Previous versions simply required a license key, but Office 2011 now has to validate itself with Microsoft's servers during installation before it will work so you therefore can't use the same licence non-concurrently on a desktop and a laptop as you could with previous versions. The Visual Basic for Applications scripting language for creating macros has returned - an especially important feature for Excel power users.Ī less noticeable and potentially less welcome change is the introduction of product activation to Office. It is designed to make it easier for users to discover and use the wealth of available features in each program. Among them is the Ribbon interface, which will be familiar to Office 20 Office for Windows users. There are plenty of changes affecting the entire suite though. The biggest change in this version of Office is the replacement of the previous email program, Entourage, with a brand-new Mac version of Outlook. This makes the latest 2011 version of Office especially important.Įach of the Office programs is full of features and foibles, so we've dedicated individual reviews to each one: Word 2011 Excel 2011 PowerPoint 2011 Outlook 2011
Despite the increasing number of competitors, such as Apple's iWork or the free OpenOffice, without Microsoft Office, the Mac would arguably not be viable as a business computer. Microsoft Office is arguably one of the most important suite of programs available for the Mac.
