I've bought a MacBook Air for my daughter going to uni do I need to also get Microsoft office for it?

No. I recommend you avail yourself of any number of better alternatives:

Numbers, Keynote, Pages - all free with the purchase of a new Mac, $19.99 otherwise. They are designed to integrate with iCloud and complement their iOS versions, also free with the purchase of an iOS device.

Others to consider are:

LibreOffice (donation-supported)

NeoOffice ($30 but older version is free if you can find it)

OpenOffice (donation-supported)

Pages and Numbers are not a viable substitute for me -- for a number of reasons that may not apply to yu. LibreOffice is a viable substitute for me.

Also, if you do decide to go with Microsoft Office, be aware that they will be releasing a new version for the Mac in the near future and it isn't yet clear what their upgrade policy will be if you buy the current version now. You can download and use the Preview of the version free until it is completed and released but it will have some incomplete functionality. http://products.office.com/en-US/mac/mac-preview

Hi Loustar49,

Not at all 🙂

Apple have their own versions of Word, PowerPoint and Excel, named Pages, Keynote and Numbers. They are just as good, and wont cost you a penny.

I graduated from University 2 years ago with the help of Pages and Keynote. One of the key features I found very useful was the ability to export a Pages file to .doc, meaning I can create a word document on my MacBook using Pages which non-Apple users can then open and edit etc. on their Windows machines. You can also use each of the programs on iPad and iPhone, great for picking up work you started earlier and work on-the-go, and thanks to iCloud sharing these documents amongst your devices is easy.

As with most Apple products, each of the programs are relatively straight forward and easy to use.

https://www.apple.com/mac/pages/ - https://www.apple.com/mac/keynote/ - https://www.apple.com/mac/numbers/

Good luck!

Question 1: does she need Office?

I work in an environment where I am expected to use Word - we share documents extensively. (Starting next semester we’ll be moving to Google Docs but that’s another story.) While I'm not a fan of Word because we do share documents, share editing, and comments as a document progresses, Word is absolutely necessary. If your daughter fits into this category then by all means purchase Office.

Question 2: will she prefer Office?

If she is familiar with and comfortable with Office or if the people she’s likely to ask for help are, then get Office.

You have two choices for Office and both can be purchased directly from Microsoft's Web site or Amazon.com for download. First, there’s the Home and Student version that is available for outright purchase and she’ll be able to use until it is no longer compatible with the MacOS. This gives a license to install Office on one computer. The second is Personal Office365 which is a one year subscription. There are many options so check them all out. Yes, it is a 1 year license as opposed to forever but in certain circumstances the subscription can be a better deal. Note I said certain.

FoxFith brings up a good point - download the Office 2016 preview and use it until Microsoft releases it, then make your purchase. I've been using the preview and it is pretty stable - some issues but then again I've had issues with Office 2011 since it was released.

I'm a fan of iWork (especially the pre-dumbed down version) but calling iWork Apple’s version of Office is like saying the Malibu is Chevy’s version of the Mercedes 300 class. It just ain’t so.

dwb wrote:

I'm a fan of iWork (especially the pre-dumbed down version) but calling iWork Apple’s version of Office is like saying the Malibu is Chevy’s version of the Mercedes 300 class. It just ain’t so.

+1

Anyone who imagines iWork can substitute for Office is deluding themselves.

I'm wondering if you two are going to get a "Recommended." 😉

Maybe from Microsoft?

For being honest 😁