updating to 10.5, should I use office 2004 or 2008?

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Level 1

20 points

updating to 10.5, should I use office 2004 or 2008?

I am looking to update to 10.5 this week or so. At the moment I am running a bunch of apps on 10.4 fine. The two suites Im concerned about while switching over are the CS 3 and MS Office 2004.

1. I have read tons of horrible reviews on MS 2008, can I still get away with using the non-universal 2004 edition or do I have to upgrade? I use only word and excel, the rest is a joke...

2. I havent seen too much on CS 3 but is there anything to be concerned about?

I'm interested to hear your comments.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Jun 30, 2008 9:18 AM

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Answer 1

John Guo

Level 5

5,353 points

Jun 30, 2008 9:27 AM in response to Siege

I have used Leopard with Office for Mac 2004 and it runs very well. You don't need Office for Mac 2008 unless you want to use some of the new features. As for Adobe CS3, I haven't heard anyone complaining about any issues regarding Leopard with CS3. The thing is that all three software have been out for awhile and even if there's issues that some innovators discover, they're already patched. If I was you, I am not going to worry about updating.

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Answer 2

Jun 30, 2008 9:46 AM in response to Siege

Siege,

I agree with John. At work I just upgraded to Leopard and IT upgraded me to Office 2008. Works. At home, I still use 2004. Works. Recently there was a 2004 update for being able to read MS's "open XML-based document file format for office."

-fred

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Answer 3

Siege Author

Level 1

20 points

Jun 30, 2008 9:18 PM in response to Frederick Avolio

thanx guys. i think i will update and install 2004. I don't know about the new features all that much, and honestly i keep it simple when i work in office. I originally was very set on keeping all software in universal; worried that maybe I would have a performance issue. Now Im thinking I'll just see how it all works with updates to all the suites. thanks.

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Answer 4

Courcoul

Level 6

18,732 points

Jun 30, 2008 9:34 PM in response to Siege

As for CS2, the 10.5.4 update released today specifically addresses some or all of the problems reported with this product, so that should have you covered.

If you do switch over to Office 2008, be sure to apply all updates immediately: 1201, 1210 and 1211 (apparently MS uses binary numbering for the update versions... 😀 ). Huge updates all, probably replacing most of the code, and must be applied in order since MS hasn't discovered the concept of a Combo update. Makes you think that Office 2008 Mac is similar to what Gates or Ballmer called Vista: a "work in progress".

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Answer 5

Siege Author

Level 1

20 points

Jun 30, 2008 9:37 PM in response to Courcoul

I have CS3, so i guess im good. I usually apply all updates in the beginning. I will make sure that i put MS office 04 in first and apply all updates, then try it before installing cs 3. I also have to get the new stuffit 12 update. I have been using 9 for awhile and I miss the quick context menu support it used to have in 10.3.

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