“I go to trade shows with a mission based on my view of what matters, which oft times yet entirely by chance fails to overlap with what everyone else considers important,” Tom Yager writes for InfoWorld.
“Consider my take on Macworld Expo. I think that the headliner there, although Mac heads will be loath to acknowledge it, will be Microsoft. It’s been four years since Office for Mac, the one piece of software that every professional Mac owner must have, has felt its creator’s touch. The new features in Office 2008 for Mac are almost incidental. Office 2008 is Universal, meaning that it runs natively on Intel and PowerPC Macs. Microsoft came by that honestly, using Xcode and Objective-C, accumulating expertise along the way that has made the developer staff blogs of Microsoft’s Mac Business Unit one of the very few I check out regularly,” Yager writes.
MacDailyNews Take: Tom’s gotta lay off the egg nog. There’s no way that Microsoft’s Office for Mac will be the headliner for Macworld Expo. Footnote, maybe. Give Apple’s free 30-day iWork ’08 trial a try today!
“Lest you think that I’m writing about Officeworld Expo, Macs built on Intel’s Penryn 45-nanometer Core 2 CPUs will roll out at Macworld. I’m selfishly hoping that a Penryn MacBook Pro will be first out of the gate,” Yager writes.
Yager also wants an eight-core Xserve, OS X Server virtualization sans GUI at the flip of a switch (or click of a button), and thinks that “the iPhone will be a star attraction as well.”
Yager predicts, “The 3G iPhone will make its bow,” which, of course, puts the kibosh on his belief that Microsoft will be Macworld Expo’s headliner. Yager also thinks that we might “see a hint of the iPhone/iPod Touch software development kit (SDK) that Apple plans to deliver in February.”
Full article here.
I think it’s fair to assume Microsoft will get a bit of “stage time” at Macworld. They make one of the most important pieces of software for the platform! I mean, besides iLife, what else comes closer than Office in terms of Mac market saturation? And iLife is BUNDLED.
its 2008, and there is still no working full version of Outlook for anthing other than Windows.
F Microsoft and all the IT folks that demand users use windows by choosing Exchange
“It’s been four years since Office for Mac, the one piece of software that every professional Mac owner must have, has felt its creator’s touch.”
I don’t agree, ever since I installed iWork, I have yet to open MS Office on my Mac. In fact, I am thinking about trashing it.
3G iPhone? As much as I’d like it, it’s about 3-6 months too early for that. We won’t see that til the Asian roll-out begins in the Spring. We may see new iPhone software and a 16GB version, which will be a essentially a footnote unless Steve decides to talk SDK.
MDN don’t be surprised if Steve brings an Microsoft exec out on stage.
Sure we’ll see a new Mac or two or three. But the full line-up revamp that Yager hopes for is just overboard.
MS Office isn’t anywhere on my things to buy list – I’m going to go out on a limb and say that I speak for more than just myself.
I use office about once a month. I can’t justify spending the HUGE amount of money for that software that MS charges. I’ll make do without the update.
It might happen. Remember Motorola’s headlining a previous Macworld. A lot of hype about the ROKR being compatible with iTunes. While Motorola displayed its product, Jobs just stood in the background. When Motorola was done, Jobs pulled out the Nano and Motorola was done.
The same thing could happen with Microsoft. Gates could come and show off the wonders of Office for the first hour. Afterwards, Jobs reveals the Apple Teleportation device or more likely, the Apple Music Label. Either one would have the same effect.
“must have”? I use Word at work and it makes me want to blow my brains out it sucks so bad.
If the best thing about the new Office suit is the features it stole from iWork, I don’t see why it would be the “Headliner” at the event, it just don’t make no sense.
Yager’s been around a long time, and has covered the Mac when most others were shunning it. I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss what he says in an offhand way, even if he proves to not be totally correct.
Unless Office has a complete rewrite, not just an upgrade, it will soon follow the Microsoft course and be swept away
No one needs the dinosaur MS Office.
Only the smallest parts of Office 2008 are Objective-C, 99% of that monstrosity is Carbon.
