# Excel on a Mac?



## NateO (Nov 15, 2008)

Hello!

So I recently volunteered to do some Pro bono work/training on Excel for a professional sports league. My direct contact uses Office 2004 on a Mac.

I had never used Excel on Mac before, never mind for something non-trivial. I have several opinions, while I like the fact that Mac-users have the option. But before I offer those...

Have you used Excel on a Mac before? What's your take on the subject?


----------



## RoryA (Nov 15, 2008)

Excel 2004 is not bad at all, though I would guess Mike's experience is probably broader than most, so hopefully he will join in! 
You lose a bit of functionality, at least as far as VBA is concerned, from what I've experienced and the support you can find for odd problems is considerably worse, due I guess to the much smaller user base. Performance is not bad, but not as good as Windows-based versions I think - I can't find any data on the memory usage, but it doesn't seem to be as good as say 2003. 2008 is, as far as I can tell, the Duplo bricks to 2003's Meccano set. It even makes 2007 look great.
I can only speak for Intel based Macs though - I don't know if 2004's better/worse on a PowerPC. It is a shame though, because if 2004 were a straight port of 2003, I'm not sure I'd ever need to switch my PC back on again.


----------



## starl (Nov 15, 2008)

I've done VBA projects for Mac users.. it's torture. I won't do them anymore, but my main rule when I did was to create/test in Excel 97, no activex controls and limit userforms (none, if possible). Why the userform issue? Because their desktop settings would override *my* settings on the userforms - I couldnt' control the font size.... talk about headaches.


----------



## Smitty (Nov 15, 2008)

As Rory said, Mike's the real expert on MAC's, but like Tracy, I've found it very difficult to make a PC wb work nicely with a MAC, especially on the VB side (and Mike's helped me a time or two).

From the straight sheet side it seems OK, although there are some big differences with display, functionality and navigation to get used to.  I'd give you more, but I'm not in front of a MAC now (and don't plan to be anytime soon )

A colleague who uses a MAC has some pretty extensive wb's and she loves how they handle, especially with the MAC's memory management (she's got one wb that would kill a PC, and should be in Access, but works fine on her PowerBook).  From her perspective it's great, from mine in trying to help her out it's been nothing less than challenging.

Sorry to sound so negative on it, maybe it's just that I haven't had enough practice on one.

Hopefully Mike will chime in.


----------



## RoryA (Nov 16, 2008)

My experience has been the opposite - I'm in the middle of assisting someone with a workbook with a lot of defined names (tens of thousands; don't ask) which works fine on 2003 but won't even open in 2004 or 2008.


----------



## NateO (Nov 16, 2008)

Interesting, these are the kind of thoughts I might have considering what I created on a PC. I didn't get that far with the Mac, I wasn't back to square one, but I couldn't even get past the interface.

I've never used 2008 and won't really speak to a VBA-less version of Office, that's a World I'd rather not be a part of. But here's a couple of things that were driving me batty while trying to simply work with Excel on a Mac.

No right-click. I knew before I even jumped on this thing that it's not available, but that didn't stop me. Perhaps I didn't realize just how much I right-click? Quick Sort? Quickly set some Column Widths? Paste Special? Forget about it, you're going to the menu. I can't recall why I was attempting to right-click so much, but I must have done it 10 times in an hour - the working definition of insanity - attempting the same thing over and over again while expecting different results.

There's probably a simple fix for this, a key combination perhaps, but we didn't know it, the F-keys don't work? I like my F-keys too, apparently. I know I tried to use F2 and F9 while auditing some Worksheet Functions, and nothing. The one F-key that did work was Alt-F11, more on this in a moment.

I missed normal keyboard keys. There is no Delete key, there is, but it functions like a Backspace. The Mac's keyboard is missing other keys, too, like End? Someone help me out here (I only did this for 2 hours a week ago from last Thursday). It's missing a key that I use a lot for scrolling, must be End...

