my inquiry. A Case number? good grief---A CASE NUMBER. Is it that bad? Yes, I could see how many companies may want to sue microsoft for all kinds of things right now. Anyway, I promptly uninstalled Office for Mac 2008 and I will return it. Maybe microsoft will decide to fix this BETA, surely we can expect microsoft to service pack/ hot fix this product to death and then MAYBE in six months at least something as minor as the default settings will coincide with the real world.
THE SOLUTION: I partitioned the hard drive on my macbook, installed WINDOWS XP and loaded my copy of 2003 Office Suite. Everything is perfect now. I get to have the very best laptop in the world and all this great functioning apple software (If you haven't made the switch---you will love Apple --it's so clean). I can create documents (because I must) THAT DON'T CRASH on the other side of my mac HD (the dark side). It's like having two computers in one; the preferred being the Apple. Why can't Apple make microsoft Office? (yes I really do know why).
THE FUTURE: Will I ever install a microsoft product onto the mac side of my HD again? --Not until mircosoft decides to come clean and deliver a product that isn't messed up. Who do these people think they are? How long do they think we'll just take it? Well, this time I didn't take it, instead---- I took it back.
 Shiny and New February 17, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
So far, so good. Haven't had any problems with it, although it has crashed once or twice, especially while opening an older .doc file. Doesn't seem to like Spaces very much, and for some reason you have to focus the window to scroll in it, unlike any other windows in Leopard. Overall not bad, though.
 Great! February 17, 2008
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
I've been using it for more than two weeks now (I guess!). This edition is just perfect for students. It's so simple to use; much better than the previous version (Microsoft Office 2004). It has great new and enhanced features.
Highly recommended!
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