*flush*
I think one thing these pundits that are talking about the “inevitability” of Office 2008 adoption on the Mac are forgetting is that it’s an entirely new product.
The theory goes that Office is “familiar” and once made available, looking at a 100% adoption rate. The reality is that Office 2008 users will have to take classes to use the thing it’s so different from the last version.
The factor no one seems to be considering is that if you have to learn a whole new way of doing things, then one can as easily learn the “iWork way” as the “MS Office” way.
Where I work, we will have to have training classes etc. for the Office rollout so we are intending to include iWork tutorials as well. In May we will be reading articles about how the Mac Office adoption was “a lot slower than expected.”
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Mel Gross: Seems like you covered all the bases there bro’. Nice going.
ChrissyOne: I don’t know about you… is that Seattle rain getting you waterlogged, or are we on different wavelengths, babe?
“…Office for Mac, the one piece of software that every professional Mac owner must have…”
Oh yeah, I am a professional user and I don’t use office at all. My business has been running for years with iWork, Billings and Adobe.
Headline at MacWorld will be the early release of the SDK for the iPhone, the dropping of the VGA port in new macs in favor of a Display Port. New monitors that have the display port and that are touch screens.
Oh, and a new ultra light laptop that will blow everyone away.
Did anyone mention that Microsoft is the last developer on planet Earth to release a universal binary version?
Was M$ on stage last year? I think it has been a couple of expos since Ho was on stage to bore us with M$ products.
Time for Steve to suck up a little and let them on stage again.
I usually agree with Yager, but not this time. Word has never been my daily WP. While I like Pages, I’m still using my trusty AppleWorks because…
…it still has features that Pages doesn’t have, like mail merge.
…formatting and adding pictures in Word is a pain in the a@#
…what other WP has a spreadsheet, database, draw, & paint modules all linked together?
I use Word about once a month to open a document from some dumb fool who still uses that clunky bloatware.
There was a tobacco shop on the Ave when I was a student in Seattle many moons ago. Signs in the window: “We have cigarettes.” “You want!” “On sale! On sale! ” The thing is, I did want, and badly.
iWork is just not advanced enough. Even for high school and college students, Pages does not have enough going for it. Though I do not like Microsoft Office, I have realized there is no alternative at the moment that supplies as advanced and useful features.
Yes, it’s a dinosaur and it’s terrible, but unfortunately, for now there is nothing better, something I am incredibly disappointed by constantly.
(Can you even make mailing labels in pages?)
I have some spreadsheets that demand Excel, unless I re-engineer them.
Other than that, I haven’t started Word or Powerpoint to produce a document in anger for well over two years and the documents that my consultancy produces specifically mention Pages and Apple’s £55.00 iWork ’08 on the back cover.
We will not be purchasing MS Office 2008 until our customers demand it, and we’re trying to ensure they never do.
Anthony writes…Yes, it’s a dinosaur and it’s terrible, but unfortunately, for now there is nothing better, something I am incredibly disappointed by constantly.
Yes Anthony, there is something far better. Apple’s discarded AppleWorks program is STILL superior to Word. By the way mailing labels are a snap in AppleWorks, as is any other project.
“the documents that my consultancy produces specifically mention Pages and Apple’s £55.00 iWork ’08 on the back cover.”
Wow, you just won fanboy of the day
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My rumour is that the iPhone SDK will be released early at MW 08 (not Feb 08) and the keynote will be recapping the great financials and showing off some of the cool apps they have created and are ready for release.
I for one am delighted Microsoft will headline Macworld Expo 2008. Someone has to bring jaw dropping innovation, good taste and customer-focused technology to this thing, and we all know it ain’t gonna be Apple. I predict Microsoft will be there to announce the I-MAC Zune in brown which can download ads from Zune Marketplace and sync them with Windows Mobile devices wirelessly through the I-MAC Zune Live Docking Station Ultimate Edition. I don’t know why Apple even tries after being outclassed by the geniuses in Redmond. Again.
Your potential. Our passion.™
I am successfully running my business without one single Micros**t product, hardware or software.