And for my favourite. Like I said, Alt-F11 works, nice. So I get back into the Project, add a Module, I am ready to rip. When I write a lot of code that interacts with complex Worksheet data I jump back and forth between the front and back end of Excel quite a bit, here's where the fun really begins.

So I flip back to the Worksheet, look my data, flip back to the Project. The Project's still open, but the Module's gone. Where did that thing go? I'm messing around in the Project Explorer, I can't get this thing to Maximize? Fine, I kill the VBE, and step into the procedure from the front-end. I do this again, it's gone again, and my contact says, "I bet I know where it is." She cursors over the left side of the screen and this magic, vertical task bar appears. If you cursor down to the very lower left of the screen, there's the module. I would have never found that thing!

So, everything I did, other than the Advanced Filter (didn't work - but I was working very quickly and might have been user-error) seemed to perform fine once I got everything up and running. Code ran fine, did a little SpecialCells, some advanced Worksheet Functions, etc... 

Performance was fine. But the interface almost drove me insane. Not quite like a fish being out of water, but it was just different enough where every few minutes or so I found my self saying "Wait a second, here. What?"

Granted, I'm very new to that interface, so I was probably guilty of some Mac-Newb gaffers.


----------



## NateO (Nov 16, 2008)

rorya said:


> ...I'm in the middle of assisting someone with a workbook with a lot of defined names (tens of thousands; don't ask) which works fine on 2003 but won't even open in 2004 or 2008.


----------



## RoryA (Nov 16, 2008)

If you have a 2 button mouse or a Might Mouse, you should be able to right-click but you need to enable it in system settings.


----------



## NateO (Nov 16, 2008)

That would help me, a lot. 

Also keep in mind that this wasn't my Mac, I had never used it before, didn't even attempt to tweak anything. I just sat down and started hammering away on the keyboard. So, I realize to some extent my thoughts aren't fair, as I tweak my PC's version of Excel quite a bit...

This 3-hour session also wasn't about project-finalization, either. This is a big work-in-progress, so it was more about going through a ton of concepts as quickly as possible. A working session somewhere between productive and training.


----------



## starl (Nov 16, 2008)

*lol* Nate - your frustration reminds me of when I was typing on a french keyboard - all the keys are there, just not where I expect them. That is - the functionality you want is there.. just not where you expect it.

I had considered buying some kind of low-powered Mac to run Excel on it, but then MS dropped VBA.. tho, did I hear it will be back? Thing is - with the ability of Macs to run dual environments.. why don't people just by the PC version of Excel? Then they get all the options and pluses.. yes?


----------



## Smitty (Nov 16, 2008)

The hardest thing for me when on a MAC is the difference in keyboards and that single button mouse drives me nuts too.

NOTE: the poll's skewed as I hit the wrong button and posted before I realized it.


----------



## starl (Nov 16, 2008)

smitty - pm me your vote. I may be able to fix things

how in the world can anyone survive with ONE button. That's just *wrong*


----------



## Smitty (Nov 16, 2008)

No need for the PM, it's: "I don't prefer it to PC-Excel 		 		 	_" 

_


> how in the world can anyone survive with ONE button. That's just *wrong*


Oddly enough, my co-worker with the MAC doesn't understand multiple button mice.


----------



## NateO (Nov 16, 2008)

I performed an official recount. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





If only I could do that with my Vikings...


----------



## NateO (Nov 16, 2008)

starl said:


> *lol* Nate - your frustration reminds me of when I was typing on a french keyboard - all the keys are there, just not where I expect them. That is - the functionality you want is there.. just not where you expect it.


 
Now you're giving me nightmares, I spent a week in Paris with access to a box with a French keyboard, running Linux. I could barely check my web-based email, that's how brutal that was.



starl said:


> I had considered buying some kind of low-powered Mac to run Excel on it, but then MS dropped VBA.. tho, did I hear it will be back? Thing is - with the ability of Macs to run dual environments.. why don't people just by the PC version of Excel? Then they get all the options and pluses.. yes?


