Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

macintologist · Mar 20, 2004, 03:33 PM

If Word v.X didn't constantly needlessly suck 10% of my CPU, then I would consider that not only a great app but one of the better Mac OS X apps. I think judging from what I've read, their Remote Connect Client is the best Mac app they've written. Virtual PC is also included in this debate, as well as historical MS apps if they are worth mentioning.

angelmb · Mar 20, 2004, 03:43 PM

Let�s see, I have installed Office v.X, Messenger, Media Player, Explorer... sad to say that the app that best works on my Al is Explorer, hum, one moment, Microsoft Mouse 5.0 does its job just flawless, that is more other apps could say.

mitchell_pgh · Mar 20, 2004, 03:44 PM

The only one that gives me joy...

ryju · Mar 20, 2004, 07:51 PM

I could be wrong, but Microsoft never made Virtual PC, Connectix did Microsoft just bought Connectix.

juanvaldes · Mar 20, 2004, 08:40 PM

Remote Desktop Connection.

Only uses about 10% CPU, Dual Monitor Support, full screen or any res window mode. Right click support. Custom key for right click. Ability to tone down the network needed (ie lower color depth, no desktop pic, etc...).

Only crashed on me once.

andretan · Mar 20, 2004, 08:40 PM

M$ apps for the Mac don't work as well as compared to running on their counterparts.

I'll reconsider when M$ starts thinking of releasing a decent version of MSN Messenger for the Mac.

mitchell_pgh · Mar 20, 2004, 10:10 PM

I honestly think the Mac versions are usually better then the Windows versions. At least the bugs I've seen with the Mac are consistent! With Windows, they are all over the place.

andretan · Mar 20, 2004, 10:35 PM

Originally posted by mitchell_pgh:
I honestly think the Mac versions are usually better then the Windows versions. At least the bugs I've seen with the Mac are consistent! With Windows, they are all over the place.

Hmm. Then again, I don't see Word crashing as much as it does on a Windows machine than on my Mac

MacGorilla · Mar 20, 2004, 10:43 PM

I don't use too many M$ apps any more but I would vote for Word X. If I had to.

FlammableYurt · Mar 20, 2004, 11:03 PM

I don't know what I would vote for, but I don't believe it would be anything in the office suite. Word v.X takes up too much of my processor for a word processing application, and it runs slower than most games

. IE follows suit, as does MSN messenger and media player (which can't even play many .wmv files). Basically, every MS app I've used has been the same - sluggish and needlessly processor heavy.

dtriska · Mar 21, 2004, 12:06 AM

Excel is the only app from Microsoft I like. It's still frustratingly buggy, but, for the most part, I enjoy using it.

KP* · Mar 21, 2004, 01:15 AM

I like Entourage. Can't wait to get the new version in Office 2004.

KraziKid · Mar 21, 2004, 04:47 AM

If I could only find a way to transmit DirectX or OpenGL over RDC, then I'd be a happy camper. One of my CAD programs requires this (Solidworks), and if I could do it decently over RDC without VNC, I would consider RDC the best one. VNC is a lot slower than RDC. Speaking of which, does anyone know if it is possible to allow OpenGL or DirectX to be sent over the Remote Desktop Connection?

Sven G · Mar 21, 2004, 05:08 AM

I too would say Microsoft Entourage: it looks quite cool, IMHO - but should be better integrated with Apple's apps...

Cadaver · Mar 21, 2004, 10:16 AM

Originally posted by juanvaldes:
Remote Desktop Connection.

Only uses about 10% CPU, Dual Monitor Support, full screen or any res window mode. Right click support. Custom key for right click. Ability to tone down the network needed (ie lower color depth, no desktop pic, etc...).

Only crashed on me once.

Agreed. Very handy and cool app.

gorickey · Mar 21, 2004, 10:33 AM

Another vote for RDC...

sanity assassin · Mar 21, 2004, 10:55 AM

Originally posted by KP*:
I like Entourage. Can't wait to get the new version in Office 2004.