It can be done people. Let the “Zune Tang” types endure the wretched dog’s dinner that is ‘Windows’ for the rest of their lives.
Don’t attack them, pity them.
I would encourage all you fellow Apple fans to put your money where your mouth is and dump Micros**t for good.
Anthony,
Go get NeoOffice. Mailing labels are a snap.
God.
Maybe some of you can have your Mac sans Office, but for those of us stuck working for a living, we must.
You see, as much as we don’t like M$, most big companies use their garbage because they’ve got no balls.
Office is a must, sadly.
At least this is a good update – no really huge improvements over 2004 as far as Entourage goes, but at least they had the decency to put the “out of office” option there.
And, it is decently fast.
Microsoft(R)
Your rut. Our revenue.
@Zune Tang
Please, give it up.
Do us all a favor in 2008 and go to another board.
The schtick is way too old now.
“I think that the headliner there, although Mac heads will be loath to acknowledge it, will be Microsoft”
it isn’t so much “loath to acknowledge” as “noticing that office is less and less relevant.
….maybe they should try making good software and keeping it up to date. but then that would be 180 degrees from what they do today in every other part of the company, so…..
“…the one piece of software that every professional Mac owner must have…”
What rubbish!
I’m a professional Mac owner and if I have anything to say about it (and I do) it’s highly unlikely (on second thought… let’s just impossible) that Microsoft’s bloated carcass of a software suite (or any MS product) is ever going to infest my new 17″ MacBook Pro… or any other Mac I get from here on.
I learned my lesson dealing with Office 2000. iWork apps also helped.
Well, I’m a professional, and even on my ancient Thinkpad I don’t use any MS products beyond a lean, buttoned down win2k. Firefox, OpenOffice works just fine. Never would know I needed MSOffice. On the Mac side, no MS software at all, and I function just fine. Firefox, Safari, Adobe, iWork, etc. What does MS make that anyone really needs, if you think about it? Visio? Project? I can live without them. Outlook? The biggest mess I ever got involved with, and I’m so glad I trashed it 4 years ago. Just overkill. Didn’t need it and it’s overhead. I’m completely looking at the rest of the world and finding everything I need, a lot of it free, or nearly free. I wonder how long the empire will be able to hide behind it’s walls before they crumble…
We all know that we can open .doc files with TextEdit right?
Sometimes the formatting isn’t exact, but it saves me having to open Word on a regular basis (and I know my Mac is more stable if Word is NOT running).
I predict an ultraslim 10 and 13in macbook with a touchscreen keyboard like the iphones screen only bigger, where you can switch on and off extra keys and functions. Kinda like two screens hinged together with the bottom one being multitouch.
Comment from: Me In LA
God.
Maybe some of you can have your Mac sans Office, but for those of us stuck working for a living, we must.
You see, as much as we don’t like M$, most big companies use their garbage because they’ve got no balls.
Office is a must, sadly.
Office is NOT a must! Who do you think the rest of us are? We are not unemployed, homeless people. We are working professionals who have found MANY different ways to be MS free. In the process, we are more productive, less frustrated, have more space on our hard drives, and more money in our pockets! I am really sick and tired of all the whiny people who just accept the FUD that MS is necessary.
Does anyone recall Jobs’ joke about a 10″ iPod during one of the events last year? Methinks Jobs has really begun to enjoy the attention and play with it– like his comment about TV being a hobby. That was an obvious misdirection that causes people to intensify interest, not ignore it.
If Jobs jokes about a 10″ iPod to an eager crowd, you had bet he has seen a 10″ iPod and loves teasing everyone.
I am starting to think ChrissyOne is Zune Tang.
Why isn’t Chrissy here when Zune Tang is?
Very very interesting.
@w8 n c
Yeah… HueyLong comments as if she is where but she ain’t here.
Where is MDN without the intelligent lady we all like to read.
Microsoft better pray that they are not the lead story from Macworld. If they are, it will shine that much more light on all of the things that MS deliberately left out of Office 2008 (VBA support, full Exchange support most notably).
I am with the anti-macrosloth campaigners.
iWorks just fine for me… and if jobs wants to introduce a newer version – I welcome it.
