“Microsoft Office isn’t among the apps that will run natively on Intel-based Macs—and it won’t be until the latter half of 2007, according to media reports. But when it does ship, Office will apparently be missing a feature so vital to cross-platform compatibility that I believe it will be the beginning of the end for the Mac version of the productivity suite,” Rob Griffiths writes for Macworld.
Microsoft also indicates that it is discontinuing support of Visual Basic (VB) scripting in the next version of Office for Mac, but on the flip side, the company said it’s going to increase support for standard Mac scripting methods like AppleScript and Automator. – Microsoft’s Mac Business Unit (MacBU)
“For those who don’t know, Visual Basic scripting (also known as Visual Basic for Applications, or VBA) is the technology behind macros in the Office applications. Basically, VB makes it relatively easy to add automation and customization to Office documents,” Griffiths explains.
Griffiths writes, “While the automation features are nice to have, it’s the fact that macros are portable across platforms that has helped the Mac versions of Office succeed in the market. With today’s versions of Office for Windows and OS X, macros written on the Windows version will work on the Mac version, and vice versa. (There are some exceptions for very complex macros, but most macros work the same on both platforms.) In any sort of mixed-platform environment, this is a very important capability—calling it mission critical for many wouldn’t be an understatement.”
Griffiths writes, “As a typical user, you might not think discontinuing support of Visual Basic in Office is that big a deal—’I don’t use macros, and they say they’re going to add in AppleScript and Automator support, so that should help replace Visual Basic, right?’ But it is—I think this move marks the beginning of the end of Office on the Mac.”
“To put it succinctly: Anyone who works in a multi-platform office environment where Office macros are used will actually lose functionality if they upgrade to the newest Mac Office next year. In most companies today, Windows is the dominant platform, and the loss of VB support will take away a compelling justification for the existence of the few corporate Macs out there,” Griffiths writes.
Griffiths writes, “I think we’re going to see a lot of sales of both Parallels and the Windows version of Office to Intel-based Mac users. After all, if you use Parallels and Office for Windows, you will have absolute, guaranteed, 100-percent compatibility with your Windows-using fellow employees and client base—because you’re using the exact same application.”
Full article with much more here.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Unpatched Microsoft Word flaw affects Macs too – December 06, 2006
Microsoft says Office 2007 XML support coming to Macs eventually – December 06, 2006
Microsoft’s Office 2007 for Windows saves documents in Mac-incompatible format – December 05, 2006
CodeWeavers releases CrossOver Mac 6.0 Beta 3 – November 14, 2006
RUMOR: Apple to take on Microsoft Office, add ‘Lasso’ spreadsheet app to iWork ‘07 – October 11, 2006
Free NeoOffice 2.0 Aqua Beta 3 now available – August 28, 2006
CodeWeavers brings low-cost way of running Windows apps on Mac OS X sans Windows – August 14, 2006
Mac users should not buy Microsoft software (or hardware) – May 16, 2003
Apple should purchase Codeweavers: Crossover Mac. They would be able to install and run M$ Office without Windows. Apple’s engineers along with Codeweaver’s programmers could get that program out to market quicker.
Just an idea.
The only problem I see with using MS Office for Windows on the Mac is that you need to set up Parallels. I would be that most of the Mac community won’t want to, or won’t know how. However, I would expect that those that really need VBA functionality will know how and will be able to set it up. I just hope that MS doesn’t kill off Office for Mac for the rest of the Mac community that just wants an app that will be compatible.
I think MS Office’s day in the sun is over. I’ll use the current version as long as possible and then I’ll just switch to NeoOffice. If you don’t use entourage and you like iWorks, there isn’t a compelling reason to buy Office anymore.
Apple needs to buy Adobe, so they can use Photoshop as leverage against Microsoft. If Microsoft even begins to hint at pulling Office for the Mac, Apple can pull Photoshop for Windows. Apple could also use Photoshop to get evil Microsoft to put Visual Basic back into Office for Mac. Apple doesn’t have much to hang over Microsoft’s heads these days in the enterprise market — but owning Photoshop could be the only thing they need. Come on, Apple! Do it! Buy Adobe!
