Need Office on Mac, which option?

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Slartibartfast

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I need to run MS Office on my MacBook for a class I'm taking (I'm doing a lot of page layout work on a .doc file and NeoOffice doesn't cut it - I need 100% compatibility), and I think I have two options. I wanted to get some opinions though as I'm still somewhat of a Mac newb:

1.) I can get Office 2004 Mac through school for about $80.

2.) I could buy Parallels, and run the copy of Office I already own that way. I have unused copies of Win XP and 2k lying around that I could easily install on the mac. I have two concerns with this: performance and printing. I have the low-end first gen MacBook: Core Duo, 1.83ghz, but with 2gb RAM. I think it should be ok on that front. The other thing is, I would need to print out of Office running in Parallels. Does anybody know how well Parallels would support this?

I am leaning towards Option 2 because ultimately it's a much better deal. I have never used Parallels though so I'm not totally confident my plan would work out ok. I basically need to buy either of these by the end of the week, so any and all input is welcome :)
 
I don't have much experience with Parallels, but if you need to do a lot of work with Office, I'd just get the Mac version. You definitely don't want to have something due the next day and have to figure out why the hell something isn't working.
 
Slartibartfast said:
I need to run MS Office on my MacBook for a class I'm taking (I'm doing a lot of page layout work on a .doc file and NeoOffice doesn't cut it - I need 100% compatibility), and I think I have two options. I wanted to get some opinions though as I'm still somewhat of a Mac newb:

1.) I can get Office 2004 Mac through school for about $80.

2.) I could buy Parallels, and run the copy of Office I already own that way. I have unused copies of Win XP and 2k lying around that I could easily install on the mac. I have two concerns with this: performance and printing. I have the low-end first gen MacBook: Core Duo, 1.83ghz, but with 2gb RAM. I think it should be ok on that front. The other thing is, I would need to print out of Office running in Parallels. Does anybody know how well Parallels would support this?

I am leaning towards Option 2 because ultimately it's a much better deal. I have never used Parallels though so I'm not totally confident my plan would work out ok. I basically need to buy either of these by the end of the week, so any and all input is welcome :)
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If you're a student, you know you can get the Student/Teacher version of Office 2004 for Mac, right? Full versions of everything, just discounted and packaged for students/teachers.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16837116168
 
Well, I'd say just go with Office for Mac, since you're gonna spend the $80 anyhow.

With parallels, you have to get it all set up, blah blah... also printing is a bit iffy...

I have a USB printer at home, and USB support is a <insert expletive here> in parallels.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
Sometimes you THINK it's gonna work, and then *pow* you get a message saying some other app is using the USB device so parallels can't use it.

Network printing is OK though, and I use it a lot at client sites (AD printers ftw)
 
Office 2004 for Mac works fine, its emulated sure, but it isn't slow, and everything works.

Running Office in Parallels would only make sense if you needed a specific feature that may or may not be in 2004.

Runnin office in Parallels would also mean longer start up times, the OS + Office, vs. just Office; also you have to have that antivirus and anti-spyware running on XP, and all this will make your MacBook hate you RAM wise and... eh it's just not practical.

I use Parallels for VS 2005 for CSCI and it works great, but I wouldn't want to even resume XP from Standby eveytime I wanted to type some notes in class. It's just easier to use Office 2004 for Mac.
 
You may have an extra Win OS to put on your Mac, but I would question whether you can legally install your copy of Office on two machines (assuming you already have it installed on your PC).

I'd just go with getting Mac Office so there aren't any hassles or surprises to deal with.
 
Lethal said:
You may have an extra Win OS to put on your Mac, but I would question whether you can legally install your copy of Office on two machines (assuming you already have it installed on your PC).

I'd just go with getting Mac Office so there aren't any hassles or surprises to deal with.
Click to expand...

Office 2003 lets you install it on your main machine and then a portable. From the very first paragraph of the eula
"1.1 Installation and use. You may:
(a) install and use a copy of the Software on one personal computer or other device; and
(b) install an additional copy of the Software on a second, portable device for the exclusive use of the primary user of the first copy of the Software."

I think that student and teacher lets you put it on up to 3 machines in one household, though that might only apply to office 2k7.

CreativeMac said:
If you're a student, you know you can get the Student/Teacher version of Office 2004 for Mac, right? Full versions of everything, just discounted and packaged for students/teachers.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16837116168
Click to expand...

That's more than the $80 version the OP mentioned, which I assume was the student/teacher version offered by his school.
 
IanG said:
That's more than the $80 version the OP mentioned, which I assume was the student/teacher version offered by his school.
Click to expand...

Sorry. . .totally missed his better deal on Office 2004 thru his school. Don't mind me. . .
 
Get the Office for Mac 2004.

I use it on my 12" Powerbook. In Word, you can use the on-board mic to record your classes! That's what I do.
 
I actually went and talked to the guys at the genius bar about this on Sunday. The version that you normally get from your school for around $80 is a single license only product. You can only install it on one device, be it portable or your primary desktop. The versions that you buy from Newegg and Apple are 3 license versions allowing up to 3 install on different devices. Big difference.
 
I've got the Student/Teacher edition. It's a tan, notebook-looking box. Says three installs right on the box.
 
Thanks for the feedback, everyone. It sounds like just getting office is the way to go. I can get it for around $80 and I would imagine it's single-install. I doubt that will be an issue though as I only have the one Mac and shouldn't need another desktop for quite some time. If I had the money I would spring for the version on newegg, but as it is I think it's worth saving that $50 or so.
 
mac office is pretty awesome. it takes a bt of getting used to form the windows office, but yeh. definately worth it. but then again, Office:Mac 2008 would be coming out soon.
 
My university gives us most MS products for $5. Picking up a $5 copy of office was the happiest ive been at school for a while
 
Another option would have just been to set up boot camp. Then you wouldn't have to mess with Parallels at all and you'd be able to use all the software you already have with no performance hit.
 
BigBadBiologist said:
Another option would have just been to set up boot camp. Then you wouldn't have to mess with Parallels at all and you'd be able to use all the software you already have with no performance hit.
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Yeah but restarting just to use Office or any other program isn't very convenient, Office on Parallels isn't slow, it's just stupid unless you have a reason to need it instead.

Office:Mac is fine, it's office, runs on OS X, what more do you need for a version of Office for Mac?

There is a good free alternative called NeoOffice which is a native os x universal application running on the OpenOffice architecture. But I haven't really caught on to it and it's support for MS Office docs is still not very good.

If you want Office for OS X, get Office:Mac 2004, if you need Office for windows, run it in parallels or bootcamp (both of which will perform just about the same but parallels keeps you from having to reboot to do it, which is nice).
 
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