My New Years Resolution:
to COMPLETELY remove any application that MacroSloth has anything to do with. Yes, that means FireFox too.
I want all Apple and any free developers innovation.
Example, recently, I am toying with the application DrewBerry – thanks to whomever mentioned it. It does what LineForm and Intaglio do as far as using Apples CoreGraphics for Vector drawing. It’s Free and I have spoken with the Author who said he will keep it free. Sure it’s not perfect, but nor is MS OFFICE.
Those are the joys I find in the MAC COMMUNITY.
Apple or free – that’s for me!
If Yager is correct, Apple can have a pile of goat cheese do the keynote because MacWorld will be a snoozer.
“like his comment about TV being a hobby. That was an obvious misdirection that causes people to intensify interest, not ignore it.”
Now if only some of those interested people would buy it.
@eitltd
I hear you loud and clear!
Not all businesses need Office.
300 people here in mine… all use TextEdit and NeoOffice – and some of us who asked – that’s about 37 are using iWorks.
We get .DOC from clients but only read them or grab text “copy” to fit ads.
iWorks is doing very well.
Only Excel was a strong hold in daily office use but NeoOffice offered the same advantages of MS Office. So bye bye…
Done the battle is over.
At home – no MacroSloth crap. That is my goal.
Windows Media Player gone last year. I even had a old IE still on my machine. THANKS AppDelete for helping me say bye bye to the useless stuff.
“I am successfully ruining my business without one single Micros**t product, hardware or software.” (sic)
Just imagine what you could do with the power of MicroShaft behind you!
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@ @R–
Oh ye of little memory…
iPod didn’t seel hugely right off the bat either. Most people didn’t know what to do with it. Early sales fluctuated, then when the great unwashed became a bit more sophisticated, iPod exploded.
TV is a different animal, but it was introduced without the same oompf. Yet, there is a great deal of promise and sales are not considered to be a failure either– even though the product caters to only half the US population (with HDtvs).
Hobbies are hobbies because they’re fun, engaging, and challenging. Otherwise, we’d give them up and call them… well… over. TV will sell more. Early sales mean little. For a reminder:
iPod sales chart: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ipod_sales.svg
It would be a stroke of genius.
Until my grad school supports Pages, the word it is for me. It also doesn’t help in that Pages does not do endnotes. My MA thesis relies on endnotes beyond a work cited. For as much as iWork, I use Keynote and Numbers all the tim, yet Pages still is the underdog in the academic world.
Steve would take the stage in a chartreuse bikini top instead of his beloved black turtleneck before Microsoft would ever headline a MacWorld. Sure, they might introduce new products but headline? No way. My money’s on new hardware, iPhone firmware and new partnerships.
Student
for Academic writing try Mellel
http://www.redlers.com/
The iPod started slow and grew.
The PS2 started fast and grew.
The Newton started slow and died.
Who knows what will happen to AppleTV but it does have the stink of death around it. Apple can’t afford to wait 4 years for things to take off like they did with the iPod, there will be 100s of millions of media centre consoles in the market by then and the race will be over.
@Tenderisthemind
Macintosh without Office is like Tiger Woods without mascara.
Trust me. Microsoft would be as big a hit at MacWorld as Pat Robertson at a gay pride parade.
<I>Office for Mac, the one piece of software that every professional Mac owner must have<I>
20 years, never used it yet. Never will.
You can too, just think instead of conforming. If you don’t start, you’ll never get rich.
@ Glossy Hurts My Eyes!
That’s right stop conforming. Go out and buy an iPod, an iMac, an iPhone, some iTunes and have a happy iLife.
Its strange. I hate using MS Office on a PC – but I rather like or don’t really mind using MS Office on a MAC. Am I the only sick-o that feels like this?
IDon’t, let’s get married. R u a male or female? I really don’t care.
I’m not ready for marriage. Plus, I only have sex with vegetables – no fruits or nuts.
Well, the big news with Office is that it will support Exchange. I guess that’s a first, and pretty big news for Mac in network settings.
