Next Mac Office due in late 2007
updated 08:45 am EDT, Tue October 10, 2006
Mac Office 2007 delayed
Microsoft doesn't expect to ship the next version of its flagship suite Office for the Mac until the second of half of 2007, confirming a report from last month. Code-named Office 12, the next version of its flagship office suite will bring an enhanced look and feel to match Mac OS X's interface evolution, and enhanced features as well as Universal Binary support for native performance on Intel-based Macs; however, Reuters reports that the company does not expect to ship the much-anticipated Universal update until eight months after the release of its Windows counterpart. Microsoft currently expects to ship the next version of Office 2007 for Windows in January, which could mean that Mac users would wait about three and half years since the last major update. Office 2004 for Mac was released in January of 2004.
Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit group product manager Mary Starman confirmed the release date while saying that the update will bring an interface overhaul in line with Apple's interface guidelines and the direction being taken by Mac OS X Leopard.
"This may draw on elements of the 'ribbon', a new strip of commands and formats to debut in the Windows version of Office 2007." Reuters also confirms that Word, Excel and PowerPoint will adopt XML as their native file format--much like its Windows counterpart.
Leopard will be less Aqua
10/10, 09:23am reply
I wonder if we can expect a bit of a jump in the GUI for 10.5. Apple wants to stay way ahead of Windows on more than just the technology side. A new genius interface would give Mac OS X the drool factor it had when it was new. I think this overhaul is one of those "secrets" that will be revealed at MacWorld 07.
kerryb
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Joined: Aug 2001
"much like"
10/10, 09:24am reply
The use of the phrase "much like" leads me to suspect that yet again there will be subtle incompatibilites in file formats and usability that will render the Mac version a second class citizen in the Office world.
SergioRS
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Joined: Sep 2004
Mac Office Real Late...
10/10, 09:37am reply
Who cares? I don't use it anymore. If I need Word or PowerPoint I run the 2003 version of Win Office in Crossover. Then I can't get tripped up by the subtle (and some not so subtle) incompatibilities mentioned by sergiors.
NeoOffice has also evolved to the point where it is useful.
My favorite word processor for general use is Papyrus which uses an editable PDF file format. For more complex documents, Ragtime version 6. Both are almost unknown, but they are powerful tools. And they aren't as sluggish and as unstable as Microsoft's feeble and always so late efforts.
davidlfoster
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Joined: Dec 2005
Bloatware
10/10, 09:38am reply
Hopefully, this will be the last "update" of Word.
Why? Lets face it, MS Word is bloat-ware. It once was a great word processor, exactly what it should be. Now, its more than that, even delving into areas like web page design and page layout.
The problem is that MS cannot afford to make a great product, because it's the updates that make MS the money. That is, once they give you the initial sample of their drug, your hooked for life like a junky.
Bloatware.
ronjamin
Baninated
Joined: May 2002
plenty of time...
10/10, 10:13am reply
to start migrating to the open office software! as long as compatibility is there, i would be MORE than happy to finally make my mac 100% MS free (and save a few gigs on my hdd)
FastAMX79
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Joined: Sep 2000
high time
10/10, 12:07pm reply
The bloatware comments are silly. Just because a program does lots of things doesn't make it bloatware. Is photoshop bloatware? The real issue is how elegantly the pieces fit together... and word's writing, layout, and drawing modules have always been inelegantly stuck together. The ideal program would fit everything together so elegantly you don't notice.
The reason we have to care is that there are still millions of people who use word/excel/powerpoint and billions of word/excel/powerpoint documents. This is the perfect opening for a 3rd party to finally create a killer replacement... but, perfect import/export is a must for any replacement... and this has always been a stumbling block for contenders.
Pages is a step in the right direction, but still has a ways to go...
Does anyone remember Fullwrite from the OS 7 days?! Way back then it had WYSIWYG with advanced features that even word 2004 lacks... It can be done.
themexican
Junior Member
Joined: Aug 2002
Dear M$,
10/10, 12:30pm reply
Pages & Keynote have allowed me to launch Word a few times per year and PP maybe once. Excel is all that's useful anymore, and I have a hunch someone will fill that void within the next year.
Buh-bye. You guys really dropped this ball, IMHO.
lmhaffner
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Joined: Apr 2002
in the words.....
10/10, 01:41pm reply
of the immortal Gomer Pile -
"Surprise, Surprise !!"
UberFu
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Oct 2002
Say what?
10/10, 03:10pm reply
This has to be the most biased report I have seen here in a long while.
Why is anyone describing the "2nd half of 2007" date as delayed? What earlier date has ever been announced? And since when did the mac version ever come out much less than 8 months after the windows update?
Come on, macNN - stick to the facts and stop making up a story. More sense and less 'media-flame', please!
-- BarryW
barryW
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Joined: Oct 2006
Who cares about Office
10/10, 03:58pm reply
We long dropped MS Office from our enterprise. Everyone is running iWork. For the occasional excel work, we have one machine running Office X. The other 300 machines are running trouble free!
jarod
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Joined: Apr 2005