PowerPoint Blog
Labels: office_mac, powerpoint
Microsoft's new Service Pack 2 update for Microsoft Office 2008 for the Mac has ushered in improvements that are a pleasant surprise. Topping the list is the option to add motion path animations in PowerPoint that have been available to Windows users of PowerPoint since PowerPoint 2002 (XP)! All this while, Mac versions of PowerPoint have been able to view motion path animations added by their Windows-based colleagues but they have never been able to add or edit them. This changes everything -- look at Figure 1 below to see the new motion path animations option in PowerPoint 2008.
Figure 1: Adding Motion Path Animations in PowerPoint 2008 for Mac
I still don't see the preset motion path options that are available to Windows users of PowerPoint, but that may be a blessing in disguise?
Other improvements in SP2 include the ability to now choose your own default theme including custom themes. Also, when you double-click in any part of a slide, you can start typing. Animated GIFs work as expected (learn more here about the earlier problems), and dynamic guides work better! The last option is still not available to Windows users of PowerPoint.
Categories: office_mac, powerpoint
Labels: office_mac, powerpoint
In an unprecedented promotion, the Mac Observer reported that Microsoft "is offering a special 70 percent discount on Office 2008 for Mac: Special Media Edition on Thursday, November 27 and Friday, November 28. Shoppers will receive an instant US$350 rebate when they purchase the Office suite on the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, or on "Black Friday" from Apple retailers, Best Buy, or Amazon.com."
In addition, "Microsoft will also offer a special 50 percent holiday discount on after November 28 through the end of the year."
Categories: office_mac, powerpoint
Labels: office_mac, powerpoint
Do you work on PowerPoint for Windows, and often need to share presentations with someone who uses a Mac? Or do you work in a cross platform environment where both Windows and Mac machines exist? Or maybe, you have one of those new Macs that allow you to boot to both Windows and Mac OSs – and you want your PowerPoint presentations to look, play, and print the same all the time – irrespective of whether you are using a computer running Windows or a Mac.
Cross-platform hiccups happen for more than one reason – it’s not unusual for the same company to have both Windows and Mac machines, or there might be a requirement to create an important presentation that needs to be compatible with whatever platform a client has. It might be that the designer hired to create a presentation or a template might use a Mac when the presenter is using a Windows machine – or even vice versa. Regardless, the differences between the Windows and Mac versions of PowerPoint have been giving presenters a fair share of problems.
Read more about being cross platform compatible with PowerPoint...
Categories: office_mac, powerpoint
Labels: mac, office_mac
DesignScience announced that the new MathType version 6 for the Macintosh is now shipping. This is a major upgrade that adds support for Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) and Intel Macs, and Microsoft Office 2008. New features include TeX/LaTeX input, the ability to copy equations to and from Wikipedia, and more. MathType is the full-featured, professional version of the Equation Editor in Microsoft Office and many other products, and is used by math and science educators, engineers, research scientists, students and publishing professionals to include mathematical notation in printed documents, presentations and web pages.
Read the full press release on the DesignScience site...
Categories: mac, office_mac
Labels: mac, office_mac, powerpoint, staroffice
Plenty is being spoken and written about Sun's StarOffice 9 for Mac Beta. The office applications suite market on the Mac is dominated by Microsoft Office -- and their newest Office 2008 while powerful enough, still lags behind Microsoft Office for Windows. The removal of VBA from Office 2008 has also not been received too well. And while Microsoft has confirmed that VBA support will be back in the next release of Office for Mac, that reality might still take a year or more ahead to materialize.
So how does StarOffice 9 for Mac fare in its beta?
Peter Cohen at MacWorld reports that "the beta release is free; the release version of the application is currently priced at $69.95".
MacNN adds that "price isn’t the only criteria for evaluating software. Since so many people rely on and share Microsoft Office files, file compatibility can be crucial. Fortunately, Sun’s office suite shines in this area by supporting a variety of file formats ranging from ancient files such as WordPerfect and Quattro Pro files to the latest Microsoft Office 97/2000/XP/2007 file formats".
Categories: mac, office_mac, powerpoint, staroffice
Labels: office_mac, powerpoint
How do Mac users work with Microsoft Office when they have to save in the Office Open XML file format? Office 2008 users have no problems, but everything doesn't work too well for Office 204 users. On the bMighty blog, Alan Zeichick explores the issues, and shares his opinion.
