May 2008 — News
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VBA To Return to Mac; Office 2008 SP1 Released
"With the launch of SP1, the Mac BU is addressing the top issues as reported by customers via MERP and other feedback channels," according to Microsoft.
On the application level, Microsoft Word includes improvements to printing, notebook layout, and document map. Excel adds compatibility with previous versions for both Mac and Windows and also improves printing and formatting for data series. PowerPoint also gains improvements to printing. t also now provides the ability to create Mac .PPTX files that are viewable on Windows Mobile phones. And it improves AppleScript support, offering the ability to "use the PowerPoint selection object in AppleScript to implement custom scripts that operate on the current selection in PowerPoint," according to Microsoft.
On the e-mail front, Entourage adds three major enhancements:
- Improved Exchange Server support, especially in the area of synchronization;
- Improvements to the calendar view and support for recurring all-day reminders; and
- Support for third-party tools for sending and viewing images in Entourage.
Complete information about the update can be found on Microsoft's support site here.
Office 2008 for Mac SP1 is available for download now from Microsoft's Mactopia site here.
Office for Mac Roadmap
Microsoft's Mac BU today also provided a glimpse into the future of Office for Mac, reaffirming its commitment to the platform and promising to bring VBA-language support back in the next release of Office for Mac.
"Sharing information with customers as early as possible continues to be a priority for the Mac BU to allow customers to plan for their software needs," Microsoft reported today. "Although the Mac BU increased support in Office 2008 with alternate scripting tools such as Automator and AppleScript,... the team recognizes that VBA-language support is important to a select group of customers who rely on sharing macros across platforms. The Mac BU is always working to meet customers' needs and already is hard at work on the next version of Office for Mac."
Microsoft had previously published a guide for transitioning from VBA to AppleScript in conjunction with MacTech magazine. That transition guide is available here.
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About the author: David Nagel is the executive editor for 1105 Media's online education technology publications, including THE Journal and Campus Technology. He can be reached at dnagel@1105media.com.
Proposals for articles and tips for news stories, as well as questions and comments about this publication, should be submitted to David Nagel, executive editor, at dnagel@1105media.com.
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