Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac has created mixed feelings for those who are worried about how changes to the software might impact functionality and compatibility.
With this new release, Microsoft is focusing on improved collaborative tools, a refined user interface, and greater compatibility across platforms. PCMag.com states that “Microsoft Office 2010 is innovative, better-designed, startlingly faster, vastly more powerful, and far more compatible with Office for Windows.”
Product Features
• It includes Outlook for Mac, replacing Entourage as Office’s email client.
• The product incorporates document-collaboration features utilizing Microsoft’s online storage features.
• Using Microsoft’s SkyDrive, Office Web apps, and SharePoint, users can share files and collaborate on documents regardless of whether they use Mac or Windows.
• User interface has been tweaked utilizing user feedback from Office 2008.
• It offers a customized and collapsible ribbon giving users access to the most commonly used tools for each specific program. It is built using Apple’s Cocoa development framework and utilizes the Apple Core Animation system.
• Visual Basic macro language has returned with the most up-to-date Visual Basic version.
• Word for Mac is more powerful and flexible. It has a few extra “tricks” that Word for Windows doesn’t have.
Pros and Cons from Reviewers
• Office 2011 maximizes workspace by adding a full screen mode that expands the current page onto a solid background.
• There are improved search functionality and multimedia features for all utilities in the Office suite, similar to what you find with iWork.
• Office 2010 is a fast and flexible office application suite that’s highly compatible with Office for Windows.
• It’s highly integrated with OS X.
• Recorded and programmed macros are fully supported by Visual Basics for Applications.
• Entourage is replaced with a newly designed and highly developed Outlook.
• Outlook cannot synch with or retrieve mail from earlier version such as Exchange Server 2003.
Overall, most Mac users are highly anticipating Microsoft 2011, and only the future will reveal whether it’s successful.