More than a couple of us may have migrated to iWork ‘08, but Microsoft is redoubling its marketing efforts. The company has launched a very pretty preview site. Even if you’re not planning on buying the updated version of the software, it’s worth taking a look to see what direction they’re taking the apps.
I noticed from a quick look (because it’s taking far too long to load the site for anything but a quick look) that Word actually uses a native Cocoa toolbar. In fact, there are a lot of sweeping changes. I’ll admit that part of the reason I stuck with Office v.X for so long was that Office 2004 had very little in the way of new features (though purchasers of the new version seem really in love with those couple of features). 2008 may finally deliver new interface changes that actually put it back in the running for great Mac apps.
the flash does not load right for me. The menu items are loading as "undefined" there is no video or screenshots with it, just the menu structure and a blank canvas screen... weird, no? microsoft has done it again -- writing buggy software (in this case flash intros)
Man, you weren't kidding. Slow as hell. I do have to say that it looks impressive. I'm an Office guy. I can't afford to have any compatibility issues with my office documents. Especially as I work heavily with windows folks and going back and forth with many Office documents. I'll still await the first few reviews.
By the way, have you seen the new Office suite from IBM. It's called Symphony. It's only available for Windows and Linux, but promises Mac support in the "near future". Oh and it's free.
http://symphony.lotus.com/software/lotus/symphony/home.jspa
Once the video actually loaded, I must say that I kind of like the Word toolbar. It looks much more unified than the Office 2004 style. Looks like I should start saving again.