Office 2011 or stick with Office 365?

[mmered]

I recently moved from an old Dell Windows machine running Word, Excel, etc (and performance was great) to a new Mac with Office 365 but Excel is really terribly slow.
From reviewing various forums it seems that Office 365 seems to have quite a few performance problems so I am seriously contemplating stopping my Office 365 subscription and installing Office 2011 whilst I can still get hold of a copy.
Does anyone have any experience of running Office 2011 on Mac (with Yosemite)? What's the performance like?
Or is it worth sweating it out and hoping Office 265 improves?

 

[vexorg]

That must be bad, I find excel 2011 painfully slow at opening files compared to the PC.

 

[Riwam]

I recently moved from an old Dell Windows machine running Word, Excel, etc (and performance was great) to a new Mac with Office 365 but Excel is really terribly slow.
From reviewing various forums it seems that Office 365 seems to have quite a few performance problems so I am seriously contemplating stopping my Office 365 subscription and installing Office 2011 whilst I can still get hold of a copy.
Does anyone have any experience of running Office 2011 on Mac (with Yosemite)? What's the performance like?
Or is it worth sweating it out and hoping Office 265 improves?

*******
I have not used much Excel but alltogether found Windows 2011 for my needs running without any problem in my Mac both under Mavericks and Yosemite.
No reason ever to complain, but as already said I am not a great user of Excel.
Ed

 

[flowrider]

I'm still using MS Office 2011 with El Cap on both my cMP and my MBA. Latest version is 14.5.9. No issues here. Excel is not slow for me:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/office-2011-working-on-os-x-10-11.1902392/

Lou

 

[Queen6]

Running 10.10.5 on multiple Mac`s have no problems with Office 2011, including large Excel files that perform complex analysis. I have considered upgrading to Office 2016 for Outlook as that will rectify the OS X 10.11 tragic Mail issues. I will likely consider this on the next hardware upgrade, when compelled to run 10.11

I would also want to be absolutely certain that Excel 2016 is equal or greater than Excel 2011, as loss of functionality may be an issue.

Q-6

 

[vexorg]

Outlook is a joke unless you have an exchange server. Standard IMAP does not work in 2011, moving messages only pretends to move them, still in the server inbox and outlooks says they are in a different folder. Many other problems too that make it useless, like the calendar sync.

 

[Queen6]

Outlook is a joke unless you have an exchange server. Standard IMAP does not work in 2011, moving messages only pretends to move them, still in the server inbox and outlooks says they are in a different folder. Many other problems too that make it useless, like the calendar sync.

Never used Outlook 2011, as Apple`s Mail always worked for me across multiple accounts including Exchange, until 10.11 broke everything. Have heard good on outlook 2016, equally not sure that I really want to upgrade due to another flawed application. Whole idea of OS X & Mac`s is the are less hassle...

Q-6

 

[Riwam]

I recently moved from an old Dell Windows machine running Word, Excel, etc (and performance was great) to a new Mac with Office 365 but Excel is really terribly slow.
From reviewing various forums it seems that Office 365 seems to have quite a few performance problems so I am seriously contemplating stopping my Office 365 subscription and installing Office 2011 whilst I can still get hold of a copy.
Does anyone have any experience of running Office 2011 on Mac (with Yosemite)? What's the performance like?
Or is it worth sweating it out and hoping Office 265 improves?

*******
Maybe it's just my opinion but I deeply dislike "subscriptions"!
I believe one should be able to buy any software (or any other thing) and own it for good.
Subscriptions mean repeatedly paying time after time for what one already made payments.
In some cases (well known antivirus in Windows but also some trial applications in mac) users report (see them in different posts in this forum, for instance regarding Tuxera NTFS drivers for mac offered as a "trial") great difficulty or even lack of possibility to get entirely rid of it if decided not to go on paying.
A legal ransom ware!

