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Microsoft Word 2011 is Worth the Journey ..................... 1

In-Depth Review. ....................................................... 1
Microsoft Word 14, Office 2011 (Microsoft) .................... 2
Installation ................................................................ 2
Warning: Quit Safari ................................................... 3
Whats New ............................................................... 3
Document Gallery ....................................................... 4
The OmiGod Ribbon .................................................... 5
Words New Features .................................................. 5
The Big Questions ...................................................... 6
Compatibility ............................................................. 6
Documentation .......................................................... 7
Word 2011 Help ......................................................... 7
Pricing ...................................................................... 9
Microsoft Word 2011 is Worth the Journey
In-Depth Review.
JOHN MARTELLARO


There has never been a Macintosh program that has been so loved, so reviled, so
controversial, so often purchased, so written about, and so often taken as a signpost
for the health and well being of the Microsoft Macintosh Business Unit as MS
Word. A program of this scope, almost like a public figure, has responsibilities,
flaws, advocates and detractors. The key to understanding and using Microsoft
Word version 14 as part of the Microsoft Office 2011 suite is to leave the attitude
behind and try to understand what the users want and what Microsoft tries to
deliver.
Another way to approach MS Word is to appreciate what Microsoft has done even as we
recognize that such a monster program will have flaws. For example, we in the
Macintosh community have come to recognize certain UI elements, certain Core
Graphics technologies, certain ways of doing things as either hip or backwards. For a
long time, the MacBU went its own way, and while modern Mac OS X apps leaped into
the future, embracing all that Apple advocated, Word 2008 seemed, at times,
antediluvian. Worse, the Macintosh version always seemed a little less capable, a little
less business oriented than its corresponding app on the Windows side.
Word 2011 (v.14) changes all that. First, even though its fundamentally a 32-bit Carbon
app, it has both the look and feel of its Windows counterpart while simultaneously
making dramatic steps to be more Mac enabled.
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Figure 1: See figure 2 on page 2
Microsoft Word 14, Office 2011 (Microsoft)
Microsofts Jake Hoelter with the Mac BU explained: In Office 2011, weve made
investments in better compatibility between Office for Mac and Windows Office, which
is the largest request we receive from customers. Our work to increase compatibility
means we havent completed the transition of moving the entire user interface over to
Cocoa yet. And because Apples frameworks require us to complete the move to Cocoa
before we can build a 64-bit version, Office 2011 will be 32-bit only. However, the new
Outlook program in the MS Office 2011 suite is written in Cocoa.
All this, of course, is a grand scheme. Some customers wont like the new UI, but whats
important is that Microsoft has recognized that the Mac is moving into the enterprise.
Therefore, Word on the Mac must cater to the needs of enterprise users. This specific
design goal supersedes the traditional notion, in our community, that a Word processor
should be ultimately simple, elegant and hyper-intuitive, like Nisus Writer. In my own
case, when I have a major writing task to tackle, its likely going to be with Nisus Writer
Pro. However, for those who dont want to risk conversion issues with a publisher, those
who are making a living in the workplace with MS Word, and those who need the
ultimate in scope and power, MS Word is the standard. Again, once we understand that,
were ready to dig in.
As an aside, I normally compose my articles in BBEdit and then copy and paste into our
publishing engine. In this case, however, I wrote the entire review in Word 14 itself.
Installation
The first thing I noticed is that Microsoft, like Apple, is getting away from glitzy, retro-
cartoonish looks and more down to business. The installer has a low key, professional
look.

Figure 2
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Installation
During the install, youll be asked to quit Safari if its running. At first, I suspected, the
installer is adding Sliverlight to /Library/Internet Plug-ins. (Silverlight is Microsofts
answer to Adobe Flash and is required, for example, to watch streamed Netflix movies
on a Mac.) UPDATE: Microsoft later passed on to me that Silverlight is not installed,
but Im still waiting to hear from them why this particular warning occurs.

