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- Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 offers a solid update to the Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and the other members of the productivity suite. Though the latest package is still not on par with the Windows.
- I am using Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac for the longest time. Last October 2010, Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 has been released. I want to know now, if I will upgrade my current version of Office for Mac to 2011, what steps do I need to follow? Do I need to uninstall the previous version before installing MS-Office for Mac 2011? Can someone please provide a step-by-step procedure on how to.
Microsoft Office 2008 is a version of the Microsoft Office productivity suite for Mac OS X. Office 2008 is the last version to feature Entourage, which was replaced by Outlook in Office 2011. Microsoft stopped supporting Office 2008 on April 9, 2013. Office 2008 for Mac includes the same core programs currently included with Office 2004 for Mac.
Note
Office 365 ProPlus is being renamed to Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise. For more information about this change, read this blog post.
Summary
This article discusses known issues that may occur with Office for Mac applications on MacOS 10.7 (Lion).
Note
- Microsoft has been working with Apple from the early days of MacOS 10.7 (Lion). Through this partnership, many issues were addressed leading up to the Lion release. Microsoft will continue to work closely with Apple to address problems that may occur with Office for Mac 2008 and 2011 and Lion OS.
- Sync services are not available with OSX versions 10.8 (Mountain Lion) or higher.
More information
There are two major Office for Mac issues Microsoft is aware of running on Lion:
Communicator for Mac crashes when you send an IM or start an audio/visual call.
Note
Microsoft will resolve this issue in an upcoming update to Communicator for Mac.
Office for Mac 2004 will not run on Lion.
Note
Previous MacOS versions supported Rosetta, an Apple Mac OSX bridge technology that enabled applications such as Office for Mac 2004 to run on the latest chip architecture for Mac. Because Lion no longer supports Rosetta, applications that relied on it will no longer function under the new MacOS.
Here is a list of other known issues that Microsoft is currently investigating. These issues will likely only be encountered in specific situations or configurations:
Excel 2008 or 2011
- Excel may crash when you move a sheet from one workbook to another workbook.
- Excel 2011: MSQuery for English will work on Lion. However, it will not work on other language versions of Excel 2011 on Lion.
- Excel 2008: MSQuery will not work on any version of Excel 2008 on Lion.
- The date format may display the year as 2 digits instead of 4 digits.
Word 2008 or 2011
- The date format may display the year as 2 digits insead of 4 digits.
PowerPoint 2008 or 2011
- Pressing the Command and Tab keys to open another application while in Presenter View may crash PowerPoint.
- Switching out of or quitting Slide Show in full-screen mode may result in inconsistent window behavior.
- You may be prompted to save your presentations when switching windows.
Entourage 2008 or Outlook 2011
- You may be unable to import messages from Lion Mail.
Office 2008 or 2011
- Reference tools may have redraw problems and links may not work.
- Chart data labels may not be visible.
- Equation editor may not function correctly.
Web Applications
- May not correctly open the file in the rich client application. The following workaround will work with Safari or Firefox:
- Quit Safari or Firefox.
- On the Go menu, click Applications.
- Select Safari or Firefox.
- On the File menu, click Get Info.
- Select the check box for Open in 32-bit mode.
- Quit and open Safari or Firefox.
Mac Users Using Excel 2016 or Excel Online
Get the new Solver App for Excel 2016 and Excel Online this free Solver app works equally well in desktop Excel 2016 and Excel Online – and handles the smallest to the largest, most challenging optimization models. Users can obtain Solver immediately from Microsoft AppSource. Over 100,000 existing “cloud Solver” users will receive the new version automatically. When your model gets to big for the free add-in contact us about upgrading.
Powerpoint 2008 Download For Mac
If you're still using Excel 2008 for Mac, you can download Solver for Excel 2008 here -- but we highly recommend an upgrade to Excel 2011, for many reasons including a better Solver!
Using the Excel 2011 Solver for Mac
Starting with Excel 2011 Service Pack 1 (Version 14.1.0), Solver is once again bundled with Microsoft Excel for Mac. You do not have to download and install Solver from this page -- simply ensure that you have the latest update of Excel 2011 (use Help - Check for Updates on the Excel menu).
To enable Solver, click ‘Tools’ then ‘Addins’. Within the Addin box, check ‘Solver.xlam’ then hit ‘OK’.
To use Solver, start Excel 2011 and create or open your workbook. When you're ready to use Solver, click the Solver button on the Data tab (the bundled version of Solver doesn't use the menu Tools Solver.) . The Solver Parameters dialog should appear, in the language of your Microsoft Excel 2011 installation. Click here for Solver Help, applicable to both Excel 2010 for Windows and Excel 2011 for Mac.
Use the Solver Parameters dialog to select your objective, decision variables, and Constraints. Then click the Solve button. Solver will seek the optimal solution to the problem. When it's finished, the Solver Results dialog will appear, and the final values of the decision variables will appear in your workbook in Excel. To pause or stop Solver while it's solving, press the ESC key, and click Stop (or Continue) when the Trial Solution dialog appears.
Caution:Don't make changes yourself in Excel or your workbook while Solver is solving. Changes in Excel while Solver is solving, will have unpredictable results, including crashes in Solver or Excel. See the FAQ about Solver as a Separate Application.)
If You Updated to Excel 2011 SP1 and Installed Solver from Solver.com
If you've previously updated to Excel 2011 Service Pack 1 and after doing this, you've also downloaded and installed the Solver package formerly available on this page, you'll be fine, but you can encounter a problem (involving which version of Solver gets loaded and used) which we can easily help you solve. Just email us at at support@solver.com.
Read the FAQ to learn how Solver for Excel 2011 was developed, special considerations in using this Solver versus the one in Excel 2008, and what to expect in the future.
The History of the Excel 2011 Solver for Mac
Before Microsoft began bundling the Solver with Excel for Mac, Frontline Systems worked with Microsoft's Mac Business Unit to bring you a faster, easier to use, and more powerful Solver. The version that we provided was free and 100% compatible -- your existing Solver models would work without any changes, whether they're from Excel 2004 or 2008 for Mac, or Excel 2003, 2007 or 2010 for Windows.
Matches New Solver for Excel 2010 for Windows
Solver for Excel 2011 for Mac has the same new features and user interface as Solver for Excel 2010 for Windows -- which is greatly enhanced over Solver for Excel 2007.
Includes New Evolutionary Solving Method
Microsoft Office 2008 Download
Based on genetic algorithms, this method complements Solver's linear programming and nonlinear optimization methods. Use it to find solutions for models with IF and LOOKUP functions.
Global Optimization for Nonlinear Models
Automatically run the GRG Nonlinear Solver from multiple, intelligently chosen starting points, to find better solutions when the old Solver would be 'trapped' in a local optimum.
New user interface matches Excel 2010
You may also be interested in:
Office 2008 Mac Updates
- Try our Solver Tutorial to learn more about building Solver models and getting solutions.
- Premium Solver Platform for Mac offers far more power, speed and flexibility than the Standard Excel Solver while allowing all your existing models, even your VBA code, to be used as-is.
- If you are a developer of optimization or simulation applications, check our Solver SDK Platform. It's available for Windows and Linux -- but contact us for news about availability of the SDK for Mac OSX.