I plan to get an ibook for college in the fall and I was wondering if the Office 2004 package was necessary for what I want to do: which is take notes and write papers.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
is the office package necessary?
- Thread starter bill4588
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Neooffice, and OpenOffice, are they exactally like MS office and can you open up office documents and make them, etc. I know that sounds like a dumb question, but can you. Can you also go back and forth between a MAc and PC with them????
I think the best answer is yes. You want MS office. Yes I know there are free alternatives out there but they some times have little bugs in them and I dont think they are for less experinced computer user which are you. You knowleged of the OS is very limited so the last thing you need is some software that may require a few tricks in it to get it to work the way you need it 2.
Plus the standard is MS office. You will have teacher who state how they want the work turned in and it will HAVE to be done on MS office. Excel and what not. Since you are buying a new computer you are going to want office. But before you buy it check with the college you are going to. They may be giving it out for free to students or a a huge discount. I know at my school I can download it for free and buy it on cds for like 10 bucks. If you college does not do that just fork out the cash and by student teacher edition.
Plus the standard is MS office. You will have teacher who state how they want the work turned in and it will HAVE to be done on MS office. Excel and what not. Since you are buying a new computer you are going to want office. But before you buy it check with the college you are going to. They may be giving it out for free to students or a a huge discount. I know at my school I can download it for free and buy it on cds for like 10 bucks. If you college does not do that just fork out the cash and by student teacher edition.
NeoOffice is a port of OpenOffice for Mac. So openOffice has 2 versions for MacOS. Openoffice X11 and NeoOffice.
OpenOffice is compatible with MSoffice except vb stuff. That's why opeenOffice does not support vb scripting. I do not know anyone using vb scripting language with his documents. Finally you can open and edit any document made by Msoffice with OpenOffice and vice versa. I personally use only openoffice on my pc for the past 2 years. On my new ibook I have both NeoOffice and Msoffice just for testing.
OpenOffice is compatible with MSoffice except vb stuff. That's why opeenOffice does not support vb scripting. I do not know anyone using vb scripting language with his documents. Finally you can open and edit any document made by Msoffice with OpenOffice and vice versa. I personally use only openoffice on my pc for the past 2 years. On my new ibook I have both NeoOffice and Msoffice just for testing.
I find neooffice to be rather clunky. Unfortunately, MS office isn't much better. Would it kill Microsoft to make a word processor that scrolls smoothly? If all you want to do is take notes and write papers, you might consider iWork from Apple.
I need a spreadsheet, so I'm doomed to use MS office until Apple comes up with a spreadsheet app.
I need a spreadsheet, so I'm doomed to use MS office until Apple comes up with a spreadsheet app.
Just wait till you can buy MS office for Mac at your School's store.
In most cases they get it at bulk education pricing , so it will be super affordable.
In most cases they get it at bulk education pricing , so it will be super affordable.
oh ok. thanks for the tip!! I'll probably end up getting it because I would also like to have powerpoint.FFTT said:
oh i will def. try it out. but id also like to have office 04 just so i can feel more comfortable about everything. BTW i just checked out my college's online store and they are charging $150 for office 04....xalia said:
Keynote in the iWork suite kicks PowerPoint's ass! 
eeeeek! I just saw your updated post.
Apple has been offering 50% off MS Office Education or Pro
I'm not sure how long that price is good for.
Hopefully a few more students will chime in here.
I think they're getting MS Office education way cheaper than that.
eeeeek! I just saw your updated post.
Apple has been offering 50% off MS Office Education or Pro
I'm not sure how long that price is good for.
Hopefully a few more students will chime in here.
I think they're getting MS Office education way cheaper than that.
I've heard way cheaper for legal, yes legal copies!
Check the Apple Store web page and see if they're still offering the 50% discount.
Check the Apple Store web page and see if they're still offering the 50% discount.
Since you're not buying till later in the fall, you'll want the universal binary version anyway.
Just keep shopping and you should be able to get a better price.
Your new computer will also ship with a trial version of MS Office and the iWork suite, so that gives you the opportunity to check out Keynote and Pages.
OS X also includes a handy basic text editor completely free. Text Edit
I'm not sure if Apple will continue to Ship AppleWorks, but my kids use it all the time for their school projects to print.
The primary benefit to MS Office is sharing files with Windows users seamlessly.
Just keep shopping and you should be able to get a better price.
Your new computer will also ship with a trial version of MS Office and the iWork suite, so that gives you the opportunity to check out Keynote and Pages.
OS X also includes a handy basic text editor completely free. Text Edit
I'm not sure if Apple will continue to Ship AppleWorks, but my kids use it all the time for their school projects to print.
The primary benefit to MS Office is sharing files with Windows users seamlessly.