Yup, me too. Did you see the Office 2004 video up on MS' site? It looks really nice.

angelmb · Mar 21, 2004, 11:43 AM

Originally posted by mitchell_pgh:
The only one that gives me joy...

mitchell agrees with me and viceversa

one moment! seems that Mouse 5.0 seems that it does not wake up my Al

angelmb · Mar 21, 2004, 12:06 PM

btw, I found the switch app with the central button, the mouse wheel really (ms ice mouse), nice.

CreativeSurfer · Mar 21, 2004, 01:05 PM

I would have to say Entourage as well. It seems to be the better email program for OS X. Sometimes it has trouble with IMAP, but overall its a pretty good program. I'm also looking forward to the new version.

CharlesS · Mar 21, 2004, 03:30 PM

Originally posted by andretan:
Hmm. Then again, I don't see Word crashing as much as it does on a Windows machine than on my Mac

Do you mean that it crashes more often on Windows, or that it crashes more often on the Mac?

RayX · Mar 21, 2004, 09:38 PM

I'd say RDC if it let you connect to more than one server at a time/allow multiple sessions - like the Windows version.

(Creating a copy of the application and launching that is a work around, but a stupid one)

A feature sync with the Windows version is needed, such as Windows Server 2003 console support, amongst other things.

Otherwise not too bad...

ambush · Mar 21, 2004, 09:44 PM

I like the "Welcome" app that comes with the Office CD..

It's made in REALbasic apparently.

angelmb · Mar 22, 2004, 06:44 AM

Originally posted by ambush:
I like the "Welcome" app that comes with the Office CD..

It's made in REALbasic apparently.

Oh, to be honest, I never use it !

andretan · Mar 22, 2004, 01:42 PM

Originally posted by CharlesS:
Do you mean that it crashes more often on Windows, or that it crashes more often on the Mac?

I meant to say that it crashes more on my Mac than on Windows.

dividend · Mar 22, 2004, 02:18 PM

EXCEL!!!! There is nothing in comparsion to it out anywhere else (except for PC) Openoffice and staroffice are not as good in my opinion

Word? Bloated etc, but good to use when others are using it as well, otherwise i stick to text-edit [where the f�!k is Adobe FrameMaker????]

don't use entourage at all - uuuugly

powerpoint - difficult to measure, not as good looking and easy to use Keynote, but more advanced otherwise.

Virtual PC - shame that we have to use it

ages of empire... go away, -> look for starcraft instead

internet explorer - sucks big time

msn messanger - ok, if only it would work with address book - why don't they (fire, proteus ICQ etc...????)

media player - shame we need to use it

typoon · Mar 22, 2004, 03:31 PM

Probably word and Powerpoint IMO. Can't stand Entourage. No Junk Filter for one thing.

angelmb · 10:01 AM

Originally posted by typoon:
Probably word and Powerpoint IMO. Can't stand Entourage. No Junk Filter for one thing.

ha ha, let me say it: when I got a hotmail account to get info about office 2004, I received a Welcome to Hotmail e-mail, but... wait !!!, Entourage claims that it is spam mail ! HUGE LOL !

lenox · Mar 24, 2004, 11:33 AM

Originally posted by juanvaldes:
Remote Desktop Connection.

I agree.

Scarpa · Mar 24, 2004, 01:34 PM

Excel and RDC get the most use on my Powerbook.

I use Word occasionally but prefer TextEdit to author stuff on the Mac.

My fiance loves Word on the Mac though, says it's better than Word XP on our PC.

Person Man · Mar 24, 2004, 07:28 PM

Originally posted by ryju:
I could be wrong, but Microsoft never made Virtual PC, Connectix did Microsoft just bought Connectix.

Microsoft didn't buy Connectix, they just bought Virtual PC from them. Apparently Connectix went out of business shortly thereafter because their website apparently doesn't exist anymore.

MrBS · Mar 24, 2004, 10:13 PM

RDC is a pretty nice app. Very handy.

