Microsoft Office apps: Word, Excel, PowerPoint If you love Microsoft Office, then just get the real thing on your iPhone. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and the rest of the Office suite is available for iPhone.
I like the MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar, Apple’s baby step toward a touchscreen Mac that may never happen. It can be helpful (scrolling through a filmstrip of photo thumbnails) and fun (playing Pac-Man).
But the thin touch-sensitive screen that sits above the keyboard will remain a curiosity for most until it can partner with our most-used productivity applications, like Microsoft Office. Well, that's happening. Microsoft released a public update to Office that includes Touch Bar support on Thursday.
SEE ALSO: MacBook Pro with Touch Bar banned from bar exam in multiple states
For those of you unfamiliar with Microsoft’s productivity suite on macOS, it’s just as powerful and smooth as it is on Microsoft’s Windows 10. If you’ve ever used Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook on Windows or even on the web via Office 365, the macOS version will be instantly familiar.
Test-driving Touch Bar support in Microsoft Office for Mac. Kind of fun. pic.twitter.com/EyxchoskWX
— Lance Ulanoff (@LanceUlanoff) February 14, 2017
Similarly, Touch Bar integration works just as you'd expect it to across the Office suite. On the beta version of the software I tried, I didn't have to do anything to activate Touch Bar controls. As expected, the Touch Bar's OLED screen adapts to the the specific app, but it also varies quite a bit within application tasks.
The limited screen real estate means you won’t find all the control you gain through the ribbon on Word or Excel, but that's kind of the point. The Touch Bar is there to surface what Microsoft assumes are your most often-used features. It’s sort of a visual manifestation of the 80/20 rule (80% of people use 20% of an app’s features).
Test driving Touch Bar integration in Microsoft Excel for Mac. I like the chart controls. #[email protected]/2g6l41Wvb0
— Lance Ulanoff (@LanceUlanoff) February 15, 2017
While you use the Touch Bar, the onscreen ribbon disappears, , since the actions you need are still there, and you get an bit of screen space back. For example, as I wrote this review I considered underlining the words “which is fine” in the previous sentence. That option, along with Bold, Italic, Highlight, Bullets, Text Color and even the Clipboard are all still a touch away. Additional menu choices like Comments and adding Hyperlinks are on the Touch Bar, too, but you'll need to slide to the left to see them — still faster than hunting it down with your trackpad or mouse.
I’m also pleased with how the Touch Bar transforms for specific tasks and, especially, how it can take some features in new directions.
Follow: If you insert a photo in Word or PowerPoint, the Touch Bar now gives you access to a real-time rotation slider. To rotate a photo incrementally, you just slide your finger back and forth on the Touch Bar. It’s a smart feature and fun to use.
In Excel, the Touch Bar supplies access to expected formatting options, but also extends to chart creation and editing. With the Touch Bar, I can do everything from selecting the kind of chart I want (bar, fever, area, scatter) to switching the data axes — each action takes a single tap. The Bar can handle Excel functions, too, but access to them is somewhat non-obvious. First, you need to type an equals sign in a cell, then a scrollable list of functions appears.
PowerPoint may have the best Touch Bar menu. I think I could almost create an entire presentation without accessing the traditional menu. The integration includes text formatting, bullet lists, the creation of new slides and text boxes. It even offers the ability to move objects back and forth in the object stack.
When it’s time to present, the Touch Bar shows you a presentation button. Tapping it transforms the Touch Bar into a thumbnail view of your presentation that you can slide through and tap on to bring any slide into view on the main screen. I also appreciate that Microsoft chose to add a clock on the Touch Bar so you can keep track of how long you’ve been presenting.
Test-driving @Microsoft PowerPoint with Touch Bar support on a MacBook Pro. The presentation mode is pretty cool. pic.twitter.com/BJcSLV5JTr
![Mac Mac](/uploads/1/2/5/8/125860593/807212361.jpg)
— Lance Ulanoff (@LanceUlanoff) February 16, 2017
I would like to see Microsoft add access to presenter notes on the Touch Bar.
There are other limits, possibly imposed by Apple, on what Office for Mac can do with the Touch Bar. I was, for instance, surprised to see that when I tapped the insert image icon that, instead of seeing a film strip of image thumbnails on the bar, it just launched an on-screen dialogue box where I could access my image files.
Maybe future versions of the Office will let you customize your Touch Bar experience.
Word for the Mac’s Touch Bar also lacks QuickType word suggestions (oddly, Outlook for Mac has them). And despite Microsoft’s efforts to surface my most-used features, it did miss a big one: The ability to convert ALL CAPS TYPING to lower case, upper and lower, or sentence case. This is something I really, really need.
You cannot currently change any of the Touch Bar menus. Maybe future versions of the Office will let you customize your Touch Bar experience.
