Mossberg reviews, recommends Office for Mac 2011 - Apple Insider

Mossberg reviews, recommends Office for Mac 2011

By Josh Ong

Published: 10:30 PM EST

After reviewing Microsoft's upcoming Office for Mac 2011, which now includes Outlook, Walt Mossberg concluded that it was "by far the best Mac version of the suite" and recommended it to users.

The newest version of Microsoft's office suite is faster and better, although it is missing a few minor features from the Windows version, Mossberg said in his review for the Wall Street Journal. Office for Mac 2011 is due out Oct. 26.

One of the main draws of Office for Mac 2011 is the addition of Outlook, the email, calendar and contacts program popular with business users. Outlook, which has been built as a Cocoa application from the ground up, will replace Entourage, a Mac-specific email client bundled with previous versions of Office for Mac. Office for Mac 2011 will allow users to import Outlook data files, but it is currently unable to export its data to Windows.

Office for Mac 2011 also adds the ribbon interface that was added to Windows Office several years ago. However, unlike the Windows version, the ribbons can be disabled in favor of the more familiar menu and toolbars, which have been retained in the Mac version.

Though Office for Mac 2011 is missing several features from its Windows counterpart, it has also gained some Mac-only features. According to Mossberg, the "Dynamic Re-order" feature and a new Full Screen view with minimal distractions are features specific to the Mac. Pivot charts in Excel, full video editing in PowerPoint, and a "backstage" feature are missing from the Mac version.

Mossberg conducted several compatibility and fidelity tests between the Windows and Mac versions of Office with generally favorable results, especially with documents created in the most recent Windows version, Office 2010. Cross-compatibility between Windows and Mac versions of Office has been an issue in the past.

Office Mac 2011 is currently available for pre-order from Amazon.com, which is offering release-date delivery. The Home and Student edition is $110 while the Home and Business edition is priced at $175.

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Branson's Virgin Galactic Completes First Solo Space Flight - PC Magazine

Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic on Sunday completed its first manned free flight of a spaceship intended to eventually take customers on commercial space flights.

SpaceShipTwo, also known as the VSS Enterprise, was piloted by Pete Siebold and Mike Alsbury. Virgin Galactic was testing whether the spaceship could successfully release from its mothership and glide back to Earth. The ship did indeed release at 45,000 feet and land safely at Mojave Air and Space Port in California.

The mothership, named the WhiteKnightTwo, had flown 40 times prior to Sunday's free flight, including four trips during which the VSS Enterprise was attached. On July 15, Virgin Galactic flew for the first time with a crew on board.

"The VSS Enterprise was a real joy to fly, especially when one considers the fact that the vehicle has been designed not only to be a Mach 3.5 spaceship capable of going into space but also one of the worlds highest altitude gliders," Siebold said in a statement.

Virgin Galactic space flights are the brainchild of Branson, who heads up the Virgin empire.

"This was one of the most exciting days in the whole history of Virgin," Branson said in a statement. "For the first time since we seriously began the project in 2004, I watched the world's first manned commercial spaceship landing on the runway at Mojave Air and Space Port and it was a great moment. Now, the sky is no longer the limit and we will begin the process of pushing beyond to the final frontier of space itself over the next year."

A seat on Branson's spaceship will cost $200,000 per person, with refundable deposits starting at $20,000. There is interest, however. Virgin Galactic has managed to sell 700 seats thus far.

In September, Boeing announced that it is partnering with Virginia-based Space Adventures to sell commercial space flights. The CST-100 spacecraft can fit seven people, and is expected to be operational by 2015.

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Apple Stock Watch: AAPL Hits Third Record Close In a Row - The Mac Observer

Shares in Apple Inc. closed for a record high for the third trading day in a row, ending the day at US$298.54, up $3.18 (+1.08%), on light volume of 19.9 million shares trading hands.

The stock hit a new intraday high, as well, briefly peaking at $299.50 per share, just shy of the $300 mark. In addition to anticipation for Apple’s upcoming quarterly financial announcement on Monday, October 18th, the company has been getting a steady stream of positive news, such as the iPad being proclaimed the best-selling gadget ever.

Yahoo! Finance AAPL Chart

In addition, Ben Reitzes of Barclay’s Capital bumped his target price for AAPL to $385 per share, up from $340, calling Apple a growth play. He maintained his “Buy” rating on the stock.

In a research note to clients obtained by The Mac Observer, Mr. Reitzes said, “Even at this market cap, we continue to believe Apple is the best growth play in the IT hardware segment — with prospects for significant double-digit organic revenue growth for several more years.”

*In the interest of full disclosure, the author holds a small share in AAPL stock that was not an influence in the creation of this article.  

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