microsoft office
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Security Update for Office 2008 now available
If you happen to use Microsoft Office 2008 as your office suite of choice, Microsoft has an update for you. This security update, which brings the suite to version 12.0.1, features "several changes that improve security, stability, and performance" and includes "fixes for users of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard." Sync behavior in Entourage and a file corruption bug in PowerPoint are among the areas of improvement.The update also features "fixes for vulnerabilities that an attacker can use to overwrite the contents of a computer's memory by using malicious code." That's good because we don't want that, do we? To download this new update, head on over to the Microsoft Mac Business Unit site and go to the Downloads section. For a full explanation of what this update does, check out the Microsoft support article.As with any update, be sure to let us know what happens if you decide to apply it.
NCI benefit auction and dance
New Citizens Incorporated (NCI), the largest resident-run, not-for-profit support organizations for new Second Life users is holding benefit auction and dance to raise funds to continue its teaching and support mission. Featured sponsors are Microsoft (via CSharp Writer, Microsoft evangelist), who are donating brand new copies of Windows Vista Ultimate and Office Standard 2007; Simone Stern, who is donating her entire Fall 2007 dress lineup (150 dresses, worth approximately L$82,500) - and who will be co-hosting the event with NCI founder Brace Coral.
Microsoft Office 2004 11.3.9 out for download
Got issues with Word quitting unexpectedly when you print a document? Don't be ashamed, it's perfectly normal, happens to everyone once in a while. If your printing potency isn't what it could be, try the new and improved Office 2004 11.3.9 update, now available for download.The 2.5 MB update, offered in eight languages, requires Office 11.3.8 before installing. Happy updating!Update: Some confusion in the comments over version numbering; remember that Office applications don't all track as one, so you may well see Excel, Entourage and Word disagreeing on what version they are. I generally refer to the version of the "Microsoft Component Plugin" (/Applications/Microsoft Office 2004/ Office/Microsoft Component Plugin) to see what overall version of the suite is installed. For the record, the picture above is not of an obscure Hebrew logo, as a couple of readers have wondered: those are the icons of Entourage, Word, Powerpoint and Excel respectively.Thanks Laurie!
Walt Mossberg tackles Apple's iWork '08
The Moss-man has gotten into a down-and-dirty review of Apple's latest version of its Office-battling software suite iWork '08 (which includes Pages, Keynote, and the new spreadsheet program Numbers) and delivers a one-two punch to the new package. Apparently, Cupertino's entry just can't match up to Office's triple power play of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, though Walt says that iWork '08 is an elegant and sophisticated solution for users looking for something with a little less power -- which should come as no surprise to most. Mossberg's not all doom and gloom though, happily noting that Pages has reined in its desktop publishing aspect and become more of a dedicated word processor, Numbers is a "refreshing innovation," that's more "approachable" than its competitor, and Keynote actually bests PowerPoint in ease of use. In the end, however, Mossy says all the flair and high design doesn't make up for the succulent and unbridled power in Office -- but you knew that already, right?[Via Techmeme]
Microsoft Office updated to 11.3.6
Even as the busy-bee coders of Microsoft's Mac Business Unit put the final polish on Office 2008 for the Mac, the parade of patches for Office 2004 continues. Version 11.3.6 offers security fixes plus: This update fixes an issue that causes data loss when public folder users who have a permission level of "Editor" or greater use Entourage to empty the cache for all public folders on the server running Exchange Server. The Japanese postal code dictionary is updated with the latest information as of May 2007. Grab your 15 MB of sweet sweet update over at Microsoft's download page.[via MacFixit]
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.
Is this Apple's iWork spreadsheet app?
ThinkSecret has unearthed what appears to be a screenshot of the oft-rumoured forthcoming spreadsheet application expected to ship with a future version of iWork -- either the app is still very early in development, or Apple plans to take its minimalist design ethic to new heights (lows?) with this anti-Excel app. Internally referred to as Lasso, the spreadsheet is expected to be named Numbers or Charts, offer Excel import/export, templates for typical personal and business finance, sales, and marketing, and 200+ spreadsheet functions to help those business types stick it to Microsoft -- but from the looks of the above screenshot, don't be throwing away your copies of Office just yet. [Via TUAW]Update: That screenshot is looking pretty fake, after all.
Microsoft Office v. X for Mac Update (2006-12-19)
Unlike Office 2004, Office v. X updates don't always get named with version numbers. Office v.X updates often just get named with dates. I'm not sure which I prefer - I only wish it was consistent.No matter what you call it, the Microsoft Office v. X for Mac Update (2006-12-19) is what Microsoft calls it and it is available now. The updates only affects PowerPoint. Specifically, "this update fixes an issue that causes PowerPoint to quit unexpectedly when you open a presentation."I thank a higher power every single day that I don't have to use PowerPoint to do my job. I'm sorry if you do.You'll need to have the make sure that the Microsoft Office v. X for Mac 10.1.8 Update already installed before you can install this patch and when you're done, your PowerPoint will now show up as Microsoft PowerPoint 10.1.9 (build 061018). Why they couldn't just name the updater "Office v. X 10.1.9 Update" is beyond me.
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 Security Response Center says yesterday's Office Updates were a "mistake"
The following post appears now on the Microsoft Security Response Center blog, in response to the disppearing Office security updates.Information on accidental posting of pre-release security updates for Office for MacWe've seen some questions from customers about some security updates that posted for a while today for Office for Mac that they didn't see any security bulletins for.I wanted to let you know that these weren't security updates related to this month's release or the two Word issues we've written about in Security Advisory 929433 and on our weblog: those investigations are still underway and we'll release updates for those issues once we've met the appropriate quality bar. The updates posted in error were pre-release binaries that had been staged internally as part of our testing for an upcoming release. Due to human error, they were accidentally published to the public websites before our full testing release process was complete. As soon as we discovered the error, we moved quickly to address it and remove the pre-release binaries from our public sites. Once our investigation into this issue is complete and we have security updates that meet our quality bar for release, we'll release those final security updates for all products affected along with a security bulletin. We're also taking steps to ensure a mistake like this doesn't happen again. We recommend that anyone who may have installed these pre-release updates to uninstall them. I'm sorry for any confusion this might have caused.Thanks.Mike*This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. *Published Wednesday, December 13, 2006 2:09 AM by MSRCTEAMWell isn't that lovely? By the way - there is no way to "uninstall" an Office update. If you did install the update that briefly appeared yesterday, the only way to revert is to restore your Microsoft Office application folder from a recent backup or just drag a fresh copy from your original Office install CD, and then apply the most recent available updates (recent as of the day before yesterday, that is). If you did install the update before it was pulled yesterday, and you don't notice any problems, you could just wait it out until the next valid update is released. Thanks, Steve!
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"
Speaking of Microsoft - Office 2004 for Mac updated to 11.3.0
Scott just mentioned Microsoft's Remote Desktop to me in chat and all of a sudden the entire Office: mac team rushed to push a mostly unrelated update out the door!From the Read Me: "This update contains 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. In addition, this update includes all of the improvements released in all previous Office 2004 updates."More specifically? Hyphenation is applied correctly to Swiss German content (all) Properties are retained in large documents (Word) Font does not change to Times New Roman after using a non-breaking space (Word) Hyperlinks and Action Settings are retained (PPT) No Entourage or Excel improvements noted and I haven't installed it yet so I can't say if their version numbers are even changed (an ongoing Office annoyance). If/when you install it, please let us know how it works for you!
