[John]

A friend has a mac with MS office products written for mac on it. She sent me
a file to proof for her and the formatting was a total disaster. First
question is why is there a difference in formatting characters. Second
question is of course...how do you fix it???

[grammatim[_2_]]

Maybe the Mac's fonts (and OS) are pre-Unicode and yours are Unicode?

Even in the olden days when fonts had just 255 characters, the
assignment of some of the less often used ones was different.

(Note that you didn't give the slightest hint about what's gone
wrong!)

On Dec 5, 4:32*pm, John wrote:
A friend has a mac with MS office products written for mac on it. She sent me
a file to proof for her and the formatting was a total disaster. First
question is why is there a difference in formatting characters. Second
question is of course...how do you fix it???

[Jan14]

"John" wrote:

A friend has a mac with MS office products written for mac on it. She sent me
a file to proof for her and the formatting was a total disaster. First
question is why is there a difference in formatting characters. Second
question is of course...how do you fix it???

I am a computer apps teacher who uses macs at school and windows at home. I
find very little difference in the formatting... perhaps an occasional font
style change in word and powerpoint. The rest is very compatible and very
similar - I have sent documents and files between the operating systems for
years and every version of ms office works relatively similar. i suggest
she save it in a "true font".. i.e. Times New Roman.. and save it with a .doc
extension. there should be no problem editing it for her.

[Nina]

Jan14,

I am in need of a new computer, and am trying to decide between Mac and
Windows (PC). I am a heavy Word and PowerPoint user. Considering you have
worked with both systems for years, would you mind sharing your experience
with us regarding which system works better with MS Office apps... at least
for you?

Would greatly appreciate it.

"Jan14" wrote:



"John" wrote:

A friend has a mac with MS office products written for mac on it. She sent me
a file to proof for her and the formatting was a total disaster. First
question is why is there a difference in formatting characters. Second
question is of course...how do you fix it???

I am a computer apps teacher who uses macs at school and windows at home. I
find very little difference in the formatting... perhaps an occasional font
style change in word and powerpoint. The rest is very compatible and very
similar - I have sent documents and files between the operating systems for
years and every version of ms office works relatively similar. i suggest
she save it in a "true font".. i.e. Times New Roman.. and save it with a .doc
extension. there should be no problem editing it for her.

[Jan14]

Lol, Nina. I have used both OS formats for over 15 years personally and
professionally. I currently have a Dell desktop and a Dell laptop at home,
and for school I have an eMAC and MacBook Pro. I use Office 2007 on my Dells
and set the default to save as Word 2004 files. On my new Macbook Pro, I use
Office 2008. I don't care which one I make my documents, media
presentations, etc. on, and just throw them on the a jumpdrive to quickly
transfer them where I need them next. All the files are closely compatible
and ready-to-go.

As far as the differences in the Operating Systems(mac vs. windows) - My
Dells were MUCH cheaper in price, even with the generous discount Apple gives
educators. There are things I can do on each machine that cannot be done on
the other. Example... you can take a screen shot on a windows machine and
have to crop it, while you can take a snap shot of exactly what you want with
no editing with just a few key strokes on a mac. This is very handy for a
teacher. My students love their iCameras and have a blast with them. The
Macs are more user friendly for the newbie, yet I find the windows machines
give me more flexibility. I have never had a problem with a virus, malicious
code, etc. on any Mac, but have had complete crashes in my Mac lab at school.
The complete reinstall is easy though, so not a huge issue. I have never
had a Windows machine crash, but continually need to update antivirus
software, defrag, etc. to keep them running decently. Lastly, I had problems
getting the correct video format to embed in my powerpoint on the mac. After
some research, I found a good site: mediaconverter.org, than converts and
files type I have into another. For example, one live .wmv and another
insists on .avi extensions. I just need to remember which machine I am using


You say you are a heavy Word and Powerpoint user. I am also, and teach both
of these applications in my classes. Mac's Office 2008 is very similar to
Window's MS Office 2007. If you are currently using either, you will easily
be able to use the other. If you are switching from an older version of
Office, you will find that some of the things you may have been use to are no
longer available. Check out this site to see the differences/changes:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l.../cc179054.aspx

I was used to Word 2004 on the Mac and Word 2003 on the Windows, so I am
still trying to find the same functions in the newer versions. I often find
that they are no longer available.... (scrolling text, and other similar
things I used in my classroom).

I really like the MAC Word version's formatting palette, but Office was
originally made for the Windows operating system and continues to receive
more support. However, I don't think there is a major difference in this in
the past few years (it use to be huge). If I were you, I would look at the
operating systems to see what best fits your needs and know that you will be
able use Office just fine on either.