Figure 3
Warning: Quit Safari
The first thing youll see when you launch Word is a nicely laid out Whats New page
that looks like something Apple would do. Ill go so far as to guess that Microsoft has
paid close attention to how Apple approaches the customer with iLife and iWork. That
Whats New page can be brought up at any time from Words Help menu.

Figure 4
Whats New
Evidence of Apples influence appears right away in an improved Document Gallery
that allows the user to select from several different kinds of templates, focused just on
Word, and resizable with a slider. Mac Word 2008 had a glimmer of this, called the
Project Gallery, but it had neither the clarity of purpose nor clarity of presentation this
new one has. In addition, the old Project Gallery had a less than ideal combination of
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tabs, popup, and a source list, so items werent as discoverable. I turned the old one off
right away, but I think Ill leave the new one enabled. In general, clarity of purpose and
discoverability is a design theme that permeates Word 2011.
Figure 5
Document Gallery
In terms of launch speed, Word 14 has made great strides. I remember Word 6 back in
1994 that, in a disastrous attempt to have a common code base with the Windows
version, required all of eternity to launch on my Quadra 700 and was met with howls
and scorn by the Macintosh community. (That was the fastest Mac money could buy at
the time.) Word 14 for the Mac launches the first time in a few seconds. The second time
you load the same document, it launches in under two seconds, and I have a 2.4 GHz
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(C2D) MacBook Pro, which isnt all that fast by modern standards. No matter how you
look at it, Microsoft deserves props here.

The OmiGod Ribbon
The most significant and controversial change to Word in MS Office 2011 for the Mac is
the Ribbon. While Microsoft may have been coerced (or seduced) into simplifying Word
for the Mac in the past, making no one very happy, the company has to be given credit
for having the courage to introduce the Ribbon. In fact, tabs of ribbons. That is, select
Home, Layout, Document Elements, etc. to roll in a different ribbon. Its a nice way to
manage things in a hierarchy.

Figure 6
The Ribbon managed with tabs
Its absolutely not for everyone, but the design is a concession to the idea that pull down
menus are so yesteryear when it comes to editing a document. Modern users want to
make changes right now, this instant, not go fishing around the main menu for just the
right menu item. For example, if you have a list of names, and you want to sort it right
now, just select the text and click the sort button, (highlighted in red by the author).
Which I just did here in Word.