To be honest, I don't know much about that. I see where you're going with that, on the Intel Macs, but I don't know much about the implementation, at all.

And yes, it's my understanding that Office for the Mac in the next version, following 2008, will ship with VBA again. But don't sign me to that.


----------



## Smitty (Nov 16, 2008)

NateO said:


> And yes, it's my understanding that Office for the Mac in the next version, following 2008, will ship with VBA again. But don't sign me to that.



That's what I heard as well, but there was no clarification as to whether or not they'd be the same animal or still have their differences.



> If only I could do that with my Vikings...


Or the Cowboys...


----------



## starl (Nov 16, 2008)

eh - I get to do it again! well, if I find a pc to get online with .. and the time. Gonna be doing the tourist thing when not doing the family thing. But I might be able to borrow my aunt's or cousins system...


----------



## arkusM (Nov 17, 2008)

I am a die-hard Mac user. If I could, I would never touch a PC again!! LOL. So I am biased…<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
<o> </o>
That being said, I do have a hard time using Excel at home, because I am in a PC world at work, and this is where I have most of my need and use, in Excel. There are a few quirky things that are really Microsoft’s fault for making different between the program versions. <o></o>
Mostly what I find difficult is, at work, I have customized Excel’s menus and toolbars and shortcuts and macros to the point that I actually have a “hard” time on a short term basis not having them. But I have this problem on other windows boxes as well.<o></o>
<o> </o>
The only other program that I have extensively used on both Win and Mac systems is Photoshop. It seems that Adobe did not intentionally make it difficult to switch between OSs. And they function for the most part similarly, aside from performance differences.<o></o>
<o> </o>
At home I have a Powerbook and  Mac-Book Pro, and have not used a full sized Mac keyboard for a while. My Mac-Book has an “End” key, it has to be accessed with a secondary function key.<o></o>
 <o></o>
The "right-click" can be achieved with a Ctrl-Click, which once you learn makes the one-button mouse a non-issue IMO.<o></o>
 <o></o>
The function keys generally have a purpose in OSX. There is an option in the preference/setting that allow you to set the F-keys, system-wide or program(s) specific, to perform similar to expectations from windows users. <o></o>
<o> </o>
By default in OSX the f-keys are used for OSX specific functions for Expose’ and other generally useful things!! Like system volume control, screen brightness etc.  (expose’ is one of the best features that I have every used in an OS,  http://www.apple.com/sg/findouthow/mac/#tutorial=expose )<o></o>
But I agree with some of the comments above if they are left to the default it is annoying trying to use the F2 with an expectation and have it not do what you want/expect.<o></o>
<o> </o>
I have yet to try programming or running much Vb on my Mac because I have not had the need yet. But now I will email my project home and try just for the sake of trying.<o></o>
<o> </o>
<o> </o>
Overall I find using excel anyplace ,other than my desk at work, is like wearing someone else’s shoes, possiable but uncomfortable!!<o></o>


----------



## Lewiy (Nov 18, 2008)

NateO said:


> Interesting, these are the kind of thoughts I might have considering what I created on a PC. I didn't get that far with the Mac, I wasn't back to square one, but I couldn't even get past the interface.



Slightly off topic here, but I've had a similar "interface" experience trying to get used to Excel2007.  Everything's in a different place and I've just figured out what the problem is.  All the options are icons!!  I can't just open a menu and look for what I need, I have to hover over all the icons that I think might be in the right section of the ribbon and see if they tell me what they do.  I guess experience will aide this somewhat, but I only have it at home (work is thankfully still on 2003) so I don't actually use it that much.

I read somewhere that MS reckon that the 2007 suite is better laid out for inexperienced Office users, grouping things more sensibly, etc.  Right, I thought, I need to learn me some Access, I've opened it before and played around but never done anything serious...and now this project's come up at work.....but I digress.

