Training in Office for Mac 2008

[Whidbey1]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel

I want to learn how to better use word for mac 2008. The classes taught by the local community college are for word 2007. Are the word 2007 and word for mac 2008 programs/interfaces close enough I that can apply the material taught in the windows based classes to word for mac 2008?

 

[Bob Greenblatt]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel

I want to learn how to better use word for mac 2008. The classes taught by the
local community college are for word 2007. Are the word 2007 and word for mac
2008 programs/interfaces close enough I that can apply the material taught in
the windows based classes to word for mac 2008?

In my opinion, yes.

 

[CyberTaz]

My opinion differs a bit from Bob G's

I train on all flavors of Office so I'm familiar with many of the aspects
that cause some degree of confusion. It depends a great deal on whether the
class & instructor focuses more on the foundations of word processing as
opposed to the features of the program. (I've also found that often the
"instructors" who teach such classes truly have no more idea of how to use
the program properly than do their students .)

Without judging [as in "better" or "worse"] Word 2007 does many things
differently than does *any* other version & offers quite a few features that
are less fully implemented or aren't included in the Mac version. Even many
of the tools & capabilities that have existed for years are revamped in the
2007 version. For those reasons alone I wouldn't be surprised if a course
requires assignments you won't be able to complete with the Mac version.

IMHO, you might do better to find a school or private training company that
offers classes on the Office 2003 version or possibly on the Mac version,
itself. There is also plenty of material available from the Microsoft & Word
Mac MVP web sites as well as the Help & Tutorials that likely would serve
you better. Best of all, this information is free Have a look at:

http://word.mvps.org/Mac/WordMacHome.html

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/help.mspx

Most of the information on the main Word MVP site also applies to the Mac
versions & has also been updated for Word 2007:

http://word.mvps.org/index.html

And don't forget to download the magnificent piece of Word usage
documentation authored by Clive Huggan:

http://word.mvps.org/Mac/Bend/BendWordToYourWill.html

I sincerely believe you'll benefit far more from the shared experience of
seasoned professionals than you possibly could from any classroom
instruction -- I know I have

Good Luck |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Rob Schneider]

Just a hunch, but I suspect the teaching about Word in this class will
emphasis the "ribbon" in 2007. The "ribbon" is a great way to expose
functionality of Word and hence it's a great way to teach Word. I
remain unconvinced that it's a great way to understand and use Word.

If you want a course, and since the course is so convenient, then why
not. If you have a MacBook laptop, take it to the class and as the
instructor does something for the class, you independently look for same
on Word 2008. You'll probably learn a lot and learning how Word 2008
and Word 2007 are different while at the same time being alike will be
valuable knowledge.

I prefer Word 2008 as it's simpler than 2007. Word 2008 hearkens back
to the days of Word for Windows 2.0c from 1993 which I still contend was
the best version ever.

--rms

www.rmschneider.com