Office 2004 AND 2008 - Trial Version --Any potential issues ?

M

Michelle

I've been using Office 2004 for a long time. It's always done what
I've needed and there was never any pressing need to update to 2008.
However, since upgrading to Snow Leopard, iCal is reading all of
Entourage's events as 5 hours ahead of schedule. After 3 weeks of
back-and-forth support from both Apple AND Microsoft and many
different tries at a solution, my latest Apple Support person says
that there will NEVER be a solution to this problem due to new
components/settings in iCal and the ONLY SOLUTION is to update to
Office 2008.

In case you're interested in the full story, here are at least 3 Apple
Discussion Forum threads with people having the same issue with Office
2004:

<a href="http://discussions.apple.com/messageview.jspa?
messageID=10280997&stqc=true">Cal times ahead 5 hours from Entourage</
a>
<a href="http://discussions.apple.com/messageview.jspa?
messageID=10281136&stqc=true">Entourage Sync Trouble</a>
<a href="http://discussions.apple.com/messageview.jspa?
messageID=10281138&stqc=true">iCal-Entourage sync problem with time
zones</a>

In any case, I'll probably be downloading the Trial Version of MS
Office 2008 Home & Student Edition to use until I break down and buy
it through Amazon. I seem to recall discussions when 2008 launched
about running 2004 & 2008 side-by-side with some exceptions.

What were these exceptions? What do I need to be cautious about when
running 2004 & 2008? Was Entourage the sticky-point? If I try 2008,
is there any going back or am I stuck forever?

Any suggestions for me as I prepare to do this? I am thinking of
using the trial version for a short period of time. This would allow
me to familiarize myself with the product and then order through
Amazon.

I'm really needing to do something soon--I've had MobileMe syncing
turned off since the end of August while trying to work through the
Time Zone issue. It didn't do me much good to sync when everything
showed up on my iPhone as 5 hours ahead.

Any advice or suggestions would be helpful. Thanks.

By the way, I have a 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Macbook with 4 GB
memory--running Snow Leopard 10.6.1. I don't need Exchange--Just need
to sync my Entourage calendar (Yahoo Mail & MobileMe mail account) and
contacts.
 
M

Michelle

D

Diane Ross

In any case, I'll probably be downloading the Trial Version of MS
Office 2008 Home & Student Edition to use until I break down and buy
it through Amazon. I seem to recall discussions when 2008 launched
about running 2004 & 2008 side-by-side with some exceptions.
Click to expand...

You can't imagine all the problems users have had that downloaded the trial
then purchased Office.

Other users are using Office 2004 with Snow Leopard without the time date
issues.

1) I suggest you test in a new User to see if the problems go away. If they
exist in the new User, run the Snow Leopard installer again. It will run
like a combo without erasing data. You'll have to update again to 10.6.1.

Go to System Preferences --> Create a New User in Accounts. Switch to the
New User by logging out/in or use Fast User Switching. Test Office there.

2) Try a Safe boot, holding the Shift key down at Startup sound. When you
get to the log in screen, restart normally.

I appreciate that you posted all those links, but I just don't have the time
right now to check them out.
 
M

Michelle

Thanks for reading Diane-

I've already tried both a new User and rerunning the Snow Leopard
installer. By the way, there's no need to update again to 10.6.1.
According to Apple, that's a new feature in Snow Leopard--reinstalling
keeps those point-updates intact.

Even tried a new Entourage identity.

Tried the Safe Boot also.

No luck with any of these or the 1/2 dozen other things that I've
tried.

So running the 2008 Trial, then uninstalling later and doing a full-
install of the purchased is causing issues with others?
 
D

Diane Ross

I've already tried both a new User and rerunning the Snow Leopard
installer. By the way, there's no need to update again to 10.6.1.
According to Apple, that's a new feature in Snow Leopard--reinstalling
keeps those point-updates intact.
Click to expand...

Check under About this Mac under the Apple in the Menu bar. If it's 10.6,
then you need to update to 10.6.1
Even tried a new Entourage identity.

Tried the Safe Boot also.

No luck with any of these or the 1/2 dozen other things that I've
tried.

So running the 2008 Trial, then uninstalling later and doing a full-
install of the purchased is causing issues with others?
Click to expand...

Yes, lots of problems when they do not remove the trial first.

There are two ³things² you want to remove before installing the retail over
the trial:

1) The full Microsoft Office 2008 folder and

2) the Microsoft Office Settings 2008.plist in
~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/Office 2008

I suggest you start over by removing these files and doing a re-install.

Steps to re-install Office

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/install/reinstall_steps.html>
 
M

Michelle

I DO have 10.6.1. As I mentioned, Apple is touting this as a new
feature of Snow Leopard. Having to reinstall the OS does not require
that you have to reinstall those point updates. They're retained.
Here's the snippet from ArsTechnica : "ArsTechnica posted:
.. . .If you ever need to reinstall Snow Leopard, it will automatically
archive and install. It won't undo any system upgrades—if you've
updated to 10.6.1, for instance, the installer will leave any updated
files alone, so you won't have to reapply those updates."

At this point, there's no need for me to delete trial to reinstall
2008 because I havent' even installed the trial yet. I was asking my
questions FIRST, so that I would know what to watch for when I did.
But if I do get brave enough to try the trial, I'll remember your
advice when uninstalling to install the full purchased version.
 
D

Diane Ross

Here's the snippet from ArsTechnica : "ArsTechnica posted:
. . .If you ever need to reinstall Snow Leopard, it will automatically

archive and install. It won't undo any system upgrades‹if you've
updated to 10.6.1, for instance, the installer will leave any updated
files alone, so you won't have to reapply those updates."
Click to expand...

I could swear that I had to install 10.6.1 when I did a reinstall of Snow
Leopard but it's possible I just assumed I did and ran the updater. I'll
watch for that if I have to do it again.

BTW, the ArsTechnica Snow Leopard review is really good. It's so long it's
easy to overlook some of the tips they provide. In case anyone is
interested, here's the link:

<http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2009/08/mac-os-x-10-6.ars>

<http://tinyurl.com/mm5fn4>
 

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