Anyway, I figured, why not try to learn at home in Access 2007, after all it's supposed to be easier for newbies..........wrong......I couldn't even open myself a blank database to start with....and forget the templates, how on earth do they work????  My "Access 97" tutorial book (which was the best I could find at the library) was obviously no use as it was now 10 years out of date.  So I gave up and re-installed Access 2003.

In conclusion, I sympathise with the interface difficulties, it's like, you know everything's there, but you can't work out how to get to it!!  And now I feel like I'm getting old because I'm blurting out phrases like, "Why can't they just leave it like it was" and "I remember when you could only get 16777216 cells on a spreadsheet"


----------



## NateO (Nov 19, 2008)

Lewiy said:


> I read somewhere that MS reckon that the 2007 suite is better laid out for inexperienced Office users, grouping things more sensibly, etc.


This is actually a long story, and a well-documented one, if curious, here:

http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2008/03/12/the-story-of-the-ribbon.aspx

To summarize. It started with Word, Microsoft actually did a lot of testing of testing on this, like hand/eye coordination testing in the labs, etc... It worked extremely well for you average user on Word. Great.

They didn't want horribly inconsistent Office offerings, so if you ship Word with that thing, all of Office is getting it, and that makes sense. Except it just doesn't work as well, as is, for Excel and Access, per their users. 

Most Word users really like it, as I understand it, it just didn't translate as well in the Excel and Access environments, as is. But it's also a work in progress, as you can imagine.

Me? I don't know if I like this thing or not. It sure is foreign, but I'll learn it with time. When I first started using Excel 2007, I actually thought 'Hmmm, I kind of like this thing'. Then I built a non-trivial Application in Excel 2007 and I thought 'Shoot me'. But, again, it's a matter of not knowing where the functionality lies, I'm back to 'this might be okay', in my mind.

I suspect if I had never used Excel before, I might actually like the Ribbon, it does expose a lot of functionality that in previous versions I went looking for/researching. It's not perfect, but I'm trying to be patient with it before I throw it under the bus.


----------



## arkusM (Nov 19, 2008)

*Re: Excel on a Mac?  -Hijacked!!*




NateO said:


> <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>





NateO said:


> I suspect if I had never used Excel before, I might actually like the Ribbon, it does expose a lot of functionality...


<o></o>
<o></o>
So, what you are saying is that if they built this product like 15-20 years ago it would be great when *everybody* was a new user. <o></o>
<o></o>
It will be interesting to see once a new use gets used to the product and then advances to levels of knowledge and experience that are common in this forum if they will find it difficult or not. If they will care or know the difference.... I did not read the blog Nate but I am sure there is a lot of psychology and stuff involved here... <o></o>
<o></o>
It seems MS would have been better served if the user had the ability to remove the training-wheels (ie Ribbon) at will. LOL.<o></o>
<o></o>
Personally, at this point I don’t care… or to use the newly minted word in the dictionary… Meh. <o></o>
<o></o>
<o></o> 
<o></o> 
<o>EDIT: I guess the ribbon also reduces everyone to a "new" user status..</o>


----------



## sous2817 (Nov 19, 2008)

For what it's worth, there are commercial add-ons out there that will add the 2003 interface to 2007.  The one that I have was reasonably priced and been a true lifesaver!  I'm sure I could take the time to learn the new pictures, but I'd rather see my tried-and-true menu selections.

If anyone is interested, this is the one that I use (but I'm sure there are others) http://www.addintools.com/english/menuoffice/


----------



## NateO (Nov 19, 2008)

I have a simpler solution: Excel XP and 2007 on a single box!


----------



## arkusM (Nov 19, 2008)

NateO said:


> I have a simpler solution: Excel XP and 2007 on a single box!


 

Is XP much different than 2003? I am on 2003, but I think in the new year my co. is upping things to XP. I gues I will have to rebuild my pimp'd out look and feel!


