OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY SERVICES
Mac Corner
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Microsoft Office 2008 for Macs FAQs
Microsoft Office 2008 is the latest version of the Microsoft Office Suite for the Macintosh. Office 2008 is compatible with the Office 2007 for Windows; Office 2004 is not compatible with Office 2007 or 2008. A new file format ( “.xml”) introduced in the new versions of Office 2008 for Macs and Office 2007 for Windows causes incompatibility with older versions of Office (see FAQ 4 below). There is never a perfect time to upgrade to a new application. However, compatibility problems will increase for Office 2004 users as more people upgrade to the new versions. The sooner an upgrade to Office 2008 is made, the less comparability issues there will be.
1. How will Office 2008 be installed on university Macs?
The Office of Technology Services (OTS) started deploying Microsoft Office 2008 for Macs and Office 2007 for Windows to university-owned computers in January 2007. To prevent compatibility problems between Office versions, departments are encouraged to install new Office versions on macs and Windows.
A. How can I get Office 2008 installed on my university Mac?
- Review the system requirements and the FAQs below to confirm that your Mac meets the requirements.
- Contact the Faculty and Staff Help Center at 410.704.5151 (option 2+2+2) and request an installation of Office 2008 for your university Mac . Staff will ask several questions and create a service request. OTS staff will than follow up to schedule an installation appointment with you; approximate time for installation is 45 minutes.
Notes on the Office 2008 Installation
Only one version of Office should reside on a computer. Installing Office 2008 will
remove previous versions of Office that are installed on the Mac. The only exception to this is for users that have created macros in their Office applications, see FAQ 8 below for details.
B. What are the Mac system requirements for Office 2008?
Office 2008 is provided at no cost to departments through the university MEEC agreement. To qualify for the MEEC license, the Mac must be a university-owned computer with a TU tag attached to it.
- Processor: Intel, PowerPC G5, or PowerPC G4 (500 MHz or faster) processor
- Operating System: Mac OS X version 10.4.9 Tiger or later; 10.5 Leopard or later
- Memory: 512 MB of RAM or more (1GB recommended)
- 1.5 GB of available hard disk space
- Hard Disk: HFS+ hard disk format (also known as Mac OS Extended or HFS Plus)
- Drives: DVD drive or connection to a local area network (if installing over a network)
- Display: 1024 x 768 or higher-resolution monitor
2. Is Office 2008 available for personal Macs?
Faculty and staff can purchase Office 2008 at a discount for their personal computers at the university store in the University Union. See the University Store Faculty/Staff Work at Home page for details.
Students can purchase Office 2008 at the university store; for details see the Student Select Program.
3. Are there training and resources available for Office 2008?
There are several options for training on Microsoft Office 2008. For information, see the Microsoft Office Help and Training section of the Apple Resources web page.
4. What is the new "Open Office XML" file format about?
Both Office 2008 and Office 2007 create documents using a new file structure called "Open Office XML". This new file format creates smaller files (up to 75%), makes it easier to recover damaged files, and makes it much easier to share files with Office 2007 (for Windows) users.
By default, newly created documents will be saved in the new format. The extension to the filename will be the traditional three characters—plus an "x" to distinguish it from earlier versions. In Office 2008 Word documents will be .docx, Excel spreadsheets will be .xlsx, and PowerPoint files will be pptx.
5. Why won’t Office 2008 or Office 2007 (Windows) documents open with Office 2004?
Microsoft Office 2007 and 2008 introduced a new file format for Office applications (Office Open XML format) and this has created compatibility issues with older versions of Office applications on Windows and Macs. Microsoft Office 2008 for Macs has been released and is compatible with Office 2007. There are options for handling Office 2008 and 2007 documents, see the tips below.
Tips for working with Office 2008 and 2007 documents (if you are using Office 2004):
- (recommended) Open Office 2008 or 2007 documents in the Office 2007 applications available on Virtual Workspace.
- Office 2008 and 2007 users can use the Windows Save as… option and save documents to earlier Office application versions, e.g. Word 97-2004
6. What will happen if I try to e-mail documents to another Mac user who does not have Office 2008?
They won’t be able to read the documents. However, you can simply open your document, click "Save As…" and pick "Word 97-2004 format." Then you can e-mail them that version, which they should be able to read.
7. Can I post Office 2008 documents within Blackboard?
The issues that Blackboard initially had with publishing Office 2007 and 2008 files have been resolved with a software patch provided by Blackboard. However, students who have Office 2004 or older may not be able to open documents saved in the new format. When posting files to share with others, consider the "Save As…" and select the Office 97-2004 format to save them in the older Office version. As more people migrate to Office 2007 and 2008 this will be less of an issue.
8.. Can I set Office to just use the old document format all the time and forget about these new extensions?
Yes. You can choose "Save As…" and select the Office 97-2004 format, then click the Options button and set Office 97-2004 as the default format. We recommend biting the bullet and using the new format, and only reverting to the "Save As…" solution if someone you share files with, has difficulty reading the new file format.
8. After upgrading to Office 2008, will I be able to switch between Office 2004 and Office 2008?
No, when Office 2008 is installed on your computer, Office 2004 will be removed. Any existing Office identities (i.e., your application settings and e-mail) will be migrated from the old to the new version, and all your existing files will remain in tact. After upgrading to Office 2008, returning to Office 2004 will not be an option. The one exception to removing Office 2004 is for those users that have created macros for their Office 2004 files; see FAQ 11 below for details.
9. Why won’t macros I created in Office 2004 work in Office 2008 applications?
Macros developed in Office 2004 will not run in Office 2008 applications because the programming language Visual Basic was not developed to run in Office 2008. If you use Macros in an Office 2004 application, OTS staff can re-install the Office 2004 application so you can run your macros.
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