Categories: office_mac, powerpoint
Labels: cross platform, iwork, keynote, office_mac, powerpoint
Although this topic is more of a Mac only thing, it's also relevant if you are a Windows users of Microsoft Office and receive files from iWork users on the Mac who save to Microsoft Office file formats.
I read this article on the MacWorld site that goes into all the details of co-existing in a dual format/platform world -- and understanding the pitfalls and precautions required. I must say that this is probably the best content I have seen on this particular topic, and it is a must read.
PowerPoint users will understand how Keynote imports and exports PowerPoint files -- and that if there are any presentation notes in their original Keynote files, the exported PowerPoint format files won't open in PowerPoint 2008 on the Mac although they should pose no problems in PowerPoint 2004 for the Mac, or PowerPoint 2007 for Windows! I've bookmarked the page -- read it here...
Categories: keynote, office_mac, powerpoint
Labels: keynote, office_mac, powerpoint
The folks at PC World recently created the same presentation in both PowerPoint 2008 for the Mac and Apple's Keynote 08 -- the results make interesting reading. There's no clear winner, but PowerPoint 2008 may have surpassed Keynote 08 in several areas.
Read more on the PC World site...
Categories: keynote, office_mac, powerpoint
Labels: office_mac, powerpoint
I ran into this excellent post by Cory Bohon on automating PowerPoint 2008 on the Mac using the Automator program built within the Mac OS X. This may prove a great starting point for automating PowerPoint on the Mac since this new version (PowerPoint 2008) no longer provides VBA programming support.
Read on The Unofficial Apple Weblog site...
Categories: templates, powerpoint
Labels: office_mac, powerpoint
Over the last few days, there have been tons of reviews on Microsoft's new Office 2008 for the Mac. In this post, I'll look at two of these reviews, and link to them as well.
Glenn Fleishman has put up a strong verdict for Office:mac on the Seattle Times site. He finds that "Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac OS X is prettier than its predecessors. Fortunately, the upgrade is more than skin deep.....Two of the biggest interface changes you'll find across Word, Excel and PowerPoint are a toolbar that is now part of a document rather than a separate floating item, and a host of separate features (and some new ones) that have been stuffed into a floating palette. These additions may seem minor, but better access can save serious users many minutes. I use both features perhaps thousands of times a day."
Read more on the Seattle Times site...
Elsa Wenzel of CNET Reviews compares Office 2008 for Mac with Office 2007 for Windows when she says: "Unlike Microsoft Office 2007, the interface changes don't look radically foreign next to the 2004 edition. That's good news for anyone who doesn't want to relearn the locations of common functions. The 2007 applications for Windows arrange functions within tabs, while the 2008 Mac software largely clusters functions within the same drop-down menus including File, Edit, and View. By and large, most of the changes focus on attempting to help users craft more attractive documents. For instance, Office for Mac features the same templates and Smart Art graphics as the Windows counterparts. These are premade templates with 3D and translucent designs"
Read more on the CNET site...
Categories: office_mac, powerpoint
Labels: office_mac, powerpoint
Mac users will have to wait four more months to work with documents produced by Office 2007 on Windows and Office 2008 on the Mac. The delay-plagued Open XML converters were slated to show up six to eight weeks after the debut of Office 2008, a schedule that would have put their release by the end of February at the earliest and mid-March at the latest. As recently as last month, Microsoft had confirmed that the converters were on track. Today, however, Microsoft said they would not appear for months.
Read more on the Computerworld site...
Microsoft’s Macintosh Business Unit on Thursday said the first update for Office 2008 should be available in mid March. However, getting the update out will push back the release of the final Open XML File Format Converter Update to Office 2004 for Mac. “The final converter was previously scheduled for delivery 6-8 weeks after U.S. availability of Office 2008; instead, the final converter will be available to customers by late June 2008,” the company wrote on its Mac Mojo Web site.
Read more on the MacWorld site...
