Microsoft Word 2011 Views
Office 2011 for Mac editions We reviewed Office 2011 Home and Business, which costs $199 for a single install or $279 for three installs if you want to put it on three computers at home or work. This suite includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. If you don't need a business-level desktop e-mail client, you should opt for the Home and Student version (at $119 for a single install and $149 for three installs), which includes just Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Unfortunately, there is no upgrade pricing for Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac because Microsoft found that most people buy Office when they buy a new computer and there was little interest in carrying upgrades at retail outlets.
Interface The Ribbon has returned as the unifying interface component across all the apps in the suite. Though Microsoft has met some resistance from users on both platforms for this particular feature, we think once people get used to the flexibility of the Ribbon it will save them an enormous amount of time. Rather than digging through menus and scrolling through palettes, the Ribbon uses tabs that display commands relevant to a given task. As an example, clicking on an image in Word, PowerPoint, or Excel will change the tabs in the Ribbon to image-related tasks so you can make changes quickly without having to search through menus. If you still just can't get used to the Ribbon, in Office 2011 for Mac, you can turn it off and use regular drop-down menus (an option that several Windows users probably wish they had). Still, we recommend taking the time to learn the Ribbon as an investment that will save you more time in the future.
New features Alongside interface enhancements like the Ribbon across all four Office applications, Microsoft Office 2011 offers a number of features that should reduce the time you spend gathering information so you can spend more time on getting the project done. The new Conversation View in Outlook collapses e-mail threads so you can view the entire conversation without sifting through your in-box, for example. Likewise, new image-editing tools in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel are welcome additions for anyone who works with media in documents and presentations, obviating the need for third-party editors in most situations. Many of the new features and tools help you push your presentations and documents away from the usual bullet points and toward more-engaging visual presentations.
When you need to work on a project with one or more co-workers, new co-authoring in Word and PowerPoint lets you edit the same document or presentation with someone in another location. Once connected, you'll be able to see who is working on the document and you can quickly communicate with them as long as you have Microsoft Messenger 8 installed on your Mac. Also, with Office 2011's new co-authoring technology, you won't get locked out of a document when your co-worker goes offline; all of your content is still available so you can continue working.
Microsoft Word 2011 Images
