Microsoft has released Office 2004 for Mac 11.3.7 Update which, according to Microsoft, “fixes a critical vulnerability that an attacker can use to overwrite the contents of your computer’s memory with malicious code.”
The update applies to Office 2004 Standard Edition, Office 2004 Student and Teacher Edition, Office 2004 Professional Edition, Word 2004, Excel 2004, PowerPoint 2004, and Entourage 2004.
More info and download link here.
MacDailyNews Note: Do you really enjoy Microsoft-induced security problems and bloated, old, overpriced code on your Mac? Many Mac users think they need Evil Incarnate, er… Microsoft Office, but they really don’t. Give Apple’s free 30-day iWork ’08 trial a try and see for yourself.
iWork™ …”They” don’t.
Stevo
Yes they do… 99.999% of the time
MS–for those that love to work on their machine rather than work with their machine!
I installed the new iWork ’08.
I just deleted Micros#it Office 2004 from my computer forever.
MDN: “Refreshing” as in, it’s refreshing to not have any microsoft products on my computer.
Great, it’s just a patch. I was hoping it would turn Office into iWork 08….
Shame on you MDN for spreading this kind of anti-Apple FUD. We all know that due to the inherent security of OS X, not even Microsoft can pose a risk to a Mac. Mac is secure from day one, which is literally five years ahead, i presume.
I am not doing this one and am never doing another Microsoft update ever again.
PPT files open in Keynote, XLS in Numbers and DOC in Pages.
Bliss. Sheer bliss.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah – no Mac user needs MS office.
Unless they do. I tried Pages08, as you suggested. It chokes on Table of Contents of more than one level. That’s unacceptable to me.
Even NeoOffice is better than that.
Nice try Apple. Maybe next time around Pages will be be better.
Keynote – it looks good. Numbers – I’m not a spreadsheet user.
Micro$oft fixed this too late. I already emtied the trash can.
iWork is here and I love to work with it. It´s so fast.
I installed a “fix” for Microslofts shitass Office for Mac just yesterday, it came on a disk labeled iWork 08. Bye Bye now Mr Gates have a nice life!
Ahh… it feels good to not have to download this one. I promptly trashed Office 2004 on my Mac this weekend after buying and using iWork ’08 over the weekend to make sure I wouldn’t miss it. As of Sunday, Office 2004 is just a memory (I haven’t thrown the disc away, but I won’t ever install it again.)
Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac has a critical vulnerability? Who uses Office on a Mac anyway? I thought you guys just looked at pictures on MACs.
First of all it’s a technical impossibility for vulnerabilities to be introduced through Microsoft Office. Apple’s dumpy 30-year old MAC OS is to blame. Microsoft Office apps simply run on top of a leaky, unstable and insecure Unix dinosaur that Apple still can’t get right. I suggest Apple license and move to the Windows kernel or just give up altogether. Shouldn’t be too hard to do now that MACs use Intel chips.
Your potential. Our passion.™
Like it or not, Microsoft Office is the de facto standard for businesses in the US. Without Office, the Mac wouldn’t be a viable platform for many people.
I personally don’t use MS Office – NeoOffice works just fine for my needs. However, if you want to bash Microsoft – don’t bash the MacBU. These guys are Mac users, and probably one of the few groups in Microsoft that don’t want to destroy Apple and all it stands for.
Office for the Mac painfully sucks. It’s like iTunes/Quicktime/Safari for Windoze. Some things should not be mixed.
“Like it or not, Microsoft Office is the de facto standard for businesses in the US”
but should we accept that?
“like it or not windows is the de facto standard for businesses in the US.”
“like it or not, ethical violations are the de facto standard for government work in the US.”
“like it or not war is the de facto solution to international relations issues in the world.”
that these are facts, does not make them acceptable.
so no, i don’t like it. nor will i accept it.
i use linux and os x, because i have upped my standards. to everyone else, up yours.
The great shen has spoken! Thank you for taking the time to grace us with your wise prognostications oh mighty one!
“i use linux and os x, because i have upped my standards.”
Aren’t you special. So you use the trailer trash OS and the toy OS. Well if that makes you feel high and mighty, great. I continue to bask in the warm glow of a REAL OS: Windows Vista. Ultimate. Dork.
And would it kill you to use the ‘shift’ key once in a while?
Your potential. Our passion.™
MDN,
You’re beginning to sound like a broken record. And for the users who HAVE to use Office it’s beginning to grate.
I’ll start off by saying I’m a Mac user from OS 8.1 days and have stuck with the Mac even through working in a VERY Windows based company.