My late father used to say about buying in monthly partial payments that he only bought something if he had the money for it.
If not, he waited until possible but refused to "have it" under condition that payments should be made month after month.
As we all know if one partial payment cannot be made, the device "bought" is taken away by the seller as written in the sales agreement.

I believe my late father's policy to be very reasonable.
Ed

 

[chrfr]

Maybe it's just my opinion but I deeply dislike "subscriptions"!
I believe one should be able to buy any software (or any other thing) and own it for good.

Luckily for people like you, Microsoft still sells Office as a standalone version, but the pluses or minuses of the subscription model are not the topic of this thread.

 

[chrfr]

I recently moved from an old Dell Windows machine running Word, Excel, etc (and performance was great) to a new Mac with Office 365 but Excel is really terribly slow.

Excel's performance on the Mac has never matched that of Excel on Windows.
You can use Office 2011 with Yosemite via Office 365, so try that before you go buy a copy. Links to all the various Office installers are on this page:
https://www.heidoc.net/joomla/techn.../61-office-2011-for-mac-direct-download-links

To use these installers, you will need to enter a product key or Office 365 login, or use Office as a limited demo; they are not pirated installers.

 

[flowrider]

Maybe it's just my opinion but I deeply dislike "subscriptions"!
I believe one should be able to buy any software (or any other thing) and own it for good./QUOTE]

I'm certainly with you on this issue. It's the MAIN reason I'm sticking with PS CS6. And when it comes to cars I buy, never lease.

Lou

 

[Riwam]

Luckily for people like you, Microsoft still sells Office as a standalone version, but the pluses or minuses of the subscription model are not the topic of this thread.

*****
I agree that this thread is not about subscriptions per se.
However the thread starter is considering to leave such type of applications and move to those you buy once and own them forever.
For that reason I mentioned the subscription subject clearly pointing at the beginning that I am against subscriptions and that is just my point of view.
Both you and the thread starter are free (of course!) to take or not to take the fact that Office 365 components are under a subscription and Office 2011 is not, in consideration when deciding
I do not see what might bother you and even less what could disturb the thread starter.
Ed

 

[Riwam]

I'm certainly with you on this issue. It's the MAIN reason I'm sticking with PS CS6. And when it comes to cars I buy, never lease.

Lou

******
It is this wisdom which prevents that people wanting to have some strongly appealing thing immediately...finish with debts they cannot cover and unfortunately in many cases lose not just a new car...but even their home.
Ed

 

[vexorg]

I'm certainly with you on this issue. It's the MAIN reason I'm sticking with PS CS6. And when it comes to cars I buy, never lease.

Sadly it seems to be the way many are moving, autocad, parallel, and more are heading the same way. It'll be some anti-piracy line, yet we all know that it'll be cracked in no time.

 

[vexorg]

Never used Outlook 2011, as Apple`s Mail always worked for me across multiple accounts including Exchange, until 10.11 broke everything.

For my mac I also only use apple mail. Does it not work in 10.11?

I briefly tried outlook as I have a PC, mac and iPhone all sync'd to the mail. I was planning to have the backups common to both, but gave up and they now have separate backups for older mail.

 

[chrfr]

For my mac I also only use apple mail. Does it not work in 10.11?

I've had no trouble using Apple Mail with an IMAP, Gmail, and Office 365 account in 10.11, on multiple computers.

 

[Queen6]

For my mac I also only use apple mail. Does it not work in 10.11?

I briefly tried outlook as I have a PC, mac and iPhone all sync'd to the mail. I was planning to have the backups common to both, but gave up and they now have separate backups for older mail.

No it`s a mess under 10.11, same hardware and same Mail setup works flawlessly under 10.10.5. Am planning to upgrade my hardware (business) by end Q-2 very latest, so will be locked into 10.11 by Apple, nor do I have any confidence that Apple will resolve all the issues with 10.11 due to the current needlessly short development cycle of OS X.

