03-23-2012, 03:46 PM

I'm not sure if this is the proper place to pose this question, but does anyone know if Apple plans to once again make macs compatible with Microsoft Office, especially word:mac? It's my inability to open documents I receive from other people now that I've upgraded my operating system to the most current version that's getting under my skin. This is like the compatibility issues that drove me nuts 25 years ago. I find myself having to use my husband's pc or my old non-upgraded mac laptop when sending documents to and from others. Anyone?

03-23-2012, 03:51 PM

Just a note to say that Pages is fine, but only if you're only communicating with other Pages users. What am I missing here that would allow me to exchange documents with word users?

03-23-2012, 04:44 PM

Originally Posted by katemariah

I'm not sure if this is the proper place to pose this question, but does anyone know if Apple plans to once again make macs compatible with Microsoft Office, especially word:mac? It's my inability to open documents I receive from other people now that I've upgraded my operating system to the most current version that's getting under my skin. This is like the compatibility issues that drove me nuts 25 years ago. I find myself having to use my husband's pc or my old non-upgraded mac laptop when sending documents to and from others. Anyone?

Your post is actually quite vague. You haven't told us what:

- Macintosh model you're using
- what version of MS Office or Word you are using
- what version of the Mac OS you have installed

All of these things can help us answer your questions.

It is also quite possible that your computer was upgraded to the latest Mac OS version...and "somebody" did not check if the version of MS Office that is installed was compatible with OS 10.7.3 Lion.

If OS versions are upgraded "willy-nilly" without first checking for other application compatibilities..issues like this can & do arise.

- Nick

03-23-2012, 04:47 PM

Thread moved to a more appropriate sub-forum. Not an OS X question.

- Nick

03-23-2012, 05:10 PM

And if you are using an Intel Mac lash out on Office 2011. It is a great program and best office suite for the Mac.

03-23-2012, 08:02 PM

Originally Posted by pigoo3

Your post is actually quite vague. You haven't told us what:

- Macintosh model you're using
- what version of MS Office or Word you are using
- what version of the Mac OS you have installed

All of these things can help us answer your questions.

It is also quite possible that your computer was upgraded to the latest Mac OS version...and "somebody" did not check if the version of MS Office that is installed was compatible with OS 10.7.3 Lion.

If OS versions are upgraded "willy-nilly" without first checking for other application compatibilities..issues like this can & do arise.

- Nick

It seems as if the writer had a question about opening a Word attachment. Pretty clear to me that the expectation was 'click' on Word attachment and it will open.

Are we now at the stage where Mac OS revisions and software updates are so out of step that '(in)compatibility' is a regular occurrence?

03-23-2012, 09:47 PM

Originally Posted by CanuckBoater

It seems as if the writer had a question about opening a Word attachment. Pretty clear to me that the expectation was 'click' on Word attachment and it will open.

Yes...but the main issue may be that the OP upgraded the OS to a newer version...and the version of MS Office they were using is no longer compatible with OS 10.7 (which I think is the OS version the OP upgraded to).

This is a VERY common problem. Folks upgrade their OS...and don't realize that some applications may not be compatible with the new OS version. It is the responsibility of the user to do their homework BEFORE upgrading the OS to ensure application compatibility.

At this point we don't know what version of MS Office the OP was using...so it could be an older version of Office as well.

The combination of an OLD version of Office...and the newest version of the Mac OS...can be a recipe for incompatibility.

- Nick

03-23-2012, 10:03 PM

You are both right. I upgraded my OS, and I would have, regardless, but I did it without checking on Word compatibility with Lion. And, it's true that my Microsoft Office for Mac is old...2004 version. However, I've seen posts that indicated there would be no effort to continue updating the Word for Mac software. If that's the case, I'll only be able to open email attachments in Word on my old Macbook. If I try to open a Word attachment, the message I'm given is that it (Microsoft Word) is no longer supported.

What I'm hoping is that someone can point me toward software that addresses the incompatibility issue...or that Microsoft Word for mac has also been updated so that it'll work with Lion...or that there's some other fix for this issue. I don't think the choice should be using Lion and being unable to open documents that are emailed to me...or staying with an outdated OS. Nick, guess I didn't provide enough info to begin with.

03-23-2012, 10:16 PM

Originally Posted by katemariah

You are both right. I upgraded my OS, and I would have, regardless, but I did it without checking on Word compatibility with Lion. And, it's true that my Microsoft Office for Mac is old...2004 version.

This is what I was most concerned about (OLD Office version & newest OS 10.7 version).

MS Office 2004 for the Mac was obviously released in 2004. You really really cannot expect an application from 2004 to still be compatible with the newest OS version from 2011. Since 2004 Macintosh computers have gone thru MANY MANY changes.

In case you didn't know...there was a MS Office 2008 for the Mac...AND MS Office 2011 for the Mac. So Office 2004 for the Mac is 7 years and two versions old.

If you want MS Office compatibility...you need a newer version of Office for the Mac. MS Office 2008 for the Mac is compatible with OS 10.7 Lion. But if you're updating your version of Office...you might as well get Office 2011 for the Mac.

HTH,

- Nick

03-23-2012, 10:32 PM

This is just what I wanted to know. I knew my Office was really old, but as long as it worked....The wording of the incompatibility report led me to believe the newer versions wouldn't work with Lion, either. I'll get the most recent version of Office, then...

03-23-2012, 10:32 PM

Thanks.

03-23-2012, 10:44 PM

Originally Posted by katemariah

This is just what I wanted to know. I knew my Office was really old, but as long as it worked....The wording of the incompatibility report led me to believe the newer versions wouldn't work with Lion, either. I'll get the most recent version of Office, then...

Sounds like a great plan! You should have no compatibility problems if you get the 2011 version.

And yes...I know EXACTLY what you mean about compatibility problems with MS Word from 25 years ago. I have MS Word and MS Excel on floppy disk from the mid-80's!

But Office versions for the Mac from at least the last 10-12 years have really been great!

- Nick