----------



## sous2817 (Nov 19, 2008)

Yeah, I have the same thing NateO.  My office is in the process of moving from 2002 to 2007 so I need access to both to squash any unintended features that crop up. 

I was surprised at how many people want to pile on conditional formatting to a cell...it looks like a rainbow puked on a spread sheet!  Of course it's my fault that a person using 2002 can't either do the same thing, or see what the person did in 2007.  Obviously it's my SUMPRODUCT formula that's causing the problems...


----------



## NateO (Nov 19, 2008)

XP is 2002, so it's actually older. I could throw 2003 on there as well, but there's not much difference between 2003/XP, so why bother? XP works for me. I had to throw Office 2007 on my box to catch up with the real world, everyone sends me files in these new-fangled '07 formats! And, Excel 2007 could actually resolve a Mac-Excel file that someone sent me, it was causing Excel XP absolute fits, Pivot Tables destroyed, functions not working, etc... XP and 2007 play nicely with one another on the same box.

I have '97, too, but that's 11 years old, so I don't bother using it. And '97, per my tests, doesn't run quite like '97 normally would when you stack it on the same box as newer builds. I.e., I could never get back to how the Address Of Operator would normally work with a stand-alone version of Office '97.


----------



## Smitty (Nov 19, 2008)

NateO said:


> I suspect if I had never used Excel before, I might actually like the Ribbon, it does expose a lot of functionality that in previous versions I went looking for/researching. It's not perfect, but I'm trying to be patient with it before I throw it under the bus.



I think I'm right with you there Nate.  I'm not fond at all of the Ribbon UI, but I still haven't gotten used to it.  As for a new generations of users who are so graphically and mouse oriented I think it'll be a different story.


----------



## arkusM (Nov 19, 2008)

NateO said:


> XP is 2002, so it's actually older. I could throw 2003 on there as well, but there's not much difference between 2003/XP, so why bother?
> 
> I have '97, too, but that's 11 years old, so I don't bother using it. And '97, per my tests doesn't run quite like '97 normally would when you stack it on the same box as newer builds. I.e., I could never get back to how the Address Of Operator would normally works with a stand-alone version of Office '97.


 

We are running Win 2000 and Office 03, Since we are migrating to XP I assumed office would too, but if it is older it would be unlikely....
I am obviously not up on my office/Windows version!! I defer to my original comment in this thread about being a Mac guy....

Thanks for the clarification..


----------



## arkusM (Nov 19, 2008)

Has anyone used a Bloomberg Terminal before? Those graphic mouse users are humped with that program. It is the closest thing to DOS that I have used in a while... powerfull but so deep I nearly drown everytime I use it!! LOL.


----------



## NateO (Nov 19, 2008)

Try Unix!

I'm not an OS guru at all, but moving from Win 2000 to Wind XP (2002) is a nice upgrade, XP's much better at figuring out devices for you and is more stable in my opinion.

But, right. If you're on Office 2003, you won't be switching to Office XP, as you're already upgraded. I find the two to be pretty similar in terms of GUI/functionality/limitations, etc... Between these two, it's more of a matter of when you purchased/upgraded one or the other.


----------



## arkusM (Nov 19, 2008)

NateO said:


> Try Unix!


 
Oh oh that would put me in geek territory!! 
Can't do that! 

I have friends that are big into Unix/Linix etc. 
VBA is really my first true foray into the programing world and I feel as though I am drinking from a fire hose!


