[starman]

So, I love Entourage to death. The problem is that since I first got Office 2004, I used Powerpoint 0 times, Excel maybe 10 times, and Word only a few times a year. Entourage runs as long as my Mac is on. Now that Office 2008 is out, I'm not sure what to do. Do I keep Office 2004 (which works, but is getting long in the tooth), upgrade to Office 2008 (which, on the surface, doesn't offer anything substantial), or revert back to Mail?

I started loving E because Mail at the time was klunky and didn't offer many features. If I take the plunge and go with Office 2008, it's a $209 upgrade from Office 2004. If I get the Office 2008 Home Edition, it's $130, but I lose Exchange support. Now, I don't need Exchange support but I can't find any other information about the difference in Entourage between Home and Full editions.

Has anyone bought Office 2008 yet and compared E to the 2004 edition and/or Mail?

[Cold Warrior]

I've used the beta a lot and really like Entourage 2008. Like you said, nothing substantial. A nice facelift with a more responsive interface (since it's now MacIntel-native). I'm surprised they haven't posted a Test Drive yet.

[starman]

See, I don't know if I want to spend money on a whole suite for "nothing substantial". I dunno, I'm going to see what others have to say first.

[Bezbozny]

I also loved entourage and have been using it since it first came out, but when upgrading to leopard i decided to move to Apple's mail and i have not regretted it. Entourage does have a better interface, but i like mail's integration with all the other applications like address book. I believe that if you only use entourage then you should spend your money somewhere better than the whole office suit, but that is up to you. I saw the beta of office 2008 on a friends computer and i think that entourage does not have any improvement whatsoever in relation to the older versions...

[starman]

Were you able to import your Enourage emails into Mail?

[Cold Warrior]

Originally Posted by starman 

See, I don't know if I want to spend money on a whole suite for "nothing substantial". I dunno, I'm going to see what others have to say first.

I'd agree, but I'll just add my personal feeling that it's just enough of an upgrade in the areas I care a lot about. So the deck is stacked against my own preferences enough to make me want to pay $140 or whatever it is for the Home/Student edition.

[Bezbozny]

Originally Posted by starman 

Were you able to import your Enourage emails into Mail?

Yes all the mails from entourage, accounts etc where transfered to mail without any problem. It was really very simple. I have about 4000 emails in my inbox, sent folders, etc and didn't encounter any problem.