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tpicco · May 8, 2008, 03:00 PM

I am going to install Office for Mac 2008 when it arrives in the mail next week.

I have a iMac G4 running 10.3.9

For the past few years I have used a pirated/copied version of Office Mac 2001 when I absolutely had to, when certain clients supplied me with Power Point or ExCel fles that I had to access.

Now, I'm going legit!

Can I anticipate any problems installing the new software? I bought the full version, so I would like to install it as a complete application, not any kind of an update.

Can I just delete all the Office 2001 files I can find? Are there "hidden" files I need to delete? Is there any special "uninstall" software I need?

Are there any questions I should be asking?

Thanks in advance...

angelmb · May 8, 2008, 04:12 PM

The Office 2008 installer is going to look for any previous-old Office version installed in your Mac and then if you give it the OK it is going to remove it. Even so I think any Office:mac comes with an uninstaller so you could always remove it previously to even start installing the 2008 version. To remove the typical folders inside your Home user Library you could use an app like AppZapper or do it yourself manually. As for the apps, while they are way nicer then v.X and 2004 they are kind of slow on my 1,25GHz G4 Power Mac, but that's just my experience, yours could be different…

There is a main issue I can see here, Office 2008 requires 10.4.

tpicco · May 8, 2008, 04:15 PM

aw s**t...

bearcatrp · May 8, 2008, 06:02 PM

www: OpenOffice.org - The Free and Open Productivity Suite . Beats the heck out of paying for microcrap software and its FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TheoCryst · May 8, 2008, 10:20 PM

Unfortunately, "OpenOffice.org Aqua requires Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) or Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard).." Now that 10.3.9 is two full versions old, it's becoming more and more difficult to find software that supports it. Fortunately, the good folks at the NeoOffice project still support 10.3 through 10.5. NeoOffice is a full Mac-native port of OpenOffice, and is quite spiffy. It's too bad that you already bought Office 2008, but if you haven't opened the box you might still be able to return it.

Or you can upgrade to 10.5... though I'm not sure how well it'll run on your iMac.

Art Vandelay · May 8, 2008, 10:33 PM

Originally Posted by TheoCryst

NeoOffice is a full Mac-native port of OpenOffice

It's a Java app.

TheoCryst · May 9, 2008, 01:36 AM

Originally Posted by Art Vandelay

It's a Java app.

To some extent, yes. Of course, the underpinnings are all C++, just like every other version of OOo. It's been using more and more Objective-C/Cocoa recently though, and it's really a much nicer app than it used to be. (Note, though, that I've been using the OOo Aqua nightlies for a while now, and I'm starting to prefer them to Neo.)

And of course, it's much more Mac-native than the X11 port, which is actually what I was referring to.

angelmb · May 9, 2008, 02:46 AM

Originally Posted by TheoCryst

Or you can upgrade to 10.5... though I'm not sure how well it'll run on your iMac.

My modest MDD Power Mac runs 10.5 pretty well, way better than Office 2008 that's for sure

Anyway I think I would upgrade a G4 iMac at least to 10.4, heck I upgraded a 400 MHz G3 iMac to Tiger and it runs better than the previous OS X 10.2 it had installed.

Rumor · May 9, 2008, 02:52 AM

First off, while the current X11 version of Open Office is nice, it is ugly as sin.

Second, if you are using a G4, I highly recommend Office '04. '08 will be sluggish on a PPC.

analogika · May 9, 2008, 06:40 AM

'08 will be sluggish on Intel, too.

Sherman Homan · May 9, 2008, 07:21 AM

Leopard will run fine on your G4, you are going to have to upgrade to at least Tiger... But Office 2008 on a PPC chip is just miserable. Unless you absolutely need it, I would suggest going legit, with Office 2004.

idykenano · May 9, 2008, 08:06 AM

i installed office 2008 on my g4, and it was unbearable. definitely go for office 2004 on a g4.
unbearable=
-at least 20 seconds to open an application
-ate up every single system resource

JKT · May 9, 2008, 10:00 AM

I very much doubt the Office 2008 installer will find Office 2001 as it is a Classic app and not native to OS X. I could be wrong, but I doubt you will need to worry about removing it and, personally, I would keep it installed just in case. Btw, Office 2008 requires Mac OS X 10.4.9 as a minimum requirement so you won't be able to install it straight away, regardless.

gulmatan · May 9, 2008, 02:22 PM

I'm looking at the "qa Issue List" at the OpenOffice website and, unless I'm mistaken, this port seems to be very problem-ridden. What sort of glitches would the Power User experience with OpenOffice?

Don Pickett · May 9, 2008, 02:52 PM

Originally Posted by JKT

I very much doubt the Office 2008 installer will find Office 2001 as it is a Classic app and not native to OS X. I could be wrong, but I doubt you will need to worry about removing it and, personally, I would keep it installed just in case. Btw, Office 2008 requires Mac OS X 10.4.9 as a minimum requirement so you won't be able to install it straight away, regardless.

Office X, which is what the suite was called, is NOT a Classic app. It was the first OS X native version of Office.

Art Vandelay · May 9, 2008, 02:57 PM

Office 2001 (v.9) is not the same as Office v.X (v.10).

Terrin · May 13, 2008, 08:36 PM

You can run multiple copies of Office. I currently have 2004 and 2008 installed. I really like the design improvements in Office 2008. I, however, do find it a bit sluggish on my Power PC based Mac especially when compared to Office 2004. Look up some of the articles on speeding up Office. There some tricks that will help. For instance, shutting off automatic Word Count.