Figure 7
Sort Button in the Ribbon
If youre only an occasional creator of large, complex documents, youll probably hate
the visual clutter. If you live in Word every day, and after all thats the target audience, I
think youll be very pleased. As for me, Im growing to like it more and more.
Words New Features
Heres an overview of the most significant new features in Word 14.
1. The Ribbon
2. A New Word Document Gallery (formerly Project Gallery)
3. A full screen view like that found in some dedicated novel and screenplay
writing programs like Scrivener and Storyist, for example
4. Dynamic Reordering, 3-D visualization of all layers in your
5. Publishing Layout view document. This lets you see and rearrange ordering for
all of the objects on the page by simply dragging
6. Picture compression on save for easier sharing of documents
7. Equation Editor
8. Information Rights Management helps to better set permissions for individuals
or groups
9. At-a-glance Document Compare
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10.
Figure 8
The equation editor (new)
11. Other features carried over from Word 2008 have been improved. Heres a
sampling of the notable ones.
12. Media Browser includes access to iPhoto library and iTunes playlists
13. Sidebar (formerly the navigation Panel) helps with large document management
14. Publishing Layout View adds, for example, dynamic layout guides. Very cool
15. Picture Editing, including a remove background tool and filters
16. Charts adds additional tools
17. Text effects are applied directly so they can be edited and spellchecked.
18. Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is back
The Big Questions
A full description and analysis of the new and improved features of Word 2011 (v. 14)
would easily run 10,000 words. (The Microsoft Reviewers Guide runs 84 pages.) Youll
get all the details and more in the books that support this new version, but the supplied
documentation is darn good. (See below.) For the purposes of this review, I want to
focus on two things:
1. Is it worth upgrading? As is often the case, new features are added to an application
just to generate a buzz and lure customers into upgrading. Then they find that the new
features arent so often used, but theyre stuck with an even bigger, more bloated version
of the app. I didnt get that feeling with Word 2011. The new features are well thought
out and worthy additions, especially the Ribbon, the Full Screen View, and (in my
opinion) the Equation Editor. Word 2008 was just a warm up while Office 2011 is, well,
essential.
2. Whats the consensus on the new design and features? Word 2011 is more Mac-
like than ever, despite its commonality in appearance with the Windows version. Many
of the new page layout, composition and editing features seem to be inspired by Apples
Pages app. Little things, the UI elements reveal that Microsoft skillfully exercised many
more of the Macintosh APIs at its disposal. For example, the Ribbon interface was
written in Cocoa.
For the first time since Word 5.1, I had fun. I think thats because in experimenting with
all the functions, like the media browser interface to iPhoto, I found that things worked
as expected. In the past, prior to Word 2008, youd try something perfectly obvious,
like selecting a picture and hitting return, expecting the insertion point to appear below
and to the left of the image. In the dark days of Office for the Mac, that didnt happen,
and youd get frustrated. (Also, Ive learned the hard way to immediately turn off most
of the auto-complete functions in order to avoid perplexing, unauthorized auto changes
to my text.) The approach by Microsoft was that you, as a professional were expected to
learn these UI nuances and instill them through daily use. Lately, it seems to me,
Microsoft has come around to the idea that things should just work as expected in a
modern UI kind of way. In Word 2011, I have yet to feel surprised or frustrated.
If that changes, Ill have plenty to say about it.
Compatibility
Microsoft says that MS Word 2011 can open all versions of Word documents since
Word 5.1. If you elect to save your documents in the new .docx format, then realize you
need to share them with users of an older version, you can either use a converter
program, the Open XML format converter, or resave in the Save As dialog box in
an older format.
I created an equation in a 2011 document, saved as .doc, and loaded it in Word 2008. It
came through as an image and looked fine.
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Oddly, given this compatibility, the installer leaves the old version of MS Office on the
Mac. I have asked Microsoft about that.
Heres some helpful commentary on the .doc/.docx situation.
Documentation
You get everything but a printed manual, and thats customary. The Help menu, in
addition to a thorough table of contents, points to a wealth of resources, for
example, whats new. Theres also a link to resources for getting started. You wont
feel that Microsoft has skimped on providing resources to you.

Figure 9
Word 2011 Help
Summary
This is a major, major application with a boatload of features. I will take any mortal
months to discover its nuances. Accordingly, my provisional rating is Solid plus. The
question here is, do you want to bother? My answer is yes. From the install to the
launch speed to the new features, to the increasing Mac focus, Microsoft has shown that
it understands that the Mac is insanely popular, on the rise in business, and needs a
flagship, business standard word processor that is feature complete, easy to learn and fun
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to use. (I never thought I would say that.) The Ribbon helps there by making functions
more discoverable. The full screen mode and equation editor, I think, will be very
welcome to book writers and scientists.
That all said, despite the Full Screen View, if I were writing a novel, Id still use a more
focused app like Storyist.
Time will tell, as the app gets into widespread use, if there are gotchas and bugs. I
predict some will be major and lead to the usual condemnation of Word on the Mac.
History has proven that we get through those somehow. But if you never take
the journey, youll never gain the rewards.
I think Word 2011 is worth the journey.
System Requirements

Figure 10
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System Requirements
Pricing
Microsoft Office for Mac 2011, Home and Student edition is priced at US$149.99. It
comes with Word, Excel and PowerPoint and 90 days of technical support. Microsoft
Office for Mac 2011, Home and Business edition is priced at US$279.99. It adds
Outlook, and provides technical support for a year.
Upgrade

If you purchased Office 2008, either version, between August 1, 2010 and November 30, 2010, you are eligible to download the corresponding version for free.

Figure 11


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INDEX:
Is it worth upgrading?, 6
Sidebar, 6
Text effects, 6