~BS

spiney · Mar 25, 2004, 10:48 AM

Excel, hands down. It is the only MS app that I simply cannot do without.

ApeInTheShell · Mar 25, 2004, 05:08 PM

MSN Messenger

The Good

- file sharing is consistent and reliable. I rarely run into firewall problems as compared to the Windows PC version
- the user interface is not desirable but it looks better than aMSN
- changing my preferences doesn't require 10 clicks

The Bad
- custom smiley's dont work
- no sms capability or video chat
- no optional backgrounds

Features I don't want:

- user pictures ( unless it looks as organized as iChat )
- skins ( really, they look bad, just check out the Mac OS X themes for Windows, ack)
- the user interface from MSN Messenger 6. I think Mac users appreciate simplicity and the one window concept ( aka tabs )

OwlBoy · Mar 25, 2004, 06:51 PM

Remote Desktop Connection.

Microsoft Mouse

(made by the USB Overdrive guy though)
MSN Messanger

:
Internet Explorer

:

Hardware:
Intelimouse

eyadams · Mar 25, 2004, 07:01 PM

Olympic Decathlon. I especially love the shot put...

Oh, wait, Macintosh applications. Um, Flight Simulator. I love the custom Finder you have to use to get it to run.

milhouse · Mar 25, 2004, 07:16 PM

Excel is good. Powerpoint is decent.

Word sort of sux @ss.

angelmb · Mar 27, 2004, 11:20 AM

OK, so seems that M$ best Mac app is hardware actually, their mices, guess why...

Office is a must, so improve it !
Messenger, why can not people to use AIM?
WMPlayer, worst piece of soft on my Mac, ever.
IE, hum, why kill it only because all Mac people downloaded Safari from day one?, what�s up with Camino, Mozilla...?, come on!, iCab is done by just a german guy, and it have four different versions, 68K, PPC, 10.1 and 10.2 and newer !!!

bradoesch · Mar 27, 2004, 12:10 PM

Originally posted by Person Man:
Microsoft didn't buy Connectix, they just bought Virtual PC from them. Apparently Connectix went out of business shortly thereafter because their website apparently doesn't exist anymore.

Not a big surprise. What else happens when you sell off your biggest product?

dru · Mar 28, 2004, 07:39 AM

This is a hard question.

Windows Media Player is slow and moving the window stops the visible playback, it's a *BAD* app. VLC is superior but doesn't support the 9.x codecs. WMP is *not* MS's best Mac apps. I hate WMP for Mac OS X. WMP is vile.

IE? It's slow and they dropped support. I avoid it on 9.x and OS X. It looks ok but it's crufty drawing pages.

MSN Messenger? No. It's slower than the open source aMSN and supports fewer features than both aMSN & the Windows client. It also gives me random and annoying screen redraw bugs. Lastly it doesn't play well with graphite. aMSN's big flaw is no bouncing dock icon support yet and it's ugly as hell (very X11).

Virtual PC? Love it. Using it tons but, face it, this is branded MS but is Connectix's work. Doesn't count at this point. It'll probably get worse instead of better.

Word is ok. But it crashes more than on Windows. It also seems to be a little less "native" than they've claimed and should be snappier. I try to avoid Word as much as possible. But it's there and I don't feel totally dirty when I run it. I ignore the other Office apps since I don't really deal with those types of documents.

They don't have a *great* Mac app.

There were times when Microsoft seemingly had great apps like Word 5.1. Everyone used Word 5.1 on the Mac. And Works 3 or 4 wasn't too bad either. Now it's clear Macintosh is something of a low performance, stability and overall code-quality priority. Sure we get nifty interface bits that would be most welcome on Windows but at the expense of more critical things like performance and playing well with others.

nsxpower · Mar 28, 2004, 10:29 AM

Hmm, lets see:

Office v.X - It certainly works, but sucks too much CPU even when idle. Thankfully I don't use Entourage, but I've heard a lot of people bitch and moan about it. Word v.X is nice overall and thanks to OS X has a "Save as PDF" function. Excel v.X could be MUCH better. I still find Excel XP (I use it at work all the time) much better over all. Hmm, Access v.X ... oh, never mind

The good part is that it never crashed on me, like it often does on Windows ... perhaps, I am just lucky. Powerpoint v.X ... SUCKS ... Keynote is MUCH better though.

