This review is from: Office for Mac Home & Student 2011 – 1 Pack (Software)
It may have had some bugs before (which is probably why it has some low reviews) but the current version works smoothly with OS X Lion. I had no problems installing it or putting in the product code. Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint all work just like they do on windows and docs/presentations/spreadsheets can be transfered to windows computers. So far I’ve had no problems with any of the 3 and am very pleased with my purchase. A must have for all Mac users.
Do note that it comes with Word, Powerpoint and Excel. If you want Outlook you need another version that includes it or you can but this version and buy Outlook later. This version will give you the Outlook icon when you install the other 3 and if you click on it you have the option to buy Outlook.
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This review is from: Office for Mac Home & Student 2011 – 1 Pack (Software)
Having worked with Office 2003 for PC since beta, Word, Excel and PP 2011 feels more refined and a bit more cohesive…barely.
Word, Excel and PP are usable, and in some ways a touch more refined than Office 2003 for PC…perhaps that is just the Mac itself. Overall 2011 is, with only small variations, the same product as 2003. If you require Microsoft specific, detailed functionality then you are likely used to Microsoft and will get something that is all too familiar. If you are not a power user then you might want to try Pages and Numbers from Apple which will cause you much less pain for your effort and feel more like Mac products.
As of the latest updates at the time of this review there appears to be a memory leak in Word that causes it to freeze and requires a Force Quit. When restarted, the “recovered” document is 2 or 3 manual saves behind the actual saved document. So if this happens to you, check your saved version against the “recovered” version to see which is more accurate before assuming that the recovered file is doing you any favors. Having worked with Microsoft products for too many years I instinctively “save” my work with every 2 or 3 changes…like taking a breath between thoughts.
They have incorporated some of the Mac programming standards and ignored others. This doesn’t make the software bad but it does provide a user experience that unintuitive at times for those used to a Mac workflow.
Formatting in Word appears to work more consistently, though Microsoft’s anticipation of user intent is still very annoying and generally wrong….as seen with copy/paste, especially when bullets or numbering is involved. I generally turn off as much of this as possible and just update the formatting manually.
As I said before, Office 2011 is only a slight variation on 2003. All the apps in 2003 required some coding to mitigate the clunkiness of some routines….2011 has only improved mildly on this. Running a Microsoft application on a Mac highlights Microsoft’s inability to design a user experience that is based on the “user”…especially different users. Microsoft’s UI is typical of a developer/Microsoft centric view of functionality. The Ribbon menu system exemplifies this best of all. It is well organized, like a big walk-in closet that rigidly holds ALL of your belongings. But one shouldn’t have to dig through a walk-in closet to get the TV remote control every time they wish to change channels. Microsoft, through the Ribbon, has forced their single use perception of organization on a product that has much more functionality than they seem to understand. Most users have routines specific to their jobs and therefore use only a subset of the menu items. The Ribbon design is unintelligent (not context sensitive) and would be better suited as a tool for aiding in the creation of user/task oriented menus than for actual day to day work. The Ribbon is overkill for the casual user and a tiresome pain in the arse for power users. I had read online that the Ribbon design was result of a legal effort to thwart knockoffs. That makes sense as those that copy usually copy only the good parts…I don’t think Microsoft should ever fear others copying their Ribbon mistake.
VBA code that i have used for years with 2003 has transferred over nicely, though there are issues running the code on docs created with 2003. Docs created with 2011 haven’t displayed any major issues.
Having only used the entire 2011 suite for a few weeks, I have not been able to put Excel and PP through any in-depth testing. I have used XLS files created in 2003 that contain tons of complex formulas and so far have seen no issues…though I have not tested any files yet that contain more rows than one should reasonably use in a spread sheet. Also, I have not tested the pivot table functionality. I read where someone was complaining about Pivot tables in 2011, don’t remember details, but if you are using large amounts of data with a Pivot table you should seriously look into dumping the data to SQL Server or at least Access and not expect the Microsoft Pivot table to function like a full blown BI app.
If you are a long time Microsoft product user then you know that they have not refined as much as they have repackaged over the past 15 years or so. I was very excited about the release of Office 2007 because I had identified numerous things in Office 2003 that could easily be improved upon, then I actually used it…reality can suck at times. Word and Excel are probably the 2 most powerful office products on the market. Instead of refining, improving and innovating on a solid functionality that was released over 10 years ago Microsoft has chosen to just tart up the old product hoping that no one notices the lazy effort. They seemed to have created better products back when their competition was Wordperfect and Lotus 123. Unfortunately they have had very…
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Works Perfect,
It may have had some bugs before (which is probably why it has some low reviews) but the current version works smoothly with OS X Lion. I had no problems installing it or putting in the product code. Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint all work just like they do on windows and docs/presentations/spreadsheets can be transfered to windows computers. So far I’ve had no problems with any of the 3 and am very pleased with my purchase. A must have for all Mac users.