----------



## sous2817 (Nov 19, 2008)

The one thing that I could never get to work in 2002 (XP) and works fine in 2003 is from http://www.contextures.com/xlDataVal14.html.  Every time in 2002 it would crash, but the same file in 2003 worked fine.  


```
'Optional code to move to next cell if Tab or Enter are pressed
'from code by Ted Lanham
Private Sub TempCombo_KeyDown(ByVal _
        KeyCode As MSForms.ReturnInteger, _
        ByVal Shift As Integer)
    Select Case KeyCode
        Case 9 'Tab 
            ActiveCell.Offset(0, 1).Activate
        Case 13 'Enter 
            ActiveCell.Offset(1, 0).Activate
        Case Else
            'do nothing
    End Select
End Sub
```

Sorry, I know that was way, way off topic but it's always bugged me...


----------



## RoryA (Nov 19, 2008)

NateO said:


> I.e., I could never get back to how the Address Of Operator would normally work with a stand-alone version of Office '97.



My memory must be failing me - I didn't think AddressOf worked at all in 97?


----------



## RoryA (Nov 19, 2008)

arkusM said:


> Oh oh that would put me in geek territory!!
> Can't do that!
> 
> I have friends that are big into Unix/Linix etc.
> VBA is really my first true foray into the programing world and I feel as though I am drinking from a fire hose!



What do you suppose your Mac is basically running?


----------



## NateO (Nov 19, 2008)

Don't tell that to Michael Kaplan!

http://www.trigeminal.com/lang/1033/codes.asp?ItemID=19#19

That was one of my problems, my XP version of Excel took control of how VBA worked on my box, even in my '97 install (I think), and I couldn't recreate what he did there.


----------



## NateO (Nov 19, 2008)

rorya said:


> What do you suppose your Mac is basically running?


----------



## RoryA (Nov 19, 2008)

But that's AddrOf, not AddressOf!


----------



## NateO (Nov 19, 2008)

Okay, you got me. 

That's what I meant, though... It's easier to say 'AddressOf' than 'The Ken Getz/Michael Kaplan Workaround for AddressOf as it applies to VB[A] 5/Office 97'.


----------



## arkusM (Nov 19, 2008)

rorya said:


> What do you suppose your Mac is basically running?


 
I know, I know it is based in Unix, but I don't have to know Unix to make it work. 
My friends that use Unix have Macs for that purpose...



> Oh oh that would put me in geek territory!!


 
That was definetly tongue and cheek!! LOL
EDIT: But you will not catch me using the terminal any time soon!
I feel out of my depth in VB.


----------



## RoryA (Nov 19, 2008)

Yeah I knew what you meant!  I know that from Ken Getz' work; had forgotten that Michael Kaplan was involved. Can't say I ever had a use for it back then, but thought it was interesting!


----------



## shades (Nov 21, 2008)

Just saw this thread. I had helped a little with Starl on a couple of projects converting Win Excel to Mac Excel 2004. Not fun as she mentioned. I am a die-hard Mac user, but when I was in corporate life (Fortune 50), there was no comparison, Win Excel was far better (XL 2003 was the standard we had).

But apart from Excel, I prefer Mac programs. I have a Macbook Pro 15" laptop with the multi-finger touchpad which allows multi-button capabilities, but when at home I use a four-button Kensington trackball. So the "single button" is never an issue. But even with my eMac and a single button mouse, you can get the right-click combo in two ways: CTRL + Click, or hold the mouse button down for 1-2 seconds and the menu appears.


----------



## Mark O'Brien (Nov 26, 2008)

OK so I found this thread by searching for "Office 2008".   I've not been around much recently.

My question on this thread, having read it is this:

My wife, bless her, wants to install some version of Office on our Mac.  (a Mac incidentally that just had a $650 price drop four months after we purchased it, bastards, but it does only weigh 3 pounds)  My wife has decided that Mac OpenOffice is not working out for her.

I have read nothing but negativity on this thread about Office 2004/2008.  I have also tried 2008 in the Apple store and it does kind of suck.  I am pretty sure that I have a spare license for Office XP or 2003 at home.  Would I be better served to purchase something like "Parallels" and go with my Windows Office, or should I suck it up and purchase Office 2008?

