Posts updates for 2008, 2004

On the heels of releasing security updates for previous versions of Office, Microsoft on its blog Tuesday said that the 2011 version of the Office for Mac suite will be 32-bit only. The focus of development has been on improving compatibility between Mac and Windows platforms, according to product unit manager Jake Hoelter, and so Office has not been completely transitioned over to Cocoa. Unless the entire suite is written in Cocoa, it cannot take advantage of 64-bit processing.

Parts of the suite that are written in Cocoa include the ribbon user interface imported from Windows, and Outlook, which is replacing the Mac-exclusive Entourage. The main advantage of switching to 64-bit would be memory, as the program could for instance better handle large Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations. Even Windows users should probably stay with 32-bit though, according to Hoelter, as it offers the best compatibility. Office for Mac 2011 is due in the fall.

Microsoft has meanwhile released updates for Office 2008 and 2004. The 2008 update, v12.2.5, fixes security flaws allowing malicious code into memory, and a general glitch blocking the custom dictionary from using words in different languages. The 2004 patch, v11.5.9, is exclusively aimed at the security threat addressed in 2008.

by MacNN Staff