At the core of the Microsoft Office 2008 solution are its integrated and easy-to-use applications, including Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Entourage. These familiar applications deliver various desktop productivity tools to information workers.
The following comparison tables show what improvements have been made over the years in the different Office applications.
 | Features that are found in multiple Office applications |
Feature is included
Feature is not included
Features | Office 2001 | Office v. X | Office 2004 | Office 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Optimized for Mac OS X | ||||
Formatting Palette | ||||
Image editing tools | ||||
Clipboard | ||||
Project Gallery | ||||
Flag for Follow-up | ||||
Save as HTML | ||||
AutoText | ||||
Office Notifications | ||||
Output to Portable Document Format (PDF) | ||||
Project Center | ||||
Microsoft AutoUpdate | ||||
Quick Preview in Print dialog box | ||||
Save as Picture | ||||
Quartz graphics engine | ||||
Contextual Help links | ||||
Full AppleScript support | ||||
Compatibility Reports | ||||
Unicode font and language support | ||||
Long file names | ||||
Error reporting | ||||
Scrapbook | ||||
Security improvements | ||||
Spotlight support | ||||
Object Palette | ||||
Freshly designed templates | ||||
SmartArt Graphics | ||||
New WordArt | ||||
Soft shadows | ||||
Office-wide Reference Tools palette | ||||
Save as PDF | ||||
Improved Help | ||||
Elements Gallery | ||||
Support for Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) |
|
For more information about why VBA was removed from Office 2008, see
Office 2008 Without VBA in the VBA to AppleScript Migration Guide on the Office for Mac
Web site (www.microsoft.com/mac/developers).
| Entourage |
Feature is included
Feature is not included
Features | Office 2001 | Office v. X | Office 2004 | Office 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
E-mail and personal information manager | ||||
Color-coded categories | ||||
Custom views | ||||
Support for Windows Live Hotmail Plus Web-based e-mail service | ||||
Rich e-mail editing | ||||
Junk e-mail filtering | ||||
Improved user interface | ||||
Rich content | ||||
Microsoft Exchange support | ||||
Delegate access | ||||
Global address list (GAL) information | ||||
Public Folder access | ||||
Reading pane view | ||||
Archiving | ||||
Action buttons supported by Microsoft MapPoint | ||||
Sync Services support | ||||
Smart Card improvements | ||||
Delegate management | ||||
Permissions | ||||
Browsable GAL | ||||
Organizational and membership information available in the GAL | ||||
Folder storage quota access | ||||
Password expiration notice | ||||
Multiple calendars and address books | ||||
Managed folders | ||||
Message classification for received messages | ||||
Additional free/busy details (subject/location) | ||||
Out-of-office (OOF) messages | ||||
Kerberos authentication | ||||
Message and contacts flagged as To Do Items synchronized with Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 | ||||
Web services for assigning delegate rights | ||||
Autodiscover service for account setup | ||||
Client certificate-based authentication | ||||
Phishing detection | ||||
Unsafe attachment blocking | ||||
Favorites bar | ||||
Spotlight integration | ||||
My Day | ||||
Reference Tools | ||||
To Do List | ||||
Mini-calendar in all views | ||||
Customizable toolbar | ||||
Accept, Tentative, and Decline from the Calendar | ||||
Meeting Reply, Reply All, and Forward | ||||
Out-of-date invitation detection | ||||
Invitation conflict and adjacent banners | ||||
No response requested | ||||
Collapsible account names in folder view |
Available in Microsoft Office 2004
Service Pack 2 (SP2)
Available for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007
users only
Available in Microsoft Exchange Server 2007
Service Pack 1 (SP1)
Available in Microsoft Office 2008
Service Pack 1 (SP1)
| Word |
Feature is included
Feature is not included
Features | Office 2001 | Office v. X | Office 2004 | Office 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mail Merge Manager (Data Merge Manager) | ||||
Ability to click and type anywhere in document | ||||
Contact toolbar | ||||
Entourage Address Book integration | ||||
Track Changes | ||||
Multi-selection | ||||
Save as HTML | ||||
Notebook layout view | ||||
Reference Tools in Toolbox | ||||
Smart Buttons | ||||
Style improvements | ||||
Navigation pane | ||||
Thumbnail view | ||||
Publishing layout view | ||||
Ligatures in fonts | ||||
Document map | ||||
Document Elements | ||||
Citations and bibliography | ||||
Improved, easy-to-use Mail Merge Manager |
| Excel |
Feature is included
Feature is not included
Features | Office 2001 | Office v. X | Office 2004 | Office 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
List Manager | ||||
FileMaker Pro Import Wizard | ||||
Transparent charts | ||||
Euro currency support | ||||
Preference improvements | ||||
Page layout | ||||
Smart buttons | ||||
Function ScreenTips | ||||
Rangefinder improvements | ||||
Ledger Sheets | ||||
Formula Builder | ||||
More than a million rows and 16,000 columns | ||||
Improved charting | ||||
Formula AutoComplete |
| PowerPoint |
Feature is included
Feature is not included
Features | Office 2001 | Office v. X | Office 2004 | Office 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Tri-pane view | ||||
PowerPoint movies | ||||
Compatibility with PowerPoint for Windows | ||||
Slide animations | ||||
PowerPoint Packages | ||||
Presenter tools | ||||
New design templates | ||||
Font formatting improvements | ||||
Send to iPhoto (for viewing in iPod) | ||||
Office Themes | ||||
SmartArt Graphics | ||||
Thumbnail view | ||||
Custom layouts | ||||
Apple Remote Control-enabled | ||||
Dynamic guides | ||||
Animation pane | ||||
Reference Tools | ||||
Rich graphics (reflection, soft shadows, 3-D) | ||||
Table styles | ||||
Improved WordArt | ||||
Object Palette with iPhoto integration | ||||
Support for Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003 for Windows comments | ||||
Integrated charting | ||||
Microsoft Word-like text |
