How does MS office work on Parallels?

Parallels Desktop is a program that allows the user to install a “guest” operating system on your computer. For example, on my work desktop I use it to run Windows 10 and Ubuntu (a version on Linux). The convenient thing about PD is that I can run both those operating systems and the native Mac OS all at the same time and switch between them just as I’d switch between Safari and Mail. This is quite useful since it lets me test my lessons on all three platforms and see what inconsistencies students might experience when they take those lessons to our various labs or their homes. When I bring Ubuntu to the front I am running Ubuntu as if I were sitting at a computer with only Ubuntu installed. (Except for the extra features that exist like the ability to copy something from inside Ubuntu and paste it into my Mac word processor.)

Microsoft makes versions of Office for the Mac and Windows and they are virtually identical. I have to say virtually because there are some differences between the two versions of Excel that heavy users of macros might see. The average user isn’t likely to see any difference other than the fact that Access (the database program) is Windows only. So my first question is: do you really need the Windows version of Office? Working in a mixed environment in academia, I have no trouble sharing files with my colleagues as a Mac users. The fact that the file formats are exactly the same, I can open a Word document on my Mac that was created on a Windows machine and see what the Windows user created. (Formatting issues such as different pagination may exist but these are issues that can also crop up between two Windows users since they may not be using exactly the same fonts.)

If you have both the Windows and Mac version of Word installed on your computer which version opens the file isn’t determined by where the file is stored. It depends on the context in which it is clicked. In general, if you click on the file in the Mac Finder it will open in the Mac version and if you click on it in the Windows Explorer it will open in the Windows version. But things can get a little confusing - if I have Word running in PD but I don’t have the Mac version of Word running and I double click it will open in the Windows version. And finally on the Mac side you can explicitly set which version of Word will open the document when you double-click a file.

Do I purchase MS Office for Mac or for windows?

You can purchase either one, but if you want MS Office to run in Windows you have to purchase the Windows version.

If I open a specific excel or word file on the windows file server on my mac does the file open in the Mac version or the windows version?

If you are working in Windows, the file will open in the Windows version of Office.

If you have not yet purchased or installed Parallels, I strongly recommend partitioning the MBA's internal storage and using Boot Camp instead of virtualization software. That way you can boot either Windows or OS X, lending assurance that none of MS Windows' many problems will affect the Mac OS X partition.

Better yet, avoid Microsoft products altogether. There are several better alternatives to Office today.