From a business perspective Windows 10 is looking to be a more stable solution, as Microsoft will not be looking to keep the desktop OS in pace with a mobile platform. Apple is now far too invested in IOS, for OS X to be the priority. Since Yosemite the quality & reliability of OS X has deteriorated significantly with much depending on your hardware & software for a solid update. Stability is paramount, 10.10 & 10.11 add little if anything to productivity focused users.

Q-6

 

[Riwam]

No it`s a mess under 10.11, same hardware and same Mail setup works flawlessly under 10.10.5. Am planning to upgrade my hardware (business) by end Q-2 very latest, so will be locked into 10.11 by Apple, nor do I have any confidence that Apple will resolve all the issues with 10.11 due to the current needlessly short development cycle of OS X.

From a business perspective Windows 10 is looking to be a more stable solution, as Microsoft will not be looking to keep the desktop OS in pace with a mobile platform. Apple is now far too invested in IOS, for OS X to be the priority. Since Yosemite the quality & reliability of OS X has deteriorated significantly with much depending on your hardware & software for a solid update. Stability is paramount, 10.10 & 10.11 add little if anything to productivity focused users.

Q-6

*************
I am not any kind of "businessman" but my experience with both Mavericks and Yosemite was good.
El Capitan gave me some trouble to be honest, but I hope that a few further updates might smooth it.
Windows 10 looks nice and runs fine, true, but thousands of viruses and trojans born every week seem to like Windows 10 even more than its greatest admirer.
To use Windows for sensible data is to live dangerously.
Linux and yes, OSX too...let users sleep quietly or at least more quiet than any Windows.
Ed

 

[Queen6]

*************
I am not any kind of "businessman" but my experience with both Mavericks and Yosemite was good.
El Capitan gave me some trouble to be honest, but I hope that a few further updates might smooth it.
Windows 10 looks nice and runs fine, true, but thousands of viruses and trojans born every week seem to like Windows 10 even more than its greatest admirer.
To use Windows for sensible data is to live dangerously.
Linux and yes, OSX too...let users sleep quietly or at least more quiet than any Windows.
Ed

Seriously? Much of the worlds business systems run Windows without issue, equally the users are not grubbing about on the internet to download cracked software & porn.

It`s fairly obvious that 10.11 was rushed, due to the nature of breaking some systems, yet flawless on others, combined with the clues from the point updates. I also believe that Apple are picking up the pace on the point releases, frankly they are compelled too, as we here on MR are just a small "snapshot" of the Mac community.

Unfortunately Apple is trading usability, readability and stability for eye candy & toys, with the aspiration of entrenching the user ever deeper into Apple`s diverged ecosystem (iPhone, iPad, Mac). I have applied multiple clean installs of 10.11 only to incur multiple issues, that result directly in forcing the need to reload 10.10.5; Mail, Preview, Airdrop, Wi-Fi to name a few. The OS X point updates have either fixed, introduced new issues or done nothing.

I get to a point with 10.11 with the core applications not functioning correctly, that there is little point to proceed further with the system, adding more complexity and third party applications is simply wasting my time. For many the story was the same with 10.10 personally I had no major issues, although I don't care for the reduced readability of the OS due to poor choice of font and flattening of the OS in general.

I have always used OS X as it was a super stable platform for productivity, these days not so much, with the focus being ever further on casual use, and social media. For 2016 I am seriously looking to move all business related systems to Windows. I don't need a desktop OS that is trying to imitate and keep pace with mobile platforms, delivering little tangible improvements in productivity, that may or may not work as intended with each new revision.

My own opinion is; OS X is steadily degrading into little more than a vehicle for an entertainment & social media platform. OS X revisions are released needlessly rapidly, rushed and incomplete. Launched with much hype & hubris, however delivering little if any real tangible value for those productivity focused, this serves to do little more than degrade the value. Point updates are focused on fixes that should have never been required, due to the initial hasty release, that may or may not be fully functional by the end of it`s short cycle, in short a vicious circle.

