Ithaca College

Information Technology Services (ITS) is pleased to announce that Microsoft Office 2008 is now available as a free upgrade for installation on college-owned Macintosh computers.

Office 2008 is a major new release with a different interface and many new features including:

• The option to save files in .pdf format
• The Toolbox, a floating panel which provides convenient access to many formatting and design tools
• The Elements Gallery, which allows fast, one-click access to many document elements

An important change in Office 2008 is that it no longer supports VBA macros. Users who rely on VBA macros, such as in Excel spreadsheets, should carefully read the FAQs about macros in the Known Issues section of the Office 2008 support page for more information.

Faculty and staff can now install the new version themselves. Users at IC remote campuses will be contacted directly with upgrade information. Because of the significant changes and possible compatibility issues, departments may also want to consider a coordinated effort to have all users upgrade at the same time. ITS has verified Office 2008 compatibility with the mainstream software used on campus, but for other specialty applications that interact with Microsoft Office in some way, users should check with the manufacturer of the application to confirm its compatibility with the new version.

Faculty should be aware that Office 2008 will be installed in labs and eClassrooms during Summer 2009. Faculty should therefore plan to upgrade before the fall semester to allow time to become comfortable with the new interface and features.

Office 2008 is substantially different from the current version. Here are some resources to help new users understand what to expect with the new version:

• Come to an Office 2008 overview workshop (students welcome to attend!)
• Review the major new features in our What's New guide (pdf)
• Visit the Mactopia web site for online documentation, tutorials, forums and more

Users who are not ready to upgrade yet will have until August 31, 2009 to do so. After that date, Office 2004 will no longer be supported or installed by ITS, except for cases where the user is unable to upgrade due to the VBA macro issue. Those who wait should install the Converter in the interim. The new version of Office uses different file formats, which will likely be encountered as more people move to Office 2008, and the converter may be needed to work with those files.

Please visit our Microsoft Office 2008 Support page for detailed upgrade information and a complete list of Office 2008 FAQs.

ITS Helpdesk
helpdesk@ithaca.edu
4-3282