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Nov. 19 could mark one of the major milestones in the young life of OS X, Apple's new operating system. That's because it's the day when Microsoft is scheduled to officially release the OS X version of its Office suite of applications, called Office X.
No matter what you think of Microsoft or Office, the two are very important to the Mac. Microsoft remains the single largest Mac software developer, and Office is even more dominant on the Mac than on the PC -- Excel and Word are, respectively, the No. 1 spreadsheet and word-processing software among Mac users.
In short, OS X would be dead in the water if Microsoft declined, however graciously, to upgrade its software for Apple's new operating system. To its credit, Microsoft was among the first big developers to announce unequivocal support for OS X. That ringing endorsement surely persuaded developers big and small that OS X was for real.
CARBON COPY. Voicing support for OS X was a no-brainer for Microsoft. It has always been a big fan and supporter of Mac technology. The company's current Mac team continually adds innovations to the Mac version of Office not found in the Windows counterpart. And just look at how many Mac improvements have been, shall we say, "adopted" by Windows.
Converting Office to OS X hasn't been easy. First off, Microsoft's Mac programmers had to decide whether to go Cocoa or Carbon. That is, would they rewrite Office's millions of lines of code in the native language of OS X, called Cocoa, or choose Carbon, a transitional technology that lets developers adopt current programs without a total overhaul? Not surprisingly, Microsoft, like many other big-time developers, chose a Carbon adaptation.
The conversion of Office has been eagerly awaited. Millions of Mac users depend on Word, Excel, and PowerPoint to run their businesses or to do their jobs. Many of them will decide whether to switch to Apple's new operating system based on how they feel about Microsoft's OS X version of Office.
It won't be an easy decision. Microsoft is asking $450 for first-time users and $270 to upgrade. That's high for any mass-market software, especially one that has been out for years and offers no breakthrough functionality. Office X's price is especially steep when you consider that most Mac Office users are individuals or small businesses. My wallet gently weeps for them.
ALL ICING? Maybe Office X is that good. I, for one, can't say for sure yet. That's because I've only just begun to test it. What I've seen so far is that Microsoft has done a good job of making Office look and function like OS X software. It incorporates the aqua blue, see-through design, complete with throbbing buttons and dialogue boxes that slide down like sheets from under the main title bar of every document.
I'll give you a full report in a few weeks. But so far, I haven't found any outstanding new functionality. And many of the old headaches remain. Correctly spelled words are routinely tagged as misspelled, and Word won't auto-capitalize a sentence that begins with a quote mark.
It strikes me that Microsoft is still focusing on the icing and not the cake in this new version of Office. Excel now lets you design 3D charts, but performance of all the applications remains stubbornly sluggish. Maybe it's the icing that sells the cake, at least when it comes to software. I don't know. But I do want Word and PowerPoint to excel in performance if I'm going to pay $450 to get them.
ANY UPGRADE ADVANTAGE? Ironically, you don't need Office X to use Word et al with Apple's newest operating system. I've found that Office 2001 works beautifully in OS X. It runs in what's called OS X's Classic shell, an application within the operating system designed to handle current software. Office 2001 runs a tad more sluggishly perhaps, but it's rock solid in OS X. And, from what I can tell, there isn't much functional difference between the 2001 and Office X versions.
I know I've spoiled Microsoft's best-laid marketing plans here, and I'm sure to hear about it. But my honest advice to Office devotees is to wait. I'll bet my vintage copy of Office 5 that the price of the latest version will not only come down in the months ahead but also that some exciting new features will be added.
Haddad, Atlanta-based correspondent for BusinessWeek, is a longtime Apple Computer buff. Follow his weekly Byte of the Apple column, only on BW Online Edited by Thane Peterson
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