It would also appear that others have similar opinion, nor are these haters, more serious users with genuine concern;
http://www.marco.org/2015/01/04/apple-lost-functional-high-ground
http://macperformanceguide.com/topics/topic-AppleCoreRot.html
http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/mac-experts-weigh-in-os-x-quality-is-declining

Q-6

 

[vexorg]

It`s fairly obvious that 10.11 was rushed, due to the nature of breaking some systems, yet flawless on others, combined with the clues from the point updates.

Unfortunately Apple is trading usability, readability and stability for eye candy & toys, with the aspiration of entrenching the user ever deeper into Apple`s diverged ecosystem (iPhone, iPad, Mac). I have applied multiple clean installs of 10.11 only to incur multiple issues, that result directly in forcing the need to reload 10.10.5; Mail, Preview, Airdrop, Wi-Fi to name a few. The OS X point updates have either fixed, introduced new issues or done nothing.

In fairness, mavericks as a bit of a disaster when released, I waited until 10.10.5 before upgrading. Previous versions had shocking reviews.

The one thing apple should offer is a free downgrade on App Store to the last version of any previous OS X. And we can live with it unsupported if necessary

My own opinion is; OS X is steadily degrading into little more than a vehicle for an entertainment & social media platform. OS X revisions are released needlessly rapidly, rushed and incomplete. Launched with much hype & hubris, however delivering little if any real tangible value for those productivity focused, this serves to do little more than degrade the value. Point updates are focused on fixes that should have never been required, due to the initial hasty release, that may or may not be fully functional by the end of it`s short cycle, in short a vicious circle.

I agree, the whole notification thing is pandering to the social media. I would have much preferred a serious business mode with all the crap off by default for serious use. Or two install packs, one for those that like pretty things and flaky OS platforms.

It's the main part of windows10 I don't like, I would have preferred an expert mode that looked more like windows7, and didn't have all the idiot screens to get to the settings you really need.[/QUOTE]

 

[Queen6]

In fairness, mavericks as a bit of a disaster when released, I waited until 10.10.5 before upgrading. Previous versions had shocking reviews.

The one thing apple should offer is a free downgrade on App Store to the last version of any previous OS X. And we can live with it unsupported if necessary

I agree, the whole notification thing is pandering to the social media. I would have much preferred a serious business mode with all the crap off by default for serious use. Or two install packs, one for those that like pretty things and flaky OS platforms.

It's the main part of windows10 I don't like, I would have preferred an expert mode that looked more like windows7, and didn't have all the idiot screens to get to the settings you really need.

I agree very much with your comment, with no easy solution one way or the other; Primary concern with OS X is the rapid update cycle that can take until the end of the term to be fully stable! This is compounded by Apple offering zero options on your version of OS X. If I was to buy a new Mac today chances are it will not function adequately given it will be on 10.11.2. Come the new 2016 models there will be no option to downgrade to a working version of OS X, this leaves few options

Another aspect, is we have no idea if this situation will improve, by 10.11.5 OS X may or may, not be back on track, equally broken once again by 10.12, or not as the case may be. A 24 month stable cycle I can live with, the current unpredictable 12 month cycle is becoming a risk to productivity, nor is Apple focused on the same. What I now observe is that OS X is becoming very sensitive to your hardware & software, with the result being akin to "rolling the dice"

Windows 10 is also less than ideal, and not without it`s drawbacks, however it`s unlikely to change at the core level for a good period of time. Microsoft are making a concerted effort to get it right after the extremely poor reception of Windows 8, with basic business functionality not being an issue. I find with Windows that if you invest time to set up the system initially, you rarely incur issue, however this is generally far more involved than OS X.

As much as I would like to replace the rMBP`s with the new 2016 models, it seems unlikely as Apple`s focus is not aligned with my needs. I rather feel that a computer should add to ones productivity, with hardware & software vendors pushing the boundaries...