Do note that it comes with Word, Powerpoint and Excel. If you want Outlook you need another version that includes it or you can but this version and buy Outlook later. This version will give you the Outlook icon when you install the other 3 and if you click on it you have the option to buy Outlook.
Was this review helpful to you?
|BETA product at premium price,
Having worked with Office 2003 for PC since beta, Word, Excel and PP 2011 feels more refined and a bit more cohesive…barely.
Word, Excel and PP are usable, and in some ways a touch more refined than Office 2003 for PC…perhaps that is just the Mac itself. Overall 2011 is, with only small variations, the same product as 2003. If you require Microsoft specific, detailed functionality then you are likely used to Microsoft and will get something that is all too familiar. If you are not a power user then you might want to try Pages and Numbers from Apple which will cause you much less pain for your effort and feel more like Mac products.
As of the latest updates at the time of this review there appears to be a memory leak in Word that causes it to freeze and requires a Force Quit. When restarted, the “recovered” document is 2 or 3 manual saves behind the actual saved document. So if this happens to you, check your saved version against the “recovered” version to see which is more accurate before assuming that the recovered file is doing you any favors. Having worked with Microsoft products for too many years I instinctively “save” my work with every 2 or 3 changes…like taking a breath between thoughts.
They have incorporated some of the Mac programming standards and ignored others. This doesn’t make the software bad but it does provide a user experience that unintuitive at times for those used to a Mac workflow.
Formatting in Word appears to work more consistently, though Microsoft’s anticipation of user intent is still very annoying and generally wrong….as seen with copy/paste, especially when bullets or numbering is involved. I generally turn off as much of this as possible and just update the formatting manually.
As I said before, Office 2011 is only a slight variation on 2003. All the apps in 2003 required some coding to mitigate the clunkiness of some routines….2011 has only improved mildly on this. Running a Microsoft application on a Mac highlights Microsoft’s inability to design a user experience that is based on the “user”…especially different users. Microsoft’s UI is typical of a developer/Microsoft centric view of functionality. The Ribbon menu system exemplifies this best of all. It is well organized, like a big walk-in closet that rigidly holds ALL of your belongings. But one shouldn’t have to dig through a walk-in closet to get the TV remote control every time they wish to change channels. Microsoft, through the Ribbon, has forced their single use perception of organization on a product that has much more functionality than they seem to understand. Most users have routines specific to their jobs and therefore use only a subset of the menu items. The Ribbon design is unintelligent (not context sensitive) and would be better suited as a tool for aiding in the creation of user/task oriented menus than for actual day to day work. The Ribbon is overkill for the casual user and a tiresome pain in the arse for power users. I had read online that the Ribbon design was result of a legal effort to thwart knockoffs. That makes sense as those that copy usually copy only the good parts…I don’t think Microsoft should ever fear others copying their Ribbon mistake.
VBA code that i have used for years with 2003 has transferred over nicely, though there are issues running the code on docs created with 2003. Docs created with 2011 haven’t displayed any major issues.
Having only used the entire 2011 suite for a few weeks, I have not been able to put Excel and PP through any in-depth testing. I have used XLS files created in 2003 that contain tons of complex formulas and so far have seen no issues…though I have not tested any files yet that contain more rows than one should reasonably use in a spread sheet. Also, I have not tested the pivot table functionality. I read where someone was complaining about Pivot tables in 2011, don’t remember details, but if you are using large amounts of data with a Pivot table you should seriously look into dumping the data to SQL Server or at least Access and not expect the Microsoft Pivot table to function like a full blown BI app.
If you are a long time Microsoft product user then you know that they have not refined as much as they have repackaged over the past 15 years or so. I was very excited about the release of Office 2007 because I had identified numerous things in Office 2003 that could easily be improved upon, then I actually used it…reality can suck at times. Word and Excel are probably the 2 most powerful office products on the market. Instead of refining, improving and innovating on a solid functionality that was released over 10 years ago Microsoft has chosen to just tart up the old product hoping that no one notices the lazy effort. They seemed to have created better products back when their competition was Wordperfect and Lotus 123. Unfortunately they have had very…
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