Geoff Price, product unit manager for Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit, posted information about an upcoming update for Office 2008 for Mac on the Mac Mojo blog. The good news is that the developers are working feverishly on the new update, which reportedly "contains fixes for high-priority issues we’ve identified." What the high-priority issues are no one will say, but a spokesperson assured us that the team "will provide further details prior to the release," scheduled for March 11.
Read more on the Ars Technica site...
Categories: office_mac, powerpoint
Labels: office_mac, powerpoint
Leaders of Microsoft's Mac Business Unit are spending the day showing Macworld Expo attendees the new Office 2008 for Mac applications.
Marcus Aiu, lead program manager of PowerPoint for Mac, is showing many new features in the presentation program. He earned applause, for example, when he demonstrated the ability to use Apple's remote control to page through slides.
Todd Bishop discusses more on the Seattle P-I site...
Categories: office_mac, powerpoint
Labels: office_mac, powerpoint
The release of Office:mac 2008 is less than two weeks away, and already there's plenty of coverage on the product:
Stephen H. Wildstrom on BusinessWeek.com does not believe that "Office 2008 will cause many people to switch from Windows to Macs, though there are plenty of other reasons to do so. But it does give Mac users—especially creative professionals, students, and home users who are the core of Apple's market—an office suite that's superior to the Windows version in many ways".
Michael J. Miller on his PC Magazine blog writes about how "the most notable change across all the applications is to the user interface. Office 2007 on Windows moved away from the traditional pull-down menu approach, but Office 2008 for Mac is more conservative. It still has the pull-down menus, along with some quick icons for commonly used commands. But some other changes move the UI in new ways. A revamped floating toolbox works as a formatting palette and also gives you access to things like object shapes, reference tools like a thesaurus or a direct link to Encarta".
Elsa Wenzel of CNET Reviews is not too happy about how "Office for Mac saves work in the same new Open XML formats used by Office 2007 for Windows. We're not thrilled about this being the default option, even though you can save your work in the older DOC, XLS, and PPT formats.
Jim Dalrymple of Computerworld delves into individual program improvements. About PowerPoint 2008, he finds that "the updated presentation application includes several new features specific to Mac users. For example, users can now send their presentations to iPhoto and then sync them to an iPod. (The presentations need to be saved as a PNG or JPEG file prior to transfers.) PowerPoint also takes advantage of the six-button Apple remote that comes with most new Mac systems, allowing users to control their presentations".
Walt Mossberg’s All Things Digital column explains that "despite the fierce rivalry between Microsoft and Apple, there is one product on which the two companies work closely together: the Macintosh version of Microsoft Office. Microsoft makes a nice chunk of change from this software suite, which includes Mac versions of the famous Word, Excel and PowerPoint programs. Apple needs the Microsoft office suite so its Macintosh computers can live in harmony with the dominant Windows world".
Categories: office_mac, powerpoint
Labels: keynote, office_mac, powerpoint
iWork, Apple’s productivity suite, has managed to capture 16% of the Mac Office Productivity sales. This really is a fairly big achievement. Microsoft Office is a monster, everyone everywhere uses it and it is the standard for Office Productivity apps. So how have Apple managed to crack Microsoft’s dominance in this market?
The MacApper site has more info...
Categories: keynote, office_mac, powerpoint
Labels: office_mac, powerpoint
Just read this informative article that combines a little history of PowerPoint with screenshots of the upcoming PowerPoint 2008 for Mac. And there's also a small comparison of PowerPoint 2008 with Apple Keynote 04.
Read it here...
Categories: office_mac, powerpoint
Labels: interviews, office_mac, powerpoint
James Gordon has been a Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) since 2000 and can be found in the Microsoft Macintosh newsgroups for Excel, PowerPoint and Word. PowerPoint users will recognize Jim as the creator of InsertPicture add-in for Macintosh. At SUNY University at Buffalo, Jim works helping faculty, staff and instructors with a wide array of technologies for higher education.
Read the interview here...
Categories: interviews, office_mac, powerpoint
Labels: office_mac, powerpoint
Microsoft further detailed its plans for Office 2008 for Mac on Tuesday, saying that it plans to release three versions of the product including one with a Macintosh version of its Expression suite.
The standard version of the product includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Entourage. Retail price will be $239.95 for the upgrade, and $399.95 for the full version. The Special Media Edition includes the Expression studio and will retail for $299.95 for the upgrade and $499.95 for the full. Student and Teacher Edition includes only Word, Excel, and PowerPoint and will retail for $149.95.