Q-6

 

[vexorg]

Mental slip above, meant yosemite, not mavericks

 

[Riwam]

Mental slip above, meant yosemite, not mavericks

*******
I believe that the whole thread is suffering a mental slip.
We end up discussing all kind of topics and not the one in the title of the thread.
I apologize in advance to the thread starter for doing the same.

No reasonable person will pretend that the mac OSX is perfect no matter which version one considers.
However that same rule applies to Windows, Linux and any other OS.
Just the faults and errors are different in each case and the gravity of them as well.

I was less pleased with El Capitan than I was with the 2 previous OSX but by now I am getting used and finding ways to overcome difficulties (when needed, which is certainly not always the case).
.
I like the looks of the desktop of Windows 10 but "strangely enough" I still feel much safer when making payments under OSX.

It is childish to pretend that viruses and trojans come to Windiws only if you download porn and the like.
I did not visite any porn page at all and still found 10 unwanted "visitors" after very occasional use of Windows 10 during just one month, a Windows installed through BootCamp in my mac, side by side with OSX.

The development of malware and ways to infect computers is light years ahead from Microsoft's OS development.
Sad but true.

If someone dislikes the present El Capitan and turns his eyes to a modern Linux, I can understand it.
If he sings songs to Windows...then in my opinion he decided to accept the risks involved ...or prefers not to think too much about them.

As long as we read that thousands of new viruses and trojans are created by criminals every week and we know that still in 2016 over 95 percent of all computers in the world run one of the Windows versions, the conclusion still is that, at least from the point of view of safety, in spite of so many painful bugs nobody should neither deny nor accept, mac users are still in 2016 privileged computer users.
Ed

 

[Queen6]

*******
I believe that the whole thread is suffering a mental slip.
We end up discussing all kind of topics and not the one in the title of the thread.
I apologize in advance to the thread starter for doing the same.

No reasonable person will pretend that the mac OSX is perfect no matter which version one considers.
However that same rule applies to Windows, Linux and any other OS.
Just the faults and errors are different in each case and the gravity of them as well.

I was less pleased with El Capitan than I was with the 2 previous OSX but by now I am getting used and finding ways to overcome difficulties (when needed, which is certainly not always the case).
.
I like the looks of the desktop of Windows 10 but "strangely enough" I still feel much safer when making payments under OSX.

It is childish to pretend that viruses and trojans come to Windiws only if you download porn and the like.
I did not visite any porn page at all and still found 10 unwanted "visitors" after very occasional use of Windows 10 during just one month, a Windows installed through BootCamp in my mac, side by side with OSX.

The development of malware and ways to infect computers is light years ahead from Microsoft's OS development.
Sad but true.

If someone dislikes the present El Capitan and turns his eyes to a modern Linux, I can understand it.
If he sings songs to Windows...then in my opinion he decided to accept the risks involved ...or prefers not to think too much about them.

As long as we read that thousands of new viruses and trojans are created by criminals every week and we know that still in 2016 over 95 percent of all computers in the world run one of the Windows versions, the conclusion still is that, at least from the point of view of safety, in spite of so many painful bugs nobody should neither deny nor accept, mac users are still in 2016 privileged computer users.
Ed

Goes with the territory, I have always found that if you are prepared you will have no issue with Windows, equally it`s a constant and uphill battle on the malware side. Linux is (moving closer to where we should be) problematic on the Office side if absolute Microsoft capability is required, and I can see it bringing other interesting conundrums where specific software is required, needing VM`s to solve the issues

Office 2016 for OS X is a solution, equally a little like 10.11 the vibe seems mixed with no real trend, Office 2011 I like and gets the job done for the most part. Same as others I am not interested in subscription software. I only see it being more expensive in the long run, and more importantly your giving up an element of control in your computing environment.


Q-6

 

[flowrider]

MS is good about issuing Updates, but terrible about letting it's users know about them. Office 2011 14.6.0 is now available. I found it by looking to see if it was issued. Even then it was tough to locate. It's here:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=50720

Lou