| Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac Home & Student Edition | 
 enlarge | From: Microsoft Software
Category: Software
List Price: $149.95
Buy New: $99.95
You Save: $50.00 (33%)
New (44) Used (4) from $99.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  291 reviews
Sales Rank: 2
Format: Dvd-rom
Platforms: Macintosh, Mac Os X
Media: DVD-ROM
Edition: Home & Student
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3
Dimensions (in): 87.6 x 64.8 x 15.6
MPN: GZA00006
Model: GZA00006
UPC: 882224526302
EAN: 0882224526302
ASIN: B000X86ZAS
Release Date: January 15, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Has its problems, but good overall December 1, 2008
I have mixed feelings about this version of Office. On the positive side, I feel that the graphical capabilities are outstanding. The first day I worked in Word 2008, I created a very visually satisfying piece of Smart Art for my communications class, with little to no experience doing this before. Also, from my limited usage of the feature, I think the publishing layout view is very useful.
Now for the not-so-positives... I know not everyone is a fan of it, but I miss the ribbon interface from Office 2007 for Windows. I wish they could have created a preference where you could select the standard or ribbon view. In my opinion, the ribbon was the most significant interface update since word processors went WYSIWYG in about 1988. I loved that I could hover the mouse over the ribbon area, scroll up or down to pick my menu, select my command, and have the menu remain. This makes repetitive (but not identical) formatting and document creation tasks an absolute breeze.
Also, unless I am missing something, there is no way to use the mouse scroll-wheel to zoom in and out of a document. In previous versions (and many other mac text editing/word processing apps), a Control-Scroll was the absolute easiest way to zoom in and out. In fact, I never realized how often I was zooming my document until I got this version and wasn't able to in the same manner.
Finally, why does the formatting palette float instead of anchor to the window? It drives me nuts that the tool palettes seem to almost operate independently of the applications themselves. Again, refer to my opinion on the omission of the ribbon interface to understand my frustration.
Ok Product but why bother? November 30, 2008
The single best thing about the Mac version of Office 2008 compared with the PC version of Office 2007, is that users aren't burdened by the Tool Bar Ribbon that radically changed the interface for PC users.
The second best thing is that this Student version comes with 3 licenses that allow you to put it on 3 Different machines.
Anyone who is familiar with Office already, will like this product, and it does make exchanging files with someone who is using Office 2007 easier, since it is compatible. That would be about the only reason I would get this product.
The other drawback from an email standpoint, is that Entourage (The Mac version of Outlook) on this version can not connect to an Exchange server, so forget about using this with any corporate email account that runs Exchange on the backend.
Overall the program functionality, and operations haven't changed much from previous versions, but you can get all the same power from Neo Office, which can create most of these same documents, and can read and edit older versions of Office documents. (not sure if Neo Office for the Mac can read PC versions of Office 2007 documents). Neo Office is a freeware or shareware program, that can be supported for a nominal donation.
 My first Office on a mac - not bad! November 30, 2008
I just got my wife a macbook and she was upset the Microsoft Office Trial that comes with it expired, so we got this version. Being a PC and Linux Guy, I had no issues with this version of office for Mac. She was able to use powerpoint and Word just like she would on a pc. It is a tad bit different than then PC version in looks and function, but essentially the same thing. I installed the Service Pack as well, so DO NOT FORGET TO INSTALL OFFICE SP1 for Mac as soon as you install the product.
Nice price, Nice product.
Average November 27, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'm not a Mac user so here's my father's comments: Pretty good product once he got it running. Not user friendly or intuitive. Seems to have some bugs that freeze it but they seem to have resolved after a few days. Too soon to tell. Has this software been fully tested before marketed?
3.5-Familiar Office programs that you know and (hopefully) love November 26, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Office 2008 is a big improvement over its previous version. Easier groupings with the toolbox and better spelling, grammar, and fragmented sentence corrections.
Others has said that H&S is the cheapest of the versions out there and their right. You get Word, Excel, Power Point, Messenger, and Entourage (Like Outlook). You also can install it on 3 different computers. If you get your email from an Exchange server, this version of Office will not work for you. Entourage in the H&S edition doesn't support exchange. You will have to get one of the more expensive versions of Office, their Entourage does support Exchange. The Messenger for Mac doesn't support video chat. This is disappointing since iChat doesn't support MSN.
Another downside of this excellent product is it's startup time. It is by far the slowest thing to open on my MacBook Pro. Photoshop, InDesign, and other large programs start up faster than Word or Excel. Although I have to say that once they are started they don't seem to pull too much of my system resources.
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