[Chulo]

I currently have MS Office X (Student/Teachers edition) installed on my Powerbook. I use it mainly because of the compatiblity issues dealing with work. I do a lot of work with Windows Office products as do my kids writing reports and doing projects on it, essentially for the same reason (and they actually use it more than I). I originally purchased it for them and it has been well worth it.
My question is: Should I upgrade and if I do will I first have to uninstall Office X before beginning the Office 2004 installation or can I just load over it.
I intend on purchasing the Student version again and we don't have any really important files that I can think of that need to be saved.
Part of the reason I feel compelled to upgrade is because my childrens school is upgrading to Windoze XP along with their latest Office product (no Macs there) and I don't want them falling into any compatibility issues with work they may bring home. I've already encountered that with Powerpoint presentations given to me at work that aren't recognised on Office X.
I've read some pretty decent reviews on this new Office offering and any suggestions or advised will be well received.

[threestain]

I've just done this upgrade, and everything seems to be compatible - far more than last time. If its going to be used a lot then I erckon its worth it. I just loaded 2004 on as well, so I can test them in tandem - so far no reason to go back.

Has anyone found something that v.X is better at than 2004? Just wondering whether I should ditch the v.X completely and wipe it off my hard drive or just keep it on there for the time being?

[Chulo]

Thanks Threestain.
I think I'll buy the new version and install it separately, just to be safe. I too would like to know if anyone else has found anything that Office X does better than Office 2004.

[threestain]

I've been using Office 2004 for a while now, and firstly it seems to be pretty darn processor hungry compared to v.X, and I think its causing a lot of random freezes on my powerbook (itunes keeps playing, but no reaction to keys or trackpad). Also happens on wake from sleep occasionally.

Anyone know how to increase performance/stop the freezes?

[Chulo]

I just got the Office 2004 Student Edition. I was getting ready to load it when it occurred to me that in Windows if you add a separate Office product and you later delete an older version you end up with an unuseable or unstable copy because of the many shared files each uses. Is this the same with Mac OSX? Maybe not so much with the OS but with the way Microsoft writes its programs?
Anyone have any ideas so I can decide whether to delete Office X and then load Office 2004, or have them both loaded together and if I feel I no longer need Office X then I can delete safely.
Decisions, decisions...

[driven]

Another question:

Does Office 2004 have any sort of Product Activation?

[wataru]

Office 2004 requires you to enter your serial number, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't phone home.

Office doesn't install any files in /Library as far as I know, so there shouldn't be any compatibility problems between versions. If you do have problems, just try trashing any config files that might be lying around (in ~/Library/Preferences, ~/Documents/Microsoft User Data, etc.).

My only problem with Office is that it's just not worth the money, now that there are so many free alternatives out there.

[driven]

What is new in Office:2004 over Office:X ?

[Chulo]

Driven,
Here's a link to a decent but short review on Office 2004.

http://reviews.macnn.com/review.php?id=51

[driven]

Originally posted by Chulo:
Driven,
Here's a link to a decent but short review on Office 2004.

http://reviews.macnn.com/review.php?id=51

Chulo,
THANK YOU.