MicrosoftOffice2008
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Microsoft updates Office 2011 and 2008 with a host of Outlook and other fixes
If you haven't seen it already, sometime in the next few days you'll get a software update for Microsoft Office for Mac 2008 and 2011. The update has security patches that Microsoft deems "critical" and improvements to Outlook. The update requires a Mac running OS X 10.5.8 or later. Some Macs will need multiple updates because this is not a single patch. Here are the details of the updates: This update fixes an issue in which automatic configuration did not work correctly for Outlook.com accounts. This update addresses an issue when importing data from a PST file. If an email message in the PST file contains inline images followed by attachments (in that order), the attachments will be missing from the message after it is imported in Outlook for Mac. This update fixes an issue in which certain kinds of distribution lists were not being recognized correctly as distribution lists and could not be expanded. This update addresses an issue when you use a Gmail account in Mac Outlook 2011 14.2 and later versions. When you move a message between folders, a duplicate of it was incorrectly created in the All Mails folder. This update addresses an issue in which spaces sometimes disappear when pasting content from Word or replying to messages generated in windows Outlook (which uses WordMail as editor). The issue was caused by incorrect parsing of the copied content in Outlook for Mac. This update adds a designated error to inform users when an expired password results in authentication failure. Previously, users were not provided this level of detail when an authentication failure occurred.
Office for Mac 2011 and 2008 ready for OS X Mountain Lion, procrastinators groan
So you updated to OS X Mountain Lion and, gosh darn it, you're not sure that Office for Mac 2011 (or Office 2008 for Mac) will be in perfect harmony. Time to put off finishing that accounts receivable spreadsheet until IT sorts it all out, right? Unfortunately for anyone looking to catch a break, Microsoft just certified that the two most recent Mac versions of Office will purr with Apple's latest big cat. About the only hiccup remaining is the inability to manually download and install future updates as long as Gatekeeper is on full lockdown. If you've been spending all day making paper planes, it's time to knuckle down and get back to work.
TUAW Tips: Open .docx files with Office 2004
If you haven't yet upgraded to Microsoft Office 2008, you're probably intimately familiar with the problem of receiving Office 2008 .docx (Word 2008) files; they're not natively supported by Office 2004. If you have updated that older version of Office to 11.5.0 and installed the Open XML File Format Converter for Mac, you'll be able to open .docx files in Word 2004.Both the Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.5.0 Update Package and the Open XML File Format Converter for Mac are available for free. Another way that you can resolve the .docx dilemma is to use Zamzar's online file converter (see screenshot below) to downgrade the .docx file to the .doc format. Choose the .docx file, select the file format (.doc) that you wish to convert the file to, enter your email address so that Zamzar can send the converted file to you, and then click the Convert button. You'll receive the converted file shortly. This tip comes to you via Jenny Kortina over at The Apple Blog.
Mac Automation: automating Microsoft PowerPoint 2008
Welcome to the 3rd Microsoft Office 2008 automation post. Previously we covered automating Excel 2008 and Word 2008, now we shine the spotlight on PowerPoint 2008. In this how-to, I will show you how to create an Automator workflow to automate the daunting task of applying animations to the slides and converting a presentation into a QuickTime movie file. For this workflow, you'll need the following Automator actions (in the same order): Apply Animation to PowerPoint Slide Parts Convert PowerPoint Presentations to Movies Play Movies Continue reading to learn how to create this workflow.
Mac Automation: automating Microsoft Word 2008
When Microsoft released Office 2008 for Mac, they did something that I must applaud -- they joined the ranks of Mac developers creating Automator-able applications. When you do a search in Automator for "Microsoft," it will reveal all of the Automator actions that ship with Microsoft Office 2008. There is lots of great stuff included, so we'll be covering some of it in this four part Mac Automation series. I will take you through how to automate each of the Microsoft Office applications: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Entourage.First off, let's take a look at what you can automate in Word 2008. Doing a search for "Word" in Automator will display the available actions for Microsoft Word. As you can see, there are plenty of actions that you can automate. For this how-to, we'll focus on a workflow that does the following: Creates a new document Sets document properties Gathers text from the clipboard Places a watermark in the document Saves the document Prints the document Continue reading to learn how to create this workflow.
APC reports Office 2008 in private beta
Happy Friday everyone! From Down Under it emerges (via APC, the Aussie computer magazine): a preview article on Office 2008, including the tempting tidbit that the suite is now in private beta, with the 'Escher' graphics engine and plenty of shiny bits. MBU managers also admit that the initial attempts at a new, more Windows-ish interface for the Mac productivity suite met with blank stares and frustration:"[T]he Mac developers had already had one radical redesign tested and rejected after user feedback, said MacBU group product manager Mary Starman. 'We had what we thought was going to be this perfect UI solution, and the first time we put it in the labs, no-one understood it! It was so different they were completely confused!'"I don't know whether to be happy that they listened to the test groups, or discouraged that they were surprised when a radical UI change caused user confusion. *sigh* Check out the full APC article for screenshots and more.Thanks Dave and Bryce!