More on the BetaNews site...
Categories: office_mac, powerpoint
Labels: office_mac, powerpoint
It's always interesting to see an application evolve -- especially something like PowerPoint which I use all the time. However it can be a problem keeping up with changes in the interfaces. I've just got used to the new Office 2007 interface, and another change is staring at me. This time it is Office 2008 on the Mac.
At times like these, it's great to hear input from the team that creates Microsoft Office, and their explanations on why changes are made, and the logic behind these changes.
Nadyne Mielke is User Experience Researcher at Microsoft Macintosh Business Unit, and she explains why Office 2008 will use the new Elements Gallery rather than replicate the Ribbon from Office 2007.
This is how the Elements Gallery might look like (the picture is cropped).
Read this on Mac Mojo, the Office for Mac team blog...
Categories: office_mac, powerpoint
Labels: office_mac, powerpoint
For sure, Microsoft's MacBU does have some great minds. What else would explain this new Art of Office concept that shows how users worldwide create art from ordinary Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents?
As their Mac Mojo blog says: "Art of Office is a place for people to submit artistic and/or useful content made using Office applications (Word, Excel, or PowerPoint). Whether it’s creating pixel art using Excel (a la our Post-it Notes) developing an animated short story in PowerPoint or artistic pieces in Word, this online community allows you to share, rate, remix and discuss user-submitted content with other Mac Office users around the world. It’s a fun way to show unique applications of our product and helps people think of Mac Office in ways they may not have thought of before".
And while there are lots of comments there which complain about the delay in the release of Office 2008, I really like this initiative -- all work and no play is no good!
Categories: office_mac, powerpoint
Labels: keynote, microsoft_office, office_mac
Apple announced iWork '08, a new version of its productivity suite.
This includes a new version of Keynote, their presentation software. New features in Keynote include Instant Alpha, a process that removes the background from placed images without having to use masking tools in image-editors like Adobe Photoshop. Another new feature is Smart Builds, an option that makes it easy to add animations. Keynote also adds new transition types, and text effects enhancements. All these options except Instant Alpha are already available in PowerPoint -- and Microsoft's upcoming version of Office 2008 for the Mac can only add more catch-up to do on both the Apple and Microsoft fronts.
As if that was not enough, Apple adds Numbers, a spreadsheet program to iWork '08, thus making it a more even contender to Microsoft Office for the Mac.
Pages, the page layout program adds more word processing options.
What's next? Is there an iWork for Windows coming up?
Meanwhile, read more about iWork '08 for Mac here...
Categories: keynote, microsoft_office, office_mac
Labels: add-in, keynote, office_mac, powerpoint
Tim Goggin is the VP of Marketing & Sales for PocketMac. He has an extensive background in technology marketing and in direct marketing. In this conversation, Tim discusses PocketMac Remote, an application that allows the use of the Apple Remote to control PowerPoint and Keynote presentations on the Mac.
Geetesh: Tell us more about PocketMac.net, and your products including PocketMac Remote.
Tim: In 2001, we started the PocketMac product line with the introduction of our first product, PocketMac Pro, almost 2 years in development, which was the first-ever tool to synchronize the Macintosh and Windows Mobile Pocket PCs. We then shortly added support for Windows Mobile Smartphones
From there, we've expanded into a variety of different areas, including our flagship PocketMac for BlackBerry, which connects Mac users and their BlackBerry handhelds; other tools work with the PSP, iPods and many more.
In 2004, Research In Motion, the creators of the BlackBerry handheld, licensed PocketMac for BlackBerry and they have continued to distribute it since that time.
Our recent releases include PocketMac Remote which expands the capabilities of the Apple Remote to control Microsoft PowerPoint presentations.
We're always working to expand what computer users can do both in the Mac and Windows arena and PocketMac Remote fits nicely into this area.
Geetesh: Since most Macs can now boot into Windows, do you have any plans to make a Windows version of the product that will work with the Apple Remote?
Tim: At this time, we don't have plans but that's a great idea. I'll definitely ask our engineers to look into this. The Macs running Windows marketing is definitely one we take seriously.