Truth is though this iWork program is a light weight when compared to Office (insert joke on bloated code here). Seriously though it isn’t as capable when using tables (i.e. can’t split page through a table), fonts require two interfaces (one in the menu above and the other for full font size selection in the font window), Bullets took me forever to find as I have to use the Inspector then Lists then Bullets (but Bullets are the only thing within Lists) I could go on but I’ve just started to use it (all of one hour ago). Plus it failed to properly open up 3 out of 5 WORD documents so far (mostly table errors).
So can we stop slamming the competition when quite frankly unless I’m providing a hard copy (or a PDF) where I don’t expect others to edit the document. You really can’t replace WORD with Pages. It’s a great home based Publishing program but as a simple document creator it’s in a world by itself (since no one else in a work environment can use the soft copy files it produces).
Just my 2¢
Can anyone explain in English what this vulnerability is?
All of you need to start taking Valium.
@shen
so big words, but what do you mean by not accepting?
say silently to yourself “i don’t accept” and aloud “thank you, sir, please give me more”?
if you have action plans on how to
1) end windows domination in US business
2) stop US gov ethical violations
3) end all war
please share them, i am sure many will join you
until then:
i don’t accept cancer
i don’t accept HIV
i don’t accept sun being the center of our planetary system
but i do accept credit cards,
american express will do nicely thank you
Chris – agree with you that the MacBU is a good organization. Those poor folks do have a tough job and have done good work. M$ Office was my security blanket for even considering a Mac when I switched at the end of 2004. As I have to use Office at work, having Office on my Mac at home is a good thing.
I am concerned about Office 2007 and Office 2008 compability (or lack of). Seems to me the two best choices are sticking with 2004 and or upgrading to iWork. I haven’t taken the 30 day test drive as of yet but plan to do so soon. If that goes well, I’ll purchase iWork when I get Leopard.
Peace.
I love Mac Office 2004. Love it. Love it.
Another excellent choice for a word processor alternative to MS Word is Nisus Writer Pro. It reads and writes .doc files. In fact you can save all your Nisus documents in .doc format, but you do have the .rtf format available as well.
I have not had to open any large complicated Word documents, so I cannot say how good it works at that. But there is a demo available at http://www.nisus.com, so you can see for yourself.
@Shen
Did you, like, read the rest of my post?
The fact that MS Office exists on the Mac platform is one of the most important reasons for many people to make the switch. Without it, people see OS X as an also-ran. Sure, you don’t have to like it or use it (I don’t – as I mentioned), but its existence is crucial to the viability of the platform – particularly for business customers.
MS Office for Mac is a good thing. You don’t need to support it for it to be an asset to the Mac. But you certainly shouldn’t bash the hell out of it just because it’s a standard.
If you want to bash Microsoft, bash the Zune, bash Vista. Hell, bash Office for Windows. But don’t give Microsoft a reason to kill off the MacBU, who are an absolute asset to the Mac.
@ Walter Chillum. I totally agree Walter. MS Office allows me to keep my Mac in a Windoze workplace. Like it or not MDN, some of us have no choice in this matter.
Quote Zune Tang:
“I continue to bask in the warm glow of a REAL OS: Windows Vista. Ultimate. Dork.”
I never knew Vista came in an Ultimate Dork version as well. So what’s the version count now? 20, 34, or 71? Guess you learn something every day.
</SARCASM>
Good, serves you dumbasses right for putting M$ crap on your Mac
And yes you CAN alternatives/file formats that will import into Office and Mac software like NeoOffice just fine.
And if you have to send or recieve your work from a Windows loser to be edited/altered instead of a PDF. THEN YOUR A FRIGGING PEON!!!
Mac users are not peons!!
Believe it or not, there are features in MS Office that aren’t in iWork, and features that some people need in order to work with documents in their businesses.
I often use Track Changes in Word. That feature was not available in the previous version of Pages, which made it a non-factor to me, although I like Pages. And don’t go on about sending PDFs – that doesn’t work well when several people are reviewing documents and making changes and comments.
If iWork has the features I need AND is fully compatible with Word docs – including features like Track Changes, auto paragraph numbering, etc., then I’ll be excited to switch. I’m downloading the iWork 08 trial now to test it.
Fortunately, I’m not worried about Microsoft’s vulnerabilities because I doubt they can really affect my Mac. I’ll apply the patch, once I have verified that it won’t destroy my system. If iWork can do what I need, I’ll switch.