For those of you who say “so what” or “what is MS Office” that is an increadibly short sighted view of reality. As has been said, VBA is an essential component to Word and Excel, and Office in general. There are as many customized applications that rely on macros and VBA as there are businesses that use them. Yes certainly, Applescript support would be awesome – however in addition to – and not at the sacrifice of VBA support.
An application as ubiquitos as Office (individual components) should be platform agnostic. I truly don’t care what your choise of hardware or software is, as long as I can interact with your documents. My office, as well as my clients and collegues need to be able to communicate without being hampered/hindered by incompatibilities.
I don’t know what the fallout will be. Will it be abandonment of Office 2007 in favor of open source and acceptance of multiple platforms, or will it be adoption of Office 2007, and abandonment of all else non-compatible?
This move by MS is precisely why the company should have been split up after the anti-trust conviction. The OS (windows) division and the Office division should be two seperate companies competing on an open field. Instead, MS is free to leverage one to the other, against all others.
zac
Apple should have been working on an Office replacement App. for the past five years. Why in the hell did they pass on that? Also, this app should be written for windows as well, and ought to be in the range of $150 for the Windows version and $50 for Mac users.
I would think this would open the door for another company to have an “office” type app for the mac that would be able to open, work with, and export PC office docs. I’m sure Apple anticipated this move and hopefully there will be an elegant work around.
Didn’t Mafia$oft announce a few weeks back that they were dropping the development of Visual Basic all together?
Didn’t they? Or was it all a dream?
Looks like I’ll be running Office 2004 using Rosetta for a long time.
what needs to happen is that steps are taken to establish MS Office as a standard, and international standard. this will essentially take the control of Office technology and functionality out of the hands of MS and into the hands of a committee – yes, adding more beauracracy (spelling?) to the mix, but taking MS desire for isolating competition and killing them out of their hands. Allow MS to keep Office as its cashcow, but prevent it from using that monopoly – which is even more so than Windows – to kill off alternative platforms.
I hate to say this, but we should be lobbying for Office for Linux, Solaris, Ubutu, etc. For being a republican, I am looking forward to the change in congress, and maybe taking a harder stance on the corporate practices of MS – they are leaning back to their old ways. Cna’t blame them entirely, they are testing on what they can get away with – shrewed, very shrewed, but good business sense.
So, let’s get off the kill MS and Office soap boxes temporarily. If Office goes bye bye on the Mac, the platform will become crippled and less appealing to the masses, and allow the Dell’s of the world to become prominent and powerful again – and we can’t let THAT happen.
This may be not be so bad – if Leopard features the native ability to run Windows programs, Macs will just be able to run the Windows version of Office.
Sorry Apple_fan. Not happening.
With Parallels and a full copy of XP, I really have a hard time caring what MS does in the future. The Windows universe is just a bunch of mac software to run on my Apple hardware now and with Coherence it’s going to get harder to tell it was “designed for XP”. LOL. The battle is over. Locking OS X to Apple hardware turns out to be a brilliant move to people who appreciate using well engineered products.
First of all, I don’t agree that VBA is critical to the use of Office. Apple script can and will automate most office related tasks better than VBA ever could. Second, VBA was one of the dumbest things Microsoft ever did. There used to be a time when documents, spreadsheets, and databases were fairly inoculated from viruses. Now you not only have to worry about executable binaries, but you also have to worry about simple things like documents with scripts executing malicious code. I think this only makes the mac a SAFER environment to do business on. Third, you are underestimating open office, and their recent support for VBA. If you absolutely have to have vba, then use an alternative product. But I suspect not many people will NEED this functionality, and those that do will either not upgrade, or run office in virtual machines. Fourth, most office formats are going towards xml based formats, which will greatly increase compatibility in third party applications. It is only a matter of time before Iwork has nearly 100% compatibility, and I think the need for VBA will greatly diminish. Also, these open xml based formats will now make it possible to automate most functionality in more than just stupid VBA, you could literally use any open source scripting language under the sun to create templates, to modify and manipulate data, I think the pathways towards automation are even greater today than they ever have been. Not to mention, using alternative TRUE scripting languages make them REAL cross platform, and open. So in summary, VBA is useless and highly overrated.
