Microsoft Bans Mac Users from Office 2007

[rakeshishere]

Microsoft Bans Mac Users from Office 2007

Microsoft has further banned Mac users from accessing the new file formats integrated into the 2007 Office System. In the context of building Office 2008 for Mac, Microsoft has traded-off the file converters for Office 2004. According to the Redmond Company, delaying the Open XML support for Office 2004 for Mac was a necessary step designed to ensure that the upcoming version of the Microsoft productivity suite for the Mac platform will ship according to plans. In the meantime, Office 2004 users will have to exercise their patience when it comes to managing Open XML on a
Mac.

Microsoft has failed to provide the actual date when it plans to make available the final release of the Open XML converters for Mac. The company only pointed to a six to eight weeks period following the initial availability of Office 2008 for Mac. And as for Office 2008, the productivity suite is also planned for release in an ambiguous second half of 2007.

Microsoft's perspective in this case is simple. Office 2008 is a bigger fish to fry, and as such, it will receive all the focus, while the converters have been thrown into the background. Microsoft did reveal that a beta standalone converter will be delivered with limited functionality. The converter program is designed to enable Office Mac users to convert Word 2007's .docx files in the Rich Text Format, or RTF. As RTF is a format supported by both Mac OS X and Windows versions of Office, users will be able to access their documents across platforms.

The intermediary solution provided by the Redmond Company comes to replace the actual converters that Microsoft promised for the spring of 2007. And since the intermediary converter works only with Word, Microsoft plans to make available similar solutions for Excel and PowerPoint by summer. "We had to make some choices," explained Amanda Lefebvre, Marketing Manager in Microsoft's Mac business unit. "We are continuing to focus our development on the completion of Office 2008."

SOURCE

 

[Zeeshan Quireshi]

nyways Mac users(as shown by Arya n Nepcker) hate MS software so they wouldn't dare use it

btw , if Mac users talk bout usability , Office 2007 is the best example

 

[iMav]

microsof thasnt banned any1 ... well its pretty simple u own a mac get uself vista run boot camp and voila u have ful office 2k7

 

[kalpik]

^^ Exactly why people call microsoft monopolistic..

 

[Zeeshan Quireshi]

^^ Exactly why people call microsoft monopolistic..

and why does Apple put TPM in Mac OS X so that it doesn't run on any hardware other than it's own , despite the fact that it can if allowed to.

Isn't this monopoly ?

and it's not Like MS will not make convertor , it's only that they will be released separately after the initial launch of Office 2008 for Mac

 

[iMav]

and why does Apple put TPM in Mac OS X so that it doesn't run on any hardware other than it's own , despite the fact that it can if allowed to.

Isn't this monopoly ?

it is not monopoly for th OSC because they use a unix based OS

 

[kalpik]

and why does Apple put TPM in Mac OS X so that it doesn't run on any hardware other than it's own , despite the fact that it can if allowed to.

Isn't this monopoly ?

and it's not Like MS will not make convertor , it's only that they will be released separately after the initial launch of Office 2008 for Mac

But you are not forced to buy a MAC! But you ARE forced to use office..

it is monopoly for th OSC because they use a unix based OS

Be mature and quit calling people names.. I didnt lable you.. I expect the same from you..

 

[iMav]

^^ i wonder what happened to openoffice?

naems which names?

 

[nepcker]

nyways Mac users(as shown by Arya n Nepcker) hate MS software so they wouldn't dare use it

No, I think MS Office is the best office suite, at least when it comes down to features.

But since .docx files are not so common, this shouldn't be such a big problem.

 

[aryayush]

Word is certainly better than Pages, IMHO. goobimama would beg to differ though and his point makes a lot of sense too.

But Keynote is light years ahead of Powerpoint. No powerpoint present can ever exude as much class as Keynote presentations can.

 

[nepcker]

But Keynote is light years ahead of Powerpoint. No powerpoint present can ever exude as much class as Keynote presentations can.

I find PowerPoint presentations to be boring. Keynote's the best.

 

[aryayush]

El Jobso's keynotes are shining examples.

 

[nepcker]

Al Gore's presentations are great too (Seen the movie "An Inconvenient Truth"?). On the movie, Gore is seen using Keynote on a PowerBook.

 

[aryayush]

Yeah, I have the movie and I've seen it. Great movie and awesome slideshow. Some of those effects just blew me away.

 

[Zeeshan Quireshi]

But you are not forced to buy a MAC! But you ARE forced to use office..

lolz , then what all is OpenOffice about , as linux does not have interoperatibility with Binaries same way , i think OS users can do just fine with OpenOffice , they're not forced to buy MS Office

 

[aryayush]

I think people should switch to Google Docs and Spreadsheets now. To me, it seems like a much better solution than Microsoft Office and its clones. It works fine even on the measly 256 Kbps broadband connections and AFAIK, it is laden with features.

 

[i_am_crack]

but i doubt on the security of the documents

 

[rakeshishere]

I think people should switch to Google Docs and Spreadsheets now. To me, it seems like a much better solution than Microsoft Office and its clones. It works fine even on the measly 256 Kbps broadband connections and AFAIK, it is laden with features.

Yes..Really true..i was thrilled by the interface and Features..B/w Latest feature additions in Google Docs is...U can save ur documents as .TXT

 

[Zeeshan Quireshi]

Yes..Really true..i was thrilled by the interface and Features..B/w Latest feature additions in Google Docs is...U can save ur documents as .TXT

lolz

nyways Microsoft Office is The Best n no one can challenge that , do anything they can

 

[rakeshishere]

lolz

Mhh...No LOL for that coz that is indeed a good feature