Office2004
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Microsoft working to add Lion features to Office 2011
Like it or not, Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac is the most widely-used office suite for Mac users in the enterprise. While the existing version doesn't support OS X Lion features like Auto Save, Versions, and full-screen mode, MacNN is reporting that Microsoft's Mac Business Unit is hard at work adding those and possibly other features to Office. Don't expect an update tomorrow, though. According to Microsoft Office team member Pat Fox, the wait for an updated Office 2011 will be "measured in months." If you're a user of Communicator for Mac, you can get an update right now that resolves some crashing issues in Lion. It's available through Microsoft's AutoUpdate, and can also be downloaded from the MS Download Center. The company also noted that Office for Mac 2004 will never be Lion-compatible, since it was originally written for PowerPC-based Macs. If you're still trying to coax that old copy of Office for Mac 2004 along as you move forward to Lion, it's time to make the upgrade to Office 2011 ... or consider alternatives like Apple's iWork suite. It will also be fascinating to see if Microsoft decides to bring Office 2011 to the Mac App Store, either in whole or as separate parts à la iWork. Only time will tell.
Office 2004 mainstream support extended to January '12
As you probably recall, Microsoft dropped Visual Basic from Office for the Mac with Office 2008. At the time, I was working for a company that had a huge investment in systems that relied on Visual Basic, and that change was a real blow. In fact, we didn't upgrade past Office 2004 just to avoid trouble and plan our next step.If anyone else is using Office 2004 for that reason, here's a thin shard of hope for you. This week, Microsoft's Office for Mac Team announced that mainstream support or Office '04, scheduled to end on October 13, 2009, will be extended through January 10, 2012. Why extend support? As the blog post notes, Visual Basic support will return in the next major release of Office for the Mac, scheduled to hit the stands in 2010. This way, folks reliant on VB will be able to hold on until that new release is available. This is good news for anyone who was wondering how to migrate from a slew of mission-critical scripts.
Office 2004 users not forgotten, 11.5.0 released today
OK, you aren't running the latest and greatest version of Microsoft Office for Mac -- does that make you a bad person. No! You deserve updates too, just like the new stuff does. Along with Office 2008 12.1.1 sliding out the door today, Office 2004 11.5.0 is available, and it addresses the following pain points: Adds read/write compatibility for Open XML Format (.docx, .xlsx, etc.) files if installed with the Open XML Format Converter Better stability and printing/page setup fixes for Word Better paste compatibility with Office 2008 for all apps Powerpoint fixes for stability with large documents The full rundown is in the continuation of the post and over at Microsoft's support site. The download weighs in at 59 MB. Update: We initially failed to note that there is a new version -- apparently the final one -- of the Open XML Format Converter that pairs with 11.5.0 to provide full read/write compatibility with the new formats. It will work in standalone mode if you don't run 11.5, and it includes the new Office 2008/Office 2007 "C" fonts to provide maximum round-trippy goodness.Thanks, Laurie!
Office 11.3.7 update fixes security hole
Welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends -- Patch Tuesday. Microsoft's once-a-month day to caulk and fill security holes and repair product bugs has a special treat for all of us this time around: a patch for Microsoft Office 2004. The vulnerability in question also affects Windows 2000, 2003 and XP along with Visual Basic 6.0, and could theoretically allow the crafter of a malicious web page to get full access to a targeted computer. See the technical details on the "vulnerability in OLE automation" here. Note that this exploit has not been seen in the wild; it was 'responsibly reported.'The 11.3.7 update to Office is downloadable now and weighs in at 8.7 MB, with no features mentioned except for the security fix. Happy patching!Thanks, Scott.
Microsoft Office Open XML File Format Converter for Mac 0.2 (Beta)
Today not only marks the release of a new beta Remote Desktop client from Microsoft, but also a new beta Microsoft Office Open XML File Format Converter for Mac 0.2 (Beta). What the heck is this? It converts Office files that use Microsoft's new Open XML file format (i.e. files created in Office 2007 for Windows) into a file format that Office 2004 for the Mac can read. This release promises improved conversion of files containing inline graphics, amongst other things.Since this is a beta Microsoft warns that all files might not be converted correctly. They suggest you open the file and make sure it looks like it should.Update: As was pointed out in the comments, this only converts Word and PowerPoint documents.
Office 2004 11.3.4 patch out today
The Microsoft Office 2004 11.3.4 updater is available for download, a quick-eyed reader tells us. The 12.5 MB download purports to provide "several enhancements to improve security and stability," including blocking some arbitrary execution security holes, but no more detail than that at the moment. The files updated by the patch are Word, the Junk Mail Filter, and the Component Plugin. Requires Office 11.3.3 and OS X 10.2.8 or higher.Thanks Dan!
Microsoft releases Office 2004 11.3.3 and Office v. X for Mac 10.1.9 updates
Office 2008 for Mac (or Office 12, if you prefer) may still be months away, but the Microsoft Mac BU team is still working to improve Office 2004 and Office v.X while we wait.Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.3.3 Update and Microsoft Office v. X for Mac 10.1.9 Update include a variety of security and stability fixes, including a fix for the annoying DST bug in Entourage 2004 that caused calendar events scheduled on or after March 11, 2007 to be an hour off, thanks to the decision to change the start and end of Daylight Time (aka Standard Time) in the US.The specific fixes in these updates are: Improvements for all Office 2004 & Office v. X applications - fixes vulnerabilities in that an attacker can use to overwrite the contents of your computer's memory with malicious code. Improvements for Word 2004 - improves compatibility with recent changes to the way Rich Text Format (RTF) documents are created by Microsoft Office Word 2003 for Windows. Improvements for Excel 2004 - fixes an issue that causes standard deviation calculations to produce inaccurate results when the calculations are used in PivotTable reports. Improvements for Entourage 2004 - fixes an issue for users of Mac OS X 10.4.5 or later that causes any calendar event scheduled on or after March 11, 2007 to display on a time slot that is one hour ahead of its original start time. This issue affects all meetings that occur on or after March 11, 2007, including recurring meetings. The Japanese postal code dictionary has also been updated with the latest information as of June 2006. Grab them from Microsoft AutoUpdate or from the downloads page. I just installed the 2004 update and nothing is broken yet, so hopefully you'll be just as lucky.
Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.3.2 Update
After being punked on the Office 2004 11.3.1 update, I'm guessing there won't be a mad dash to grab the Office 2004 11.3.2 update, but just in case you have a change of heart -- the Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.3.2 Update claims to offer "several improvements for PowerPoint and Entourage" and is recommended for all Office 2004 users. But it doesn't appear to address any of the security issues that 11.3.1 was supposed to address before 11.3.1 was disappeared.Specific Improvements from the Read Me:PowerPoint 2004Stability is improved -- This update fixes an issue that causes PowerPoint to quit unexpectedly when you open a presentation.Entourage 2004Contact names that contain special characters are handled correctly -- This update fixes an issue that causes meeting requests to display incorrectly when sent to contacts with names that contain single quotation marks ('), double quotation marks ("), and parentheses.Public folder messages are not duplicated -- This update fixes an issue that causes duplicate messages to appear in public folders.Compatibility with Mirapoint Message Server is improved -- This update fixes an issue that causes Entourage to quit unexpectedly when accessing mail folders on a Mirapoint Message Server.If you decide to proceed, make sure you're at Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.3.0 Update already, because 11.3.2 is not a "combo" updater. And since Office Updates change the version number on some Office apps, but not all Office apps, the best way confirm what version you actually have is to check the version number of the Microsoft Component Plugin file in the Microsoft Office 2004 folder, which is always updated even if other apps aren't.
Microsoft releases, then pulls, Office 2004 11.3.1 and Office v.X 10.1.9 updates
For a brief period of time yesterday, there were updates for Office v.X as well as Office 2004 available on Microsoft's website as well as via Microsoft AutoUpdate. Both releases contained "several updates to enhance security and stability, including fixes for vulnerabilities that an attacker can use to overwrite the contents of your computer's memory with malicious code."For a while, the patches were still showing up when you ran AutoUpdate, but the Download links on this page and this page produced 404 Not Found errors. The links still go 404, and now the updates aren't showing on AutoUpdate either. Both updates are still listed here, but you'll still end up in the land of 404 if you follow the breadcrumbs.Has Microsoft pulled the updates intentionally because they found a bug in the updates or updaters themselves (release early, test late?) or has the file server simply "misplaced" them? Should the folks who already updated yesterday from AutoUpdate be worried? Should the folks still waiting for the update be worried? Somehow I doubt that whole icon thing is responsible for knocking the Mac BU this much off their game. So what's up, Mac BU?If and when Microsoft resumes its update schedule, we'll let you know. Meanwhile, try not to associate with any known malicious hackers.UPDATED 11:00am ET: Please see "Microsoft Security Response Center says yesterday's Office Updates were a mistake"
Microsoft says file converter for Office 2007 in the works
According to a post on Mac Mojo, the Mac BU's blog, Microsoft is committed to getting out a free file format converter so that Mac users can open Office 2007 Open XML formatted files with Office 2004 (Laurie posted about the problem earlier today). This converter is expected to be released late March/early April and will be free.The next version of Office for the Mac will support the Open XML Format as its native format, and that is expected to ship 6 to 8 months from now.Until then you can either use a hack, or ask your Windows using friends to save the documents they want to share with you as the older Word/Excel/PowerPoint 97-2003 Document (.doc, .xls, .ppt).
Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.2.5 Update
Microsoft released a patch for Office 2004 for Mac today which, 'fixes vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac that an attacker can use to overwrite the contents of your computer's memory with malicious code. This update also fixes issues in Microsoft Entourage 2004 for Mac and includes all of the improvements released in all previous Office 2004 updates.'If you're using Entourage with an Exchange account like I am (don't judge me!) be sure to read all the directions as this update may cause some data loss if not installed correctly.
Microsoft updates Office 2004
Attention Office 2004 users (worry not, there is no shame in using Office), Microsoft has released an update for their venerable Office suite. The Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.2.4 Update fixes some vulnerabilities in Office and addresses some issues with PowerPoint and Entourage.This updater is free, and it includes all previous updates for Office 2004 for Mac.Thanks, Jeff.
Microsoft Office 2004 11.2.3 Update
Microsoft has released an update to their Microsoft Office 2004 suite of office software. According to the website, the update offers the following fixes and features:After you install this update, you can use Mac OS X Sync Services and Spotlight searches to sync and find Entourage items, use smart cards with Entourage 2004, and enjoy improved overall security and stability when using Microsoft Word 2004, Excel 2004, PowerPoint 2004, and Entourage 2004.
Microsoft promises 5 years of Office development
During today's keynote, Jobs brought a Microsoft rep up on stage who announced a promise to develop Office for OS X for another five years (make of that what you will). They also announced that a new version of Office as a universal binary will be available later this Spring (March I believe), and that a Rosetta-optimized version would be available either today or very soon from Mactopia.