MSN Messenger - Overall UI is better then its Windows counterpart, but it lacks Audio / Video capabilities and it looks like v.4 will only add new smileys (does anybody really need more smileys?). It also has less ads then Widnows version.

Media Player - The last update was very welcome, but I don't use it often enough to care. VLC does a much better job. Slow.

RDC -

Internet Explorer 5.2 - It used to be better the IE 5 / 5.5 for Windows, but lately it has faller behind, especially with CSS support (everything works in Safari, Firefox and IE 5.5 / 6).

Microsoft Bob ... thankfully they never made a Mac version.

I hear MS mice are really nice, I would not know since I have Apple Pro Wireless ... yes, I do miss the scroll wheel

but otherwise it is absolutely great.

andretan · Mar 28, 2004, 10:44 AM

Originally posted by ApeInTheShell:
MSN Messenger

The Good

- file sharing is consistent and reliable. I rarely run into firewall problems as compared to the Windows PC version
- the user interface is not desirable but it looks better than aMSN
- changing my preferences doesn't require 10 clicks

The Bad
- custom smiley's dont work
- no sms capability or video chat
- no optional backgrounds

Features I don't want:

- user pictures ( unless it looks as organized as iChat )
- skins ( really, they look bad, just check out the Mac OS X themes for Windows, ack)
- the user interface from MSN Messenger 6. I think Mac users appreciate simplicity and the one window concept ( aka tabs )

I hope they bring user pictures in. It's kinda frustrating when a buddy messages you, "Hey, look at my new user pic", and I have to go, "Erm, sorry, can't view it. The Mac's version of OS X doesn't support viewing it." That sucks.

dlefebvre · Mar 28, 2004, 02:04 PM

I find M$ office suite for Mac easier to use then the Windows version. It's more coherent. There's is still work to be done, but at least we are not stuck with simple port of Windows versions. I can't wait to see if Office 2004 will live up to it's promises.

angelmb · Mar 28, 2004, 04:55 PM

About the topic, I read that M$ has 55,000 employees and, well, the Macintosh Business Unit are just 160.

any comment?

CharlesS · Mar 28, 2004, 08:09 PM

Originally posted by angelmb:
About the topic, I read that M$ has 55,000 employees and, well, the Macintosh Business Unit are just 160.

any comment?

Microsoft makes a shitload of apps, though. It's not like all the other 54840 are all dedicated to the Windows version of Office.

Remember, Microsoft has to dominate every possible market in the software industry. It takes a lot of employees to do that...

MartiNZ · Mar 29, 2004, 12:23 AM

I also find that there are a lot of things in Office v.X that are better than those in Office XP and I imagine 2003. For a start we avoid the 'useful' features of the task pane and office clipboard, and we don't get out of control scrolling - although it could be a bit faster than we do get it

.

Basically, if Word:Mac 2004 can properly import PDF images so they can be printed clearly, it will shoot straight to the top of my list for their best mac app! Even better if it actually gains some speed in the process!

For the moment it would have to be Word or Excel v.X or the mouse pref pane as they're all I use - I'd probably say Excel comes out at the top out of those. The mouse thing is nice, but I feel it should really be built in... being able to use extra buttons for expos� seems to me to be the beginning of that... here's hoping!

angelmb · Mar 29, 2004, 09:29 AM

Originally posted by CharlesS:
Microsoft makes a shitload of apps, though. It's not like all the other 54840 are all dedicated to the Windows version of Office.

Remember, Microsoft has to dominate every possible market in the software industry. It takes a lot of employees to do that...

yes, from clocks to cars,

but for sure there are more than 160 folks working on the pc version of office, but what I do not get is the Mac Explorer end