Microsoft Office X for Mac Upgrade

The modern user interface within Office v. X has been completely redesigned to include a bold new Aqua visual appearance--a perfect representation of what an application running on the new Mac OS X should look and feel like. Communication is a snap. E-mail is made even easier in Entourage X by allowing connections to Microsoft Exchange servers, Hotmail, and Mac.com so users can more efficiently manage e-mail online and off. With the integrated and improved Entourage calendar, you can easily organize your schedule, and set reminders for important events and projects.

Office v. X is compatible with Office 2001 for Mac, Office 98 Macintosh Edition, Office for Microsoft Windows, AppleWorks 6, and FileMaker Pro 5.5, so you can share work and files with anyone, whether they use a Mac or PC. Keep track of contacts with the comprehensive Address Book, which stores all of your contact information and allows you to locate an address on a map or find driving directions from Expedia.com. Improved task reporting, calendar functions, and international time zone adjustments make time management even easier. Easily access customizable templates for resumes, catalogs, newsletters, calendars, and more from the Project Gallery. The Clip Art Gallery, including hundreds of images, provides tools to make working with graphics quick and easy.

So, now that I've got an OS, I need office apps. I work at home mostly; and the people I work with all use Windows XP in the office.

Whatever your/my opinions about MS Word, Excel, and Powerpoint might be as standalone applications hardly matters these days. The facts are that they have become the de facto office app standards.

I'm happy to say that the Office X versions of these apps are just fine. All the functionality is there. They have been updated to take advantage of some of the cool new features of OS X. And, they have proven to be remarkably stable in my opinion. I've had no crashes at all to speak of.

Most importantly for me, they provide seamless file-sharing with other folks using other systems. I regularly exchange Word, Excel and Powerpoint files with colleagues (via email and our company network) using Windows-based systems without a hitch!

Despite some initial grief from our IT staff about me using a Mac; I've proven to them all that there is absolutely no reason not to. The fact that Microsoft has made these office app file formats stable and sharable across platforms has made my life a heck of a lot easier. There are no barriers to me using a Mac any more.


It's good   April 21, 2003
2 out of 4 found this review helpful

It's good, I love Entourage much better than Apple's e-mail and calendaring software. The others are comparable to Windows products; nothing special about them.


Great upgrade...   April 7, 2003
R. Gordon (Decatur, GA United States)
This is a worthy upgrade. As usual, all components mesh nicely with each other and are on par with the Window's counterparts. Actually, PowerPoint actually has more transitions and export options on the Mac version. A worthy upgrade.


As good or better than the PC version   March 7, 2003
Stratman (Germantown, Maryland United States)
I've been using PC versions of Office for years. The Mac version is every bit as capable, and it's functionality and interface are very similar, making for an easy and seamless transition between the two versions. I actually prefer the Aqua interface of the Mac version. I do wish that Access and Visio were available, but apart from their absence, I find nothing else lacking.