Hope I was somewhat helpful and at least relieved some of your worries -

Jan

"Nina" wrote:

Jan14,

I am in need of a new computer, and am trying to decide between Mac and
Windows (PC). I am a heavy Word and PowerPoint user. Considering you have
worked with both systems for years, would you mind sharing your experience
with us regarding which system works better with MS Office apps... at least
for you?

Would greatly appreciate it.

"Jan14" wrote:



"John" wrote:

A friend has a mac with MS office products written for mac on it. She sent me
a file to proof for her and the formatting was a total disaster. First
question is why is there a difference in formatting characters. Second
question is of course...how do you fix it???

I am a computer apps teacher who uses macs at school and windows at home. I
find very little difference in the formatting... perhaps an occasional font
style change in word and powerpoint. The rest is very compatible and very
similar - I have sent documents and files between the operating systems for
years and every version of ms office works relatively similar. i suggest
she save it in a "true font".. i.e. Times New Roman.. and save it with a .doc
extension. there should be no problem editing it for her.

[Nina]

Hello Jan14,

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply with such an informative
post. This has been very helpful. I have indeed heard that Office 2007 is
quite different from the previous versions and appreciate you providing the
link that describes the differences.

Well, now I must make the "big" decision!

Thank you again, and Happy Holidays!

"Jan14" wrote:

Lol, Nina. I have used both OS formats for over 15 years personally and
professionally. I currently have a Dell desktop and a Dell laptop at home,
and for school I have an eMAC and MacBook Pro. I use Office 2007 on my Dells
and set the default to save as Word 2004 files. On my new Macbook Pro, I use
Office 2008. I don't care which one I make my documents, media
presentations, etc. on, and just throw them on the a jumpdrive to quickly
transfer them where I need them next. All the files are closely compatible
and ready-to-go.

As far as the differences in the Operating Systems(mac vs. windows) - My
Dells were MUCH cheaper in price, even with the generous discount Apple gives
educators. There are things I can do on each machine that cannot be done on
the other. Example... you can take a screen shot on a windows machine and
have to crop it, while you can take a snap shot of exactly what you want with
no editing with just a few key strokes on a mac. This is very handy for a
teacher. My students love their iCameras and have a blast with them. The
Macs are more user friendly for the newbie, yet I find the windows machines
give me more flexibility. I have never had a problem with a virus, malicious
code, etc. on any Mac, but have had complete crashes in my Mac lab at school.
The complete reinstall is easy though, so not a huge issue. I have never
had a Windows machine crash, but continually need to update antivirus
software, defrag, etc. to keep them running decently. Lastly, I had problems
getting the correct video format to embed in my powerpoint on the mac. After
some research, I found a good site: mediaconverter.org, than converts and
files type I have into another. For example, one live .wmv and another
insists on .avi extensions. I just need to remember which machine I am using


You say you are a heavy Word and Powerpoint user. I am also, and teach both
of these applications in my classes. Mac's Office 2008 is very similar to
Window's MS Office 2007. If you are currently using either, you will easily
be able to use the other. If you are switching from an older version of
Office, you will find that some of the things you may have been use to are no
longer available. Check out this site to see the differences/changes:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l.../cc179054.aspx

I was used to Word 2004 on the Mac and Word 2003 on the Windows, so I am
still trying to find the same functions in the newer versions. I often find
that they are no longer available.... (scrolling text, and other similar
things I used in my classroom).

I really like the MAC Word version's formatting palette, but Office was
originally made for the Windows operating system and continues to receive
more support. However, I don't think there is a major difference in this in
the past few years (it use to be huge). If I were you, I would look at the
operating systems to see what best fits your needs and know that you will be
able use Office just fine on either.

Hope I was somewhat helpful and at least relieved some of your worries -

Jan

"Nina" wrote:

Jan14,

I am in need of a new computer, and am trying to decide between Mac and
Windows (PC). I am a heavy Word and PowerPoint user. Considering you have
worked with both systems for years, would you mind sharing your experience
with us regarding which system works better with MS Office apps... at least
for you?

Would greatly appreciate it.

"Jan14" wrote:



"John" wrote:

A friend has a mac with MS office products written for mac on it. She sent me
a file to proof for her and the formatting was a total disaster. First
question is why is there a difference in formatting characters. Second
question is of course...how do you fix it???

I am a computer apps teacher who uses macs at school and windows at home. I
find very little difference in the formatting... perhaps an occasional font
style change in word and powerpoint. The rest is very compatible and very
similar - I have sent documents and files between the operating systems for
years and every version of ms office works relatively similar. i suggest
she save it in a "true font".. i.e. Times New Roman.. and save it with a .doc
extension. there should be no problem editing it for her.