VBA isn’t supported in 2007 Office System for Windows either, if you save your files in the new XLM format. It’s being killed on both platforms. It’s just taking them a little longer on Windows!
it’s simple office plus vista + more money for MS than office + OSX
a very cunning move
Macros may be very important, to some, but very few in my company use macros. I work for a 350-person statewide firm that could not exist without a spreadsheet and a word processor application; we just happen to use Office. I would guess that there are very few organizations our size that have more of an output measured by page count than us, and we don’t suffer from lack of productivity. We do, however, suffer from the stray virus from time to time. I’d say good ridance.
M$= worst company ever existed on earth.
Well plenty of other bad businesses come to mind, Wal-Mart in particular. If you really want “worst company ever”, open the history books from the 1800’s through the Depression, and look at the blatant abuses that brought along antitrust laws and labor unions.
As for VB support, there has to be some way to make this backfire on MS. Although as has been pointed out, simply not upgrading to the VB-less Office is one effective way.
As Bananaman says VB is being killed off for the Windows version of Office as well in favor of XML.
VB is old antiquated and virus ridden, not to say XML won’t be, but it is a step in the right direction.
Also MacBU at Microsoft has recently stated that they will be releasing a patch to enable Office 2004 at the least if not v.X to be compatible with the XML format.
It is not as the headline reads when looking at the story from within the MDN widget that Office for Mac is being withdrawn at all.
MDN, please rewrite?
MW ‘care’ as in take better care when writing headlines!
If Apple hasn’t been preparing for this instead of relying on Microsoft to play nice, they’re dumber than I thought. Cupertino better have something up their sleeves.
VBA – Virus Backdoor Access
Many people here do not get it. I’m as hardcore of an Apple fan as anyone else here, but the reality in the world today is that the everything runs on Microsoft Office. To expect that the iWork suite can magically become an Office alternative for many people overnight, with the simple addition of a spreadsheet app, is naive and ignorant. Many other features are going to need to be implemented by Apple to be even considered by many companies. Same goes for NeoOffice or OpenOffice or any other apps like that. These apps are not going to kill off Office anytime in the next 10 years. Period.
As we stand right now, Office compatibility under Mac OS X is THE single biggest selling point for Macs. No Office = No Mac for many people.
I like these ideas:
– Leverage Crossover APIs internally within OS X to allow Windows Office to run natively on Mac OS X without any additional software
– Use Parallels Coherence feature to run Office
– Purchase Adobe and leverage their suite of products (arguably the second most influential in the software industry, including Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, Dreamweaver, Flash, Premiere, etc.) against M$ to continue Mac Office compatibility
Meanwhile, Office for Mac OS X will die a slow death. What is comforting about this is that according to most current indications, Windows will also be dying a slow death on the same timeline. This obviously has further indications to the “Office struggle” as well…
–mAc
If Apple hasn’t been preparing for this instead of relying on Microsoft to play nice, they’re dumber than I thought
–
why do you think they’re dumb? they’re already on version 2 of iwork..
putz
bullshit – MS will try embrace and extinguish with applescript and automator
Oh no, what if MS stop producing the Access database for the Mac, it’ll be bad for business – hang on, there never was Access for the Mac. Why wasn’t THIS a problem? Because we always find a workaround plus developers (e.g. FileMaker) thrive in a vacuum.
If VBA goes then AppleScript, Automator, REALbasic or some new thing will fill the void. Maybe something better. Would you prefer the Mac with MS Access and no FileMaker?