MS Office version question

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I may be in the wrong forum...scold me if you must. I am finally fed up and am switching to Mac. My new 24" Cinema is here and Macbook Pro should be here Monday. I can't wait!

I need MS Office and I have been told that the home/student edition is more or less crippleware. I chair a large non-profit and I do need to sign legal documents occasionally. Upgrading and switching PS and Lightroom was a no brainer...but this is puzzling me. I am at the point where the less money I give MS, the better.

While I have probably spent enough, I don't want to have buyer's remorse because I suddenly (and unexpectedly) started thinking about what I am spending!

Thanks, Barb
 
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Hello. OpenOffice (free) I would say is the better option. It won't break the bank and is 99% MS Office compatible. Apple's Pages software (part of the iWork package) is much less expensive than MS Office ($79 with all other iWork apps-a cost of about $25 per application) and it's a great alternative if you want something more user-friendly without sacraficing compatibility.
 
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Hello. OpenOffice (free) I would say is the better option. It won't break the bank and is 99% MS Office compatible. Apple's Pages software (part of the iWork package) is much less expensive than MS Office ($79 with all other iWork apps-a cost of about $25 per application) and it's a great alternative if you want something more user-friendly without sacrificing compatibility. SORRY FOR DOUBLE POST. PLEASE DELETE.
 

chscag

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I need MS Office and I have been told that the home/student edition is more or less crippleware. I chair a large non-profit and I do need to sign legal documents occasionally. Upgrading and switching PS and Lightroom was a no brainer...but this is puzzling me. I am at the point where the less money I give MS, the better.

I don't know who told you the Home/Student edition of Office 2008 was crippleware, because they are wrong. That suite contains the full version of Word, Powerpoint, Excel, and Entourage. Nothing crippling about it.

However, MS Office 2008 for the Mac (all versions) do have one shortcoming when compared to its counterpart Office 2007 for Windows. And that is the lack of VB macro support which may or may not be important to you.

As for an alternative Office suite.... you might consider Open Office 3.X for the Mac, or NeoOffice. Both offer file compatibility and are free.

If you need full cross platform compatibility - templates, etc, then you should stick to Mac Office 2008. You also mentioned legal documents, again, I would stick to Office 2008.

Like you, I hate to feed the MS Kitty, but sometimes it can't be helped.

Regards.
 

vansmith

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I don't know who told you the Home/Student edition of Office 2008 was crippleware, because they are wrong. That suite contains the full version of Word, Powerpoint, Excel, and Entourage. Nothing crippling about it.
I don't believe that the H/S edition of Entourage has Exchange support but I could be wrong.

Nonetheless, it is not crippled outside of this to my knowledge. You shouldn't have any problems with it should you choose to go with it. You can download a trial of Office here.
 

chscag

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I believe you're correct about the Exchange support re Entourage. As far as I know it's also omitted in the version of Outlook which is included with the Home/Student version of Office 2007. I have the Standard version of Office 2007 and to be honest, am not an Outlook user so I can't verify if Exchange support is included with it.

Regards.
 
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Thanks to all of you. What a great resource this forum is...I am learning a lot while waiting for my Mac life to start on Monday.

The guy from Frys obviously didn't have a clue. Thanks again.
 

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