Office 2008 for Mac - First Look at the final code

Michael Gartenberg | January 02, 2008, 11:26 AM

Well, the embargo is lifted so I can finally talk about Office 2k8 for Mac OS. I've been using the beta as well as final build on both G5 and Intel Macs for some time and at the end of the day, this one is a very worthwhile upgrade. The UI takes elements of Office 2k7 for Windows such as the ribbon bar but keeps the familiar Mac menu bar. The result, the best of both worlds, the ribbon works well but is easily collapsed and since the menu structure stays mostly the same, I never get the feeling that I do with Office 2k7 of walking into the home in the dark and finding the furniture re-arranged.

The suite of apps fully support Intel processors, so performance gets a much needed boost. Application load times are snappy and overall performance was excellent. While all the apps have gotten a nice update, Entourage really shines, especially with Exchange integration. I can now fully work with calendar invites, set out of the office messages and the overall views and look and feel are great (although I can't say I love all the color scheme choices and there's no way to change them it seems).

Overall, Microsoft got a lot correct in this release and if you use a Macintosh, especially in a corp ,environment with Exchange, this is a must get upgrade. Now if only we don't have to wait another four years for the next release.

I'll post a more extensive review in the days ahead.