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Office v. X for Mac shows what a work suite should be
Software combines beauty, functionality for everyday tasks 01/10/2002
Apple head honcho Steve Jobs has called Microsoft Office v. X "possibly
the most important application for Mac OS X."
It also might be said that Mac OS X is just as important to Microsoft
because it proves one important fact: An all-purpose office software
package can be made in a beautiful and functional fashion. It can have
style. It can perform better than expected. And, most importantly, it
can be worth the hefty price tags being charged by Microsoft for any
modern version of Office.
If only the Windows version looked and behaved as well.
Office v. X is made only for computers with the upgraded Mac OS 10.1. Up
to now, early adopters of the first, raw version of the new Mac OS,
dubbed simply X, have had to launch OS 9 to run any Microsoft Office
applications.
The operation was cumbersome and slow. And its lack of accessibility as
a native OS X application has been enough to steer many Mac faithful
away from upgrading to the new OS.
This release marks the beginning of the end for such excuses. If you
haven't upgraded to OS 10.1 and begun using it every day, you're missing
something grand.
Neither words nor Word itself can describe the joy of operating such
mundane applications as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and the e-mail program,
Entourage, inside this Unix-based, slick new operating system.
Office v. X doesn't feel like using regular software. It feels like
concept software – something created just to show off.
Developers with the 160-person Microsoft Mac team have taken infinite
patience to redevelop the very concept of the old Windows-based Office
suites to take advantage of the Mac. Hundreds of new dialogue boxes have
been created, and they function logically and intuitively. More than 700
icons were crafted for this release, another indication of the care with
which it was created.
In all, Microsoft's Mac team says, more than half of this suite has been
created just for OS 10.1.
Like Microsoft or not, Bill Gates' Mac team has shown an exquisite
ability to take advantage of the vaunted OS X Quartz graphic engine and
delectable Aqua user interface. The Word application, for example,
allows you to add and manipulate high-end effects on photos and other
graphics, turning it into poor man's Photoshop.
The routine, simpler functions of text-editing and formatting are just
as pleasing with their transparent drop-down menus and subtle shading
behind dialogue boxes.
Excel, which consumes many home and office workers for hours each day,
has been transformed into an incredibly powerful, elegant program. The
ability to create stunning, transparent 3-D graphs and charts inside
this workhorse spreadsheet application is enough to recommend purchase
of the entire package. Better yet, Excel now auto-saves, as previous
versions should have but didn't.
In previous Mac:Office versions, advanced PowerPoint features, such as
adding animations to slides, could be executed by only the geekiest of
geeks. This version on OS 10.1 makes it seem like child's play. All your
PowerPoint stuff can also be saved in the QuickTime format for streaming
on the Net, transferring to DVD, or just for the fun of it.
Entourage, the e-mail client and personal organizer, is just as
utilitarian and well-designed. In fact, it makes its Windows cousin,
Outlook, look like the runt of the family.
There's not much foreign language support yet for this Office v. X
suite, but that's about all the negatives you'll get from this quarter.
As a Windows user, I urge every sincere computer freak to take a hard
look at the way this Microsoft suite performs on a G4 Mac running OS
10.1.
Until then, you won't know Office heaven.
OFFICE V. X FOR MAC
Maker: Microsoft
Rating: ****
System: Mac OS 10.1
System requirements: G3 or higher, 128MB of RAM, 196MB free hard disk
space for a default installation. The hard disk space requirement varies
according to the components installed and the amount of data stored in
Office.
Suggested price: $459.95 for Office v. X for Mac; $279.95 for Office v.
X for Mac Upgrade
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