On 10/11/2010, at 4:29 PM, Curtis Peter wrote:
> > Hi all > I've noticed the above program and was wondering if there is an upgrade from > 2008 or are each of the programs stand alones? > Following on from that, if they are stand alones, is it worth upgrading. > Following on from that, what about upgrading from other earlier programs like > iWork, iLife etc? > At what point does one decide which is "worth" or not, upgrading? > Regards > Peter > There is no upgrade path as far as I am aware, but on the other hand the price of the full package has halved. For example, Office 2011 Home & Business (single user) is now $279.00 rrp, down from $499 for Office 2008 Business Edition. The 2011 Home and Student Edition is now $169, down from $229 for the 2008 Student & Home Edition. Excel, Powerpoint and Word are also available separately as stand-alone versions, although each one costs almost as much as the full package at $209 each. There are plenty of reviews of Office 2011 out on the Web so I won't go into all the differences here, but the main ones are a much closer level of parity with the Windows version, both in compatibility and features, the introduction of the notorious "Ribbon" into the Mac version, the return of Visual Basic (absent for the first time in 2008), and the return of Outlook to the Mac, replacing Entourage. Whether or not it's worth the upgrade is a value judgement only you can make, and would depend on your reliance on the Office tools for productivity. The return of VB, for example, is a two-edged sword. While it increases compatibility and functionality, it also increases the changes of picking up Office Macro viruses, one of the few kinds of exploits out there to which Mac users are currently vulnerable. Many Mac users have adopted iWork, especially Pages, as their tool of choice, and rumours are rife on the Web that we may see iWork 11 before the end of the year. It's also entirely a matter of opinion as to whether Office 2011 could be considered an "upgrade" from iWork. The actual features and capabilities of Word for example, have not changed remarkably since the 2004, or even Office X, for that matter, and for me Excel feels very old fashioned after having become very used to using Numbers, which while admittedly lacking some of the key features that power Excel users rely on, is a delight to use in comparison for every day use. Hunt out the many reviews of Office 2011 on the Web (just about every Mac news site has at least one) and check it out at your local Mac store. That's the only way you'll have a chance to form your on opinion. Peter Hinchliffe Apwin Computer Services FileMaker Pro Solutions Developer Perth, Western Australia Phone (618) 9332 6482 Mob 0403 064 948 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Mac because I prefer it -- Windows because I have to. -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> Unsubscribe - <mailto:[email protected]>
