09-09-2008, 03:28 PM

I'm kind of in a pickle here. I need some advice from someone who maybe experienced in both Windows version of Office '07 and Mac's MS Office '08. I currently go to TCU and the business school requires a MS certification class. They are currently running Windows and are using MS Office 2007. The tests aren't basic knowledge, they are very specific. I currently have bootcamp running with XP. I would really prefer to use Mac's version of Office '08 so I wouldn't have to switch back and forth to use office. Bottom line: How much do these two version differ from each other?

09-09-2008, 06:23 PM

Howdy. If you have to use VBA, Pivot Tables, Solver, XWindow stuff, etc., then you have to stay with 2007, since none of these are available for 2008. Indications are that 2008 will eventually get VBA and Solver, but it will always be a subset of, or worse than the Windows side (in terms of capabilities).

My guess is that MS Certification implies that all testing will be done with the Windows version. In this case, why bother with the Mac version?

I am a dedicated Mac user, but I worked with Excel and Access in a Fortune 50 company, and it would have been difficult to do some of the work even with VBA in 2004. I tried writing code to be interchangeable. In most cases beyond simple tasks it was impossible.

09-09-2008, 09:28 PM

they differ quite a bit in usage. Menus are different.

09-10-2008, 01:09 AM

Originally Posted by shades

Howdy. If you have to use VBA, Pivot Tables, Solver, XWindow stuff, etc., then you have to stay with 2007, since none of these are available for 2008. Indications are that 2008 will eventually get VBA and Solver, but it will always be a subset of, or worse than the Windows side (in terms of capabilities).

My guess is that MS Certification implies that all testing will be done with the Windows version. In this case, why bother with the Mac version?

I am a dedicated Mac user, but I worked with Excel and Access in a Fortune 50 company, and it would have been difficult to do some of the work even with VBA in 2004. I tried writing code to be interchangeable. In most cases beyond simple tasks it was impossible.

I agree with just using Windows. I have Office '08 installed in OSX yet use Office on my Windows machine at work and for me, it feels better on my work machine.

If you don't feel like switching back and forth, perhaps Parallels or Fusion would work well for you. I just installed Parallels and am happy with it.

09-10-2008, 02:00 AM

ya know, just ran into a complete showstopper with office 08. what a waste of time.

09-10-2008, 10:28 AM

If you don't mind, what is the show stopper for you?

09-10-2008, 10:31 AM

while it's something that I use rarely, when I need it.. I need it.. the add in support being gone. (even though the add in I had been using wasn't VBA)

09-10-2008, 12:32 PM

There's nothing wrong with Pivot Tables (or now, Solver) in 2008, but VBA has been removed and will not be coming back until the next paid version.

Office 2004 was much closer to its Windows equivalent (2003) but Microsoft took two completely different directions with 2007 and 2008.

09-10-2008, 12:40 PM

It is good to see that Pivot table are now included. Even with 2004, there were still two major disadvantages: 1) VBA was based on VB 5 (what was used in Office 97), whereas 2003 (actually 2000 and 2002 also) was based on VB 6, and 2) there were no Control Box features in 2004. Some would say that the latter is a good thing, but when many people design in 2003 using list boxes, etc. based on Control Box toolbar instead of the Forms toolbar, then these are not available or usable/functioning with 2004. So if someone wanted any kind of cross-platform capability with 2004, they needed to set up everything on the Windows side using only what would work with Office 97.

09-10-2008, 06:07 PM

Thanks for the feedback everybody. Looks like I'm probably going to go with Fusion. It's a shame I have to spend even more money, but I think It'll be worth it in the end. Switching between OSX and XP is a pain for such a simple task such as typing up a document or whatever. If anyone has any other suggestions or advice I'm all ears. Thanks again

09-10-2008, 08:42 PM

Originally Posted by bvann89

Thanks for the feedback everybody. Looks like I'm probably going to go with Fusion. It's a shame I have to spend even more money, but I think It'll be worth it in the end. Switching between OSX and XP is a pain for such a simple task such as typing up a document or whatever. If anyone has any other suggestions or advice I'm all ears. Thanks again

If you're planning on taking a MS certification course, Office 2007 is the way to go. Not only is it a better Office suite than Office 2008, it's what most folks out in the business world are using.

I have both versions and much prefer Office 2007. However, I love my Mac even more which is why I primarily use Office 2008.

Regards.