[boltonsoft]

Aside from the price, are there any differences between the student version of Office 2011 and the version without the discount?

[EGM]

All you need to know is on this Microsoft page.

The short version: you give up Outlook and nine more months of support.

[wingsley]

Here's an added complication:

I work as the manager of a small family business office. In recent years, money has been extremely tight. (Surprise, surprise.) But now we're forced to make a purchase.

Up to now, we sidestepped the issue of Microsoft Office file compatibility (we currently use Office v. X: Mac; 2002-vintage software) regarding DOCX, XLSX, and PPTX files by using OpenOffice. But now we're finding this to be more and more of a nuisance. I've been given the green light to buy a new copy of Office. It will have to be installed on two machines, and it will have to include Outlook.

Everything I find for deals on the 'net is for the version of Office 2011: Mac that does not include Outlook. Does anyone know where I can find a deal for the Outlook version?

[EGM]

You need the Home and Business version. eBay has several copies for sale at reasonable prices.

[wingsley]

Here's the latest:

I concluded an interview process for a white-collar position at a burgeoning manufacturing company's office on Monday morning. I had a great meeting with the department head and the president of the company, and it went well. As a minor sidebar to this company's experience requirements, the company wants this position filled with someone who has solid basic skills with Microsoft Office, particularly Word, Excel and Outlook. I've used MS Word for over 23 years, and I also used to use Entourage alot. Excel I only occasionally use, but I intend to brush up on the latest. Being able to open and look at blueprints in AutoCAD was suggested as a plus, so I checked out some Lynda.com tutorials on that.

I have been using Macintosh computers since 1986. I have the basics down on Windows 7 (what the new company uses), and I have time to bone-up on AutoCAD basics, and I already checked out Outlook 2010 on Lynda.com. New features to be sure, but nothing I can't handle. (I've been using Office v.X:Mac, 2002 vintage, for almost 9 years.)

As I await my job offer, which I was assured would be forthcoming later this week, I've considered sinking my teeth into more tutorials and also sticking a crowbar into my wallet and buying a copy of Office 2011:Mac Home and Business off eBay.

Question: will the interfaces for Office 2011:Mac be sufficiently similar to Office 2010 on Windows 7 so that getting the Mac software for my MacBook Pro will help ease me into using the company's Microsoft software? I am especially concerned about Outlook and Excel.

With the new Office file formats steadily becoming more annoying (".docx", ".xlsx", as opposed to the older, much more common Office 97 formats of ".doc" and ".xls"), I have been forced to concede that it may be time to upgrade anyway. But it's a question of timing. Will getting Office 2011: Mac now help me to get used to Office 2010 on their Windows machines assuming I start working there in a few weeks?

[EGM]

Regarding Excel: Yes, the two are close enough that using Excel 2011 on the Mac will help you get up to speed with Excel 2010 on Windows. Most of the new features, such as sparklines and extended conditional formatting including data bars, are shared by both.

Regarding Outlook: Hopefully someone else can address that.

[wingsley]

wingsley, on 13 August 2012 - 06:33 PM, said:

Here's the latest:

I concluded an interview process for a white-collar position at a burgeoning manufacturing company's office on Monday morning. I had a great meeting with the department head and the president of the company, and it went well. As a minor sidebar to this company's experience requirements, the company wants this position filled with someone who has solid basic skills with Microsoft Office, particularly Word, Excel and Outlook. I've used MS Word for over 23 years, and I also used to use Entourage alot. Excel I only occasionally use, but I intend to brush up on the latest. Being able to open and look at blueprints in AutoCAD was suggested as a plus, so I checked out some Lynda.com tutorials on that.

I have been using Macintosh computers since 1986. I have the basics down on Windows 7 (what the new company uses), and I have time to bone-up on AutoCAD basics, and I already checked out Outlook 2010 on Lynda.com. New features to be sure, but nothing I can't handle. (I've been using Office v.X:Mac, 2002 vintage, for almost 9 years.)

As I await my job offer, which I was assured would be forthcoming later this week, I've considered sinking my teeth into more tutorials and also sticking a crowbar into my wallet and buying a copy of Office 2011:Mac Home and Business off eBay.

Question: will the interfaces for Office 2011:Mac be sufficiently similar to Office 2010 on Windows 7 so that getting the Mac software for my MacBook Pro will help ease me into using the company's Microsoft software? I am especially concerned about Outlook and Excel.

With the new Office file formats steadily becoming more annoying (".docx", ".xlsx", as opposed to the older, much more common Office 97 formats of ".doc" and ".xls"), I have been forced to concede that it may be time to upgrade anyway. But it's a question of timing. Will getting Office 2011: Mac now help me to get used to Office 2010 on their Windows machines assuming I start working there in a few weeks?

EGM, on 15 August 2012 - 10:37 AM, said:

Regarding Excel: Yes, the two are close enough that using Excel 2011 on the Mac will help you get up to speed with Excel 2010 on Windows. Most of the new features, such as sparklines and extended conditional formatting including data bars, are shared by both.

Regarding Outlook: Hopefully someone else can address that.

I went ahead and bought a copy of Office 2011 Home & Business off of eBay last night for $96. It'll be my first major update in almost ten years.

Now that's called being cheap!