![]() Regardless of where you stand on the Office versus iWork question, there's no denying that Redmond has has churned out some pretty impressive and very Mac-like software. For many others though, especially those of us who live and work in cross-platform environments, the reality is that Microsoft's Office suite is the de facto standard, and life is a lot easier if everyone's files play nice. ![]() There is a contingent of Mac users for whom Microsoft is the enemy, and any alternative to their products is the right choice. This solid alternative to Google Gadgets, Vista's Sidebar, and Apple's Dashboard provides lots of options to spice up your desktop.The subject of Microsoft Office for Mac has the potential to be a touchy one with Apple fans. If you plan on sharing your work, you can't do better than Google Docs Presentations. ![]() We are left wondering, though, why Microsoft doesn't make such a fun and visually appealing suite for Windows users. Casual users who don't want to shell out $499 could make do with the $149 Student and Home Edition or the very capable (and more wallet-friendly) $79 iWork '08. Office for Mac 2008 Special Media Edition is an excellent work suite geared toward power users who will delve into every feature and explore every nook and cranny of the robust package. ![]() Don't worry, Mac users, your documents are fully compatible with Windows' Office 2007. ppt formats when sending files to folks that haven't upgraded. It didn't pose a problem when we e-mailed documents to others that have either program, but we had to make sure to save work in the traditional. We liked the option to save files as PDFs but weren't too keen that Office for Mac 2008 saved files by default in the same Open XML format found in the Windows version of Microsoft Office 2007. We enjoyed performing numerous visual tweaks within Word and PowerPoint that seem more at home in a light photo editor than in an office suite, such as cropping, adding reflections, and applying wacky visual effects. It's obvious from the moment that you first dive into the suite that it's designed to help users create highly attractive documents, which Microsoft states is a must-have feature since Mac users are accustomed to snazzy aesthetics (no offense to PC users, we presume).Īdding images to Word and PowerPoint from your Photo folder, Photo Booth, or iPhoto is infinitely simple (using drag-and-drop or traditional folder browsing), but you can do so much more than drop a picture into copy. Back to Basics-With FlairĪt the heart of Office for Mac 2008 Special Media Edition is Word 2008 (for creating documents), Excel 2008 (for crafting spreadsheets), PowerPoint 2008 (for whipping up presentations), and Entourage 2008 (for managing e-mail and tasks). You can't drop in video backgrounds or communicate with AOL or GTalk users as you can with Apple's iChat, but if you're looking for basic messaging, it does the job. Also included is Messenger for Mac, which lets you chat it up with buddies-even those who use Yahoo Messenger. Still, we'd rather stick with the more full-featured applications in Apple's iLife '08 suite. You can also add 30-second voiceovers (activated by clicking the microphone icon in Expression Media's toolbar), which gives a personal touch to the on-screen images-a very cool feature. As with most media-organization software, you can tag and rate files as well as organize them by date. The deluxe edition contains Microsoft Exchange support (messaging and collaboration software for corporate servers) and Microsoft's Expression Media software, which catalogs all of the photos and video on your hard drive. We tested the highest-end Office for Mac 2008, the $499 Special Media Edition (a $149 Student and Home Edition, and a $399 standard Office for Mac edition are also available).
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