Categories: add-in, keynote, office_mac, powerpoint
Labels: office_mac, powerpoint
The name should have served as a warning. Microsoft has announced the launch of its Office for Mac 2008 has been pushed back until January 2008. Despite the name, Office for Mac 2008, which will bring new versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint to OS X users, was originally scheduled for release in the second half of this year.
Microsoft hasn’t released a Mac Office update in four years. The company says problems with “product quality” caused the delay, but hopes to have its Mac office suite on the shelves in time for Macworld, which is scheduled for the third week of January 2008.
More on the Wired Blog Network...
Categories: office_mac, powerpoint
Labels: office_mac, powerpoint, powerpoint_2007
Microsoft MacBU (Macintosh Business unit) announced a beta release of their Office Open XML Converter. With this update, Microsoft Office X and 2004 users can save to and open the new Office 2007 XML file formats including PowerPoint and Word files.
According to the site, "this version of the converter improves conversion of Word documents that contain XML content, inline graphics, hyperlinked graphics, WMF/EMF graphics, SmartArt graphics, tracked changes in the document header and footer, Unicode characters, and Japanese Rubi fields".
More on the Microsoft site...
Categories: office_mac, powerpoint, powerpoint_2007
Labels: office_mac, powerpoint
Microsoft's MacBU division confirmed that they will release beta 2 of the much awaited Office 2007 file format converters with "a significant Word refresh and the addition of PowerPoint (.pptx)." In addition, they will also release a beta of their latest Remote Desktop Connection client (a universal binary). Both releases are expected in the week of July 30th, as per the Mac Mojo blog.
Read more here...
Categories: office_mac, powerpoint
Labels: office_mac, powerpoint
Microsoft's Mac BU continues to work in the development on Office 2008 for Mac, but in the meantime they have just announced the release of its standalone, drag and drop Word converter for Office 2004 for Mac and v. X users.......PowerPoint and Excel drag and drop updates to the converter will be released this winter.
More on the Geekzone site...
Categories: office_mac, powerpoint
Labels: office_mac, powerpoint
Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit released an update for Office 2004 for Mac. According to Microsoft, this update enhances security and stability, including fixes for vulnerabilities that an attacker can use to overwrite the contents of your computer's memory with malicious code..........PowerPoint unexpected quits have been resolved.
More on the PC World site...
Categories: office_mac, powerpoint
Labels: office_mac, powerpoint
Move the wheel up, and you’ll zoom in; move it down, and you’ll zoom out. The amount the zoom changes with each tick of the scroll wheel varies between the applications. Word seems to go in 10-percent steps; Excel uses 15-percent increments; and PowerPoint steps through the fixed zoom levels.
Rob Griffiths explains more on the MacWorld site...
Categories: office_mac, powerpoint
Labels: office_mac, powerpoint
If you have a new MacBook or MacBook Pro that comes with an Apple Remote, it's not out of the ordinary to want to use the remote to control your PowerPoint presentations. Christopher Breen of MacWorld provides a couple of options.
Read more on the MacWorld site...
Categories: office_mac, powerpoint
Archives:
April 2003 | May 2003 | December 2003 | January 2004 | February 2004 | March 2004 | April 2004 | May 2004 | June 2004 | July 2004 | August 2004 | September 2004 | October 2004 | November 2004 | December 2004 | January 2005 | February 2005 | March 2005 | April 2005 | May 2005 | June 2005 | July 2005 | August 2005 | September 2005 | October 2005 | November 2005 | December 2005 | January 2006 | February 2006 | March 2006 | April 2006 | May 2006 | June 2006 | July 2006 | August 2006 | September 2006 | October 2006 | November 2006 | December 2006 | January 2007 | February 2007 | March 2007 | April 2007 | May 2007 | June 2007 | July 2007 | August 2007 | September 2007 | October 2007 | November 2007 | December 2007 | January 2008 | February 2008 | March 2008 | April 2008 | May 2008 | June 2008 | July 2008 | August 2008 | September 2008 | October 2008 | November 2008 | December 2008 | January 2009 | February 2009 | March 2009 | April 2009 | May 2009 | June 2009 | July 2009 | August 2009 | September 2009 | October 2009 | November 2009 |