I would say that money is not to be considered here, but then someone would suggest that I purchase a Windows machine.  Reasonably, I don't mind spending money on Office.  I just want to get something that will not drive both of us crazy.


----------



## arkusM (Nov 26, 2008)

Mark O'Brien said:


> OK so I found this thread by searching for "Office 2008". I've not been around much recently.
> 
> My question on this thread, having read it is this:
> 
> ...


 
If you want to seamlessly go from work-to-home my vote would be use a windows emulator. If you don't use Excel a ton at work then go with the Mac version. The fairly different interface is very annoying IMO. I have no issue with Word as I don't use 99% of its bloat, er, I mean features...

(An aside,from what I hear Vista runs better on a Mac than a most windows boxes)


----------



## RoryA (Nov 26, 2008)

For most things, I find Office 2004 works just fine. Office 2008 I use occasionally for printing out some labels, but I can't live without VBA in Excel so that never gets loaded.
If you plan to do a lot of heavy duty stuff in Office, then I'd probably go for some sort of VM/Parallels solution. If money's no object, put it on one of those Xeon-powered G3 monsters!


----------



## Mark O'Brien (Nov 26, 2008)

arkusM said:


> The fairly different interface is very annoying IMO.



The Mac interface is one of my peeves.



rorya said:


> For most things, I find Office 2004 works just fine. Office 2008 I use occasionally for printing out some labels, but I can't live without VBA in Excel so that never gets loaded.



I have been known to use VBA from time to time.  My wife doesn't seem to think that this fact is important enough to not buy Office 2008.  Maybe I should do both, VM with Office XP and buy Office 2008.  

PS.  I can't believe that Nathan would misuse the term "PC" in a poll.  Jeez!


----------



## Mark O'Brien (Nov 27, 2008)

I snapped, Amazon.com's deal of the day was Office 2008 Special Media Edition for $100.  It was too good of a deal to pass up.  I'm weak for sales.


----------



## arkusM (Nov 27, 2008)

Mark O'Brien said:


> I snapped, Amazon.com's deal of the day was Office 2008 Special Media Edition for $100. It was too good of a deal to pass up. I'm weak for sales.


 That was easy!


----------



## Mark O'Brien (Nov 27, 2008)

arkusM said:


> That was easy!



Tell me about it.  I'll be talking about my Omaha Steaks addiction next.


----------



## Jay3 (Mar 11, 2012)

Hi Everyone,

I notice this discussion thread is quite old.  I've just down loaded a trail of Office for Mac 2011 and it's a vast improvement from 2004.  

It looks a lot more like office 2007 on my PC in work.......I hated the floating tool bars in the 2004 version.

I was just wondering if anyone else has used it as I'm just trying to decide whether to purchase it outright. 

Also can anyone comment on the VBA capability on Excel for Mac 2011.

I want to be able to move away from having to use Windows completely if possible.  As having to reboot each time to use boot-camp is irritating and I find too slow.

Thanks all.


----------



## RoryA (Mar 11, 2012)

I quite like 2011. It's not as good as 2010 on Windows (VBA performance and performance generally don't seem on a par) but it's better than 2004 and infinitely better than 2008.

BTW, rather than boot camp, if you have a reasonably well specified mac, you might want to look at virtual machines.


----------



## mikerickson (Mar 11, 2012)

I like 2011, but it won't support ActiveX controls. Mac's OS sees ActiveX as a security threat.
Its not much of a problem for workbooks that I write, but if someone writes a workbook and I have to use it....


----------



## Jay3 (Mar 11, 2012)

Hi and thanks.

I downloaded a trial of Parallels 7 but it's very slow.

I'd sooner do away with having to use windows at all.


----------



## RoryA (Mar 11, 2012)

I'd have to say that if you find Parallels slow, your machine is probably underpowered or you have it set up wrong. It's pretty good on my iMac and macbook.


----------



## Jay3 (Mar 12, 2012)

Thanks for the info.


----------

