So I have had the new Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 since it came out in October and I do have to say that I think Microsoft really made some big strides with their latest offering for the companies flagship suite on Mac. I will say this, though, to start; I’m not one of those guys that goes around bashing Microsoft or Apple. I prefer Apple’s computers personally, but I don’t think Microsoft is horrible either. I am also not as “wowed” by Microsoft products typically but Office for Mac does score high in my book.

One thing I truly like is that Microsoft rebuilt the suite for Mac using Cocoa, the native Mac language. Everything just runs faster. The programs feel lighter, more responsive, and overall they are more efficient and easier to use. But on top of that, all while making the suite work better for Mac, they did something else that made it even better. The suite on Mac now looks and operates like the suite does in the PC world. The “ribbon” with all the options appears nearly identical across both platforms within the suite’s application. Now, it’s not that hard to work on a document on either the PC or Mac version - whereas before, the differences between the two would have most people lost if they were used to working with one and then had to switch to another.

And while most people will point to Outlook for Mac being the greatest change (its predecessor was the clunky Entourage), I would actually point to Power Point. Before, I was Keynote all the way. It seemed that Power Point couldn’t get anywhere close to the ease of use, animation power, and overall look and feel of Keynote presentations. But now, the new Power Point is a game changer in my opinion. The animations are not only improved, the range and shear beauty of templates, alone, should get a fair look from anyone who needs to make great looking presentations and sales pitches. It has also become easier to insert content and reorder slides.

For me, Office for Mac has gone from something I use to like to dabble with to a suite of programs that I use everyday.

Tags: Microsoft, Office for Mac 2011, Word, Power Point, Excel, Outlook