To get the most out of this Office for Mac Touch Bar support, you must use it, consistently, which, for many, will be the biggest hurdle. I still find myself forgetting that the Touch Bar is there, mostly because I stare at the screen when I type. Perhaps if I use the MacBook Pro more often, tapping on the Touch Bar will become second nature. If that does happen I could see Touch Bar saving me some serious time in the Office for Mac suite.
Hello everyone, how are you all doing today? I hope you are all having a great Sunday. My Saturday wasn’t good and my Sunday isn’t any better, but that’s life sometimes right? I think I will be alright lol, anyway read on…
Today we are focusing on the best Microsoft Office replacements on Mac. Why? Well not everyone likes MS Office and it’s apps including Power Point, Excel or even Microsoft Word so for those people, and those who simply can’t afford Microsoft Office, we have decided to list some good alternatives for those of you running on OS X. I personally recommend you check out at least 3 choices before you make a decision, all of these apps are great or rather good enough.
Can I run Microsoft Office in OS X?
Yes, you can actually run Microsoft Office on a Mac! Not too long ago, Microsoft never bothered to translate their popular software for Apple’s Mac users mainly because Apple is still their #1 competition. But now since Apple pretty much dominates the phone market, MS had no choice but to start porting their software to work on Apple. MS office is already available for iOS and it is now available Mac OS X. But forget about all that, lets look at the Office 365 alternatives for Mac.
#1. Download Google Docs For OS X
Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides are productivity apps that let you create different kinds of online documents, work on them in real time with other people, and store them in your Google Drive online, all for free. You can access the documents, spreadsheets, and presentations you create from any computer, anywhere in the world. (There’s even some work you can do without an Internet connection!) This guide will give you a quick overview of the many things that you can do with Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides.
What Is Google Docs?
Google Docs is an online word processor that lets you create and format text documents and collaborate with other people in real time. Here’s what you can do with Google Docs:
- Upload a Word document and convert it to a Google document
- Add flair and formatting to your documents by adjusting margins, spacing, fonts, and colors — all that fun stuff
- Invite other people to collaborate on a document with you, giving them edit, comment or view access
- Collaborate online in real time and chat with other collaborators — right from inside the document
- View your document’s revision history and roll back to any previous version
- Download a Google document to your desktop as a Word, OpenOffice, RTF, PDF, HTML or zip file
- Translate a document to a different language
- Email your documents to other people as attachments
This is my personal favorite Microsoft Office alternative because it literally has everything MS Office has and also it works perfectly fine online. What more can you ask for?
Google Docs Screenshot
#2. Download LibreOffice For OS X
Install LibreOffice For Mac
LibreOffice is a powerful office suite; its clean interface and powerful tools let you unleash your creativity and grow your productivity. LibreOffice embeds several applications that make it the most powerful Free & Open Source Office suite on the market: Writer, the word processor, Calc, the spreadsheet application, Impress, the presentation engine, Draw, our drawing and flow charting application, Base, our database and database front-end, and Math for editing mathematics.
LibreOffice is compatible with many document formats such as Microsoft® Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Publisher. But LibreOffice goes further by enabling you to use a modern open standard, the OpenDocument Format (ODF).
• Enterprise hardened through relentless independent testing
• Stable six-monthly release cycle of feature updates
• Backported key features from LibreOffice Vanilla
• Improved OOXML file support (.docx, .docm)
• Enterprise-wide: one Office suite common to your entire environment
• One app serving as a complete suite, does the work of six apps
• Includes advanced word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation software
• Reads and writes Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files (including OOXML)
• Stable six-monthly release cycle of feature updates
• Backported key features from LibreOffice Vanilla
• Improved OOXML file support (.docx, .docm)
• Enterprise-wide: one Office suite common to your entire environment
• One app serving as a complete suite, does the work of six apps
• Includes advanced word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation software
• Reads and writes Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files (including OOXML)
LibreOffice Screenshot
#3. Download Apache OpenOffice For OS X
Apache OpenOffice is free to download, use, and distribute. Download it now, and get:
- Writer a word processor you can use for anything from writing a quick letter to producing an entire book.
- Calc a powerful spreadsheet with all the tools you need to calculate, analyze, and present your data in numerical reports or sizzling graphics.
- Impress the fastest, most powerful way to create effective multimedia presentations.
- Draw lets you produce everything from simple diagrams to dynamic 3D illustrations.
- Base lets you manipulate databases seamlessly. Create and modify tables, forms, queries, and reports, all from within Apache OpenOffice.
- Math lets you create mathematical equations with a graphic user interface or by directly typing your formulas into the equation editor.
Why Apache OpenOffice?
Apache OpenOffice is synonymous with quality:
- The roots of Apache OpenOffice go back twenty years, creating