[Macworld]

Post your comments for Office 2008 survival guide here

[jamus]

Here is a question for you that has been bugging me:
1. Open Excel 2008. It will automatically open a new blank document in two page side-by-side style.
2. Close that default document.
3. Click on the Excel icon in the Dock and it automatically makes a NEW document again.
How do I make it stop automatically creating new documents? TY.

[RobLewis]

Why does Word always say "Compatibility check recommended." I get it. Now can I get rid of this nag?

[mdawson]

I do not have Office 2008, but if I am understanding your post correctly, you close the new workbook created by Excel on launch then click on the Excel icon in the Dock and a new workbook is created. That is definitely new and unwelcome if that is the case.

As I do not know if you are a Switcher or not?your post count and join date indicate that you are relatively new at least to the boards?, but are you sure that you are not closing Excel and not just the new workbook? I ask this because it is not uncommon for Switchers to confuse document closing and application closing because of the very different way in which the Mac OS and Windows handle windows. Your steps would indicate that you closed the application, as there would be no need to click on the Excel icon in the dock after closing the launch-default new workbook because unless you switched to a different application then wished to get back to Excel.

[Kazot]

Spaces versus the Formatting Palette.
I like to use Spaces on my MacBook that has an external monitor connected to it. With PowerPoint 2008, it is much more necessary to use the Formatting Palette because it is very difficult to find the formatting functions I used to use. If, after I have opened the Formatting Palette, I use Spaces to jump to another Desktop and then jump back to the PowerPoint desktop, the Formatting Palette has disappeared, yet it's still open. Sometimes I find remnants of the palette in another Spaces Desktop without the title bar, so I can't close it and force it back to the PowerPoint Desktop. I have to drag my open PPT file to the Desktop window that has the palette remnant, then it reacquires its title bar and I can close it and drag the file back to the original window. Other times the palette is just gone and can't be found anywhere. Then I usually have to quit out of PowerPoint and restart to get the palette back. Lesson: open the palette when you need it, then immediately close it when you've used the feature you're after. This is just one of the very annoying bugs in the Office 2008 software. It should be fixed by now, but Microsoft lets these thing linger.

[kirkmc]

Office 2008 and Spaces don't like each other. It's gotten better, though, since the latest Office update. Before, I would sometimes have to quit Word to be able to access documents after switching to other spaces.
Kirk

[kirkmc]

Re Compatibility Check.
In the Compatibility prefs, uncheck Check Documents for Compatibility.
Nothing personal, but the Help does help sometimes. If your problem is that annoying, try searching in the Help.
Kirk

[kirkmc]

Re new documents: yes, that happens with Word as well, and it's darn annoying...
Kirk

[mdawson]

Quite a insightful article by Kirk McElhearn, but even as an Office 2004 user I noticed a few errors or inaccuracies.

Quote

If you truly need to use macros to get your work done efficiently, you have only two choices. Office 2008 provides limited support for AppleScript and Automator, so you can write your own scripts or workflows, or find some to download.

The option to use Applescript and Automator is a very limited option. Applescript is a post processing language as many Macworld writers have noted in the past; Automator is effectively a limited Applescript code generator that allows non-technical users to create scripts by combining common general and application management operations visually instead with code. As a post processing language, Applescript cannot automate activities within applications to a heavy extent if at all; for instance in Excel it cannot directly access and manipulate the contents of cells. Therefore, Applescript is a poor substitute for VBA.

For Word users, where VBA scripting is less prevalent, Applescript may be fine for things like managing multiple documents. In Excel, where VBA usage is most exercised?VBA is heavily used in Access also, but there is no Mac version of Microsoft?s relative database application?being able to perform repetitive computations, change cell contents, create custom functions, use custom user interfaces, add or hide menus and menu items are key to Excel scripting. Applescript cannot do these things.

As Office 2004 had REALbasic support, perhaps the MBU should have permitted REAL Software to extend REALbasic as a viable macro language for Office 2008. REALbasic is already cross-platform and REAL Software has already put considerable effort into making it possible for Visual Basic developers to easily port their code to REALbasic; apparently REALbasic has he same syntax as Visual Basic. The core language is already there, REAL would simply need the specs and, if necessary, licensing required to add the application specific extensions.

Quote

If you plan on sharing files with people who don?t have Office 2008 (or Office 2007 for Windows), they won?t be able to open files that have been saved in any of the new file formats.

That was true. Microsoft has long since offered an upgrade for Office 2003 (Windows) to permit users of the older versions of Office to open files created in Office 2007. After Office 2008 was introduced, a beta file converter was offered for Mac users to convert OOXML files from Word and PowerPoint into the previous formats. An upgrade for Office 2004 was later released with OOXML compatibility for Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

[kirkmc]

Re AppleScript: I never said it would replace VBA, I said "limited support". As for the converter, this article was actually written a couple of months ago (writing for print means a long lead-time), and the final version of that convertor was not available at the time, nor was the Office 2004 upgrade. In any case, it's much easier to not have to deal with a standalone convertor.
Kirk

[reifer]

Why is it so SLOW?
Click on a Word doc or open Word and it literally takes forever to load? It's ridicuous!

[RobLewis]

I have searched Office 2008 Help for things that scream to be there, but aren't. I've complained more than once to MS about this.

One example I recall: removing a document from Word's "Work" menu. I challenge you to find this explained in Help. Furthermore, I challenge you to figure out how to do it.

[jamus]

LOL, nope. No switcher here. Old school. ;)

I like to Hide apps I am not using. So I often hide Excel rather than Quit. If it is hidden with no windows open (app still open mind you, just no windows), and then I click the Excel dock icon, it wants to "help" me by making a new document. What is odd though is that if you "apple + tab" to go through apps and select Excel, it will not make a new document.

I am guessing it is a checkbox somewhere to disable this "help", but I have not found it yet. And as another poster pointed out, Word also does this. I have not tried it with PowerPoint, though I am guessing it is common to Office 2008. Any luck finding the off switch?

[kirkmc]

Re: the Word Work menu:
From my Take Control of Customizing Microsoft Office (http://www.mcelhearn.com/article.php?story=20050902094623898)
"To remove a document from the Work menu, press Command-
Option-Hyphen. (On a U.S. keyboard, the Hyphen key is adjacent
to the Zero on the main portion of the keyboard; on other keyboards,
the Hyphen key is in that area. I use a Dvorak keyboard; the Hyphen
is to the right of the S. In any case, don’t use the Minus sign on the
numeric keypad.) The pointer changes to a thick, black dash. Choose
the document you want to remove from the Work menu, and it is
removed. "
Kirk