And there’s always more from the Dark Side:
Microsoft delivers critical fixes for Windows, IE and Excel
Everything but the kitchen sink
By Dan Goodin in San Francisco
Published Tuesday 14th August 2007 23:42 GMT
Microsoft’s monthly patch fest for August included fixes for 14 security holes, including critical flaws in Internet Explorer, Excel and in Windows components such as XML Core Services, Vector Markup Language and Object Linking and Embedding automation.
Six of the nine bulletins issued as part of this month’s Patch Tuesday were labeled “critical,” Microsoft’s highest severity rating. They covered a total of eight flaws. The remaining six flaws were included in bulletins rated “important.”
Enjoy your dangerous crapfest, Windows suckers.
I continue to bask in the warm glow of a REAL OS: Windows Vista.
You know, ZT has a point.
PC users do bask around whatever MS offers.
Like bugs bask around a light.
Pity the poor things, they just don’t know any better…
MDN – You folks should be able to come up with a better “take” (or “Note” in this case) than one that is an ad for iWork ’08. Every time there’s a story about MS Office, we get the same “ad” for iWork ’08. Not very original…
CRITICAL vulnerability for a 4-year old app? WTF?
Microsoft – You Can’t Polish A Turd
Ahhhh 2004 may it R.I.P.
I sent it out in the trash last week.
j
“Believe it or not, there are features in MS Office that aren’t in iWork, and features that some people need in order to work with documents in their businesses.”
No smart buisnesse or person uses just one method to achieve their results.
M$ software is always insecure. The exploits in OfficeMac have been severe so many times that it’s not worth being held hostage to a few features.
“Fortunately, I’m not worried about Microsoft’s vulnerabilities because I doubt they can really affect my Mac.”
That’s where your wrong. I suggest you really investigate how serious past OfficeMac vunerabilites has been for Mac users.
You see, I’ve seen it over and over, especially for OfficeMac over the years.
Microsoft is playing a game, it’s called “Stockholm Syndrome”, they play it with their Windows users and they try to play it with Mac users who use OfficeMac.
Read up on Stockholm Syndrome, it’s a destructive relationship where the abuser (Microsoft) abuses their customers and the customers that hope one day everything would be better, but it never does.
Sort of like the destructive relationship between a wife and a wife beater. She hopes she can change him, but he keeps the abuse up knowing that’s what keeps her around.
The best thing would be not to hope M$ will finally make a safe and secure software to use, but to change to something that is safe and secure.
You got a Mac, that’s step one. Step two is to ditch M$ altogether. Then your truly free!
Won’t upgrade pass 11.3.5 until something goes wrong with my current Office 2004.
I’m by no means a creative professional or church newsletter maker.
Office 2004 is the one which saved me from my IT Manager fury when he found out I’m abandoning my work PC for a Mac. (He goes like from WHAT??? (Reply: But, I still use Office…) to mmm… fair enough…
iWork just won’t fulfill my needs. Sure it looks dazzling, it just doesn’t provide those small but necessary features.
What are some of the freeware alternatives that work with Word?
> What are some of the freeware alternatives that work with Word?
Well, there’s NeoOffice.
http://www.neooffice.org/
If it’s just for Word, there’s AbiWord
http://www.abisource.com/
OK so I went through all the information and found that the whole process was just too bloody complicated. For one I thing I don’t even have the right plug-in. So I have to go through the process twice. So that’s why Windows’ users are always getting screwed. Microsoft makes the whole process just too damn difficult.
What Microsoft calls a patch I call the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Screw you Microsoft, I just wish I didn’t have to use your bloated Office, but I have no choice.
MDN word “easy” yeah right.
$M Hate Machine = Idiot. Some of us have no choice.
Now don’t forget to raise your lower lip before you switch off the light. If you know what a light switch is. That’s where the bright thing is. You have to unscrew the bright bulb and then insert your middle finger in the socket to turn it off.
Geez. Office may have a lot of bloat, but I’m fairly sure that a $400 software suite can do some things that a $80 suite can’t. Duh.
OTOH, most people really, truly don’t need all the capabilities of Microsoft Office. There’s a reason why times new roman is the most common printed font in the world: it’s the default font of word and similar word processing programs. Most people don’t know enough or don’t care enough to even change the frakkin fonts!
I think Apple may be hitting a sweet spot with the iWork suite. It has more than enough features for a consumer user without being intimidating, is compatible with word so others can read what you’ve written, and is a fifth the cost of Office. Hardcore power users will continue to use office because they have to; they deserve our empathy, NOT our scorn! Most people out there like don’t have to. I’ll have to download the demo and give it a fair chance.
@ Zune Wang: you shoulda quit while you were ahead.
NOT a good day for your drivel.
Ba-bye as Ms. White used to say.
RIP Merv.