@student…agreed, the lack of Endnote reference manager compatibility for Pages is a deal-breaker in academia…come on developers!
The new Office suite is a non-starter for anyone working on a Mac in a cross-platform office. The lack of Visual Basic means I’ll be staying with the previous versions and using Apple products more and more as the old MS apps fade away.
“I go to trade shows with a mission based on my view of what matters…”
“I think that the headliner there, although Mac heads will be loath to acknowledge it, will be Microsoft…”
The inference he’s making here is that Microsoft ‘matters’.
Doesn’t he realise the days of Microsoft ‘mattering’ or being relevant to the future of the computing industry are long gone?
In my workplace we now have a policy of ‘no more Office licenses’, we make do with NeoOffice on the Mac’s and Open Office on the PC’s.
This is the future – the only thing Microsoft’s got left is Vista, and we all know the way that’s heading.
The article states, “[T]he programs are still Carbon, rather than Cocoa.” I don’t exactly understand what this means to me as a Mac user.
Does this mean that Office For Mac 2008 will operate more slowly than it should or could? Does this mean that it will still have to operate using Rosetta, as my Office For Mac 2004 does?
Because Office For Mac 2008 is Carbon and not Cocoa, what will it be able to do and NOT do?
And why would Microsoft build Office For Mac 2008 to Carbon rather than Cocoa standards? Is it easier? Does is cost less to do so? Does it take less time? Are there any tactical or practical reasons — rather than strategic — for doing so?
@newton
EndNote place holders can be inserted into Pages documents by drag-and-drop, my preferred method anyway.
Once finished, save your Pages document, sans images, as RTF. Start RTF scan in EndNote, voila.
There is no CiteWhileYouWrite, but that feature, IMO, is utterly annoying in Word. You add a citation, and it takes half a minute to register.
Reopen in Pages and add the fricking figures.
I finished three manuscripts with iWork’08 and EndNote9 in the recent weeks. No problemo!
Tried iWork ’07 and recently ’08. While nice first and second efforts, they’re still not even close to being good enough to replace MS Office.
Looking forward to seeing how Office::Mac ’08 will turn out.
MS Office? Hardly.
I use it maybe once a month to import/export some accountant’s files.
NeoOffice
to those who don’t use Office and prefer iWork…you’re drinking the iSoup again, aren’t you?
Quit conforming to anything that has a fruit in its name. Use the best software for the job. That doesn’t mean it has to have an “i” in its name.
>DJ wrote: MS Office? Hardly. I use it maybe once a month to import/export some accountant’s files.
Seems foolish to spend at least $120 on MS Office to use it once a month. Did you buy it or pirate it? If you use it only once a month, try NeoOffice and sell your copy of Office::Mac, assuming it’s a legitimate copy. That’s of course assuming that you’re even telling the truth.
Yeah, Office will get its 15 seconds of fame.
But what would be headliner worthy would be if MS/Apple struck a deal to pre-install Windows as a build-to-order option. Some of us need windows on our mac… MS WON’T do that, IMHO, because the view a mac running windows as a loss not a gain for them. What stops Apple from just doing it itself (like any other hardware maker) is the licensing terms which are impossible to sign if you make a competing OS.
I know most of you hate windows beyond belief, but the ability to run Windows eliminates the #1 reason to not buy a mac and is allowing me to consolidate all my computing on a MBP.
And if you’re Apple and you believe in the superiority of OS X, having it running side-by-side with Windows is a beautiful thing. And if you were MS and you believed in the superiority of Windows, well, you make it availabe VERY cheaply to run on macs so people would switch to windows.
And since I know there are Windows fanboys in the house… why doesn’t MS do that now that Apple has opened the door for them to convert mac users so easily???
(these last thoughts amused me much)
two weeks and iget my iphone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
To the person who wrote…
to those who don’t use Office and prefer iWork…you’re drinking the iSoup again, aren’t you?
Quit conforming to anything that has a fruit in its name. Use the best software for the job. That doesn’t mean it has to have an “i” in its name.
Everything that has an “i” in its name is usually great software. I would much rather be drinking the iSoup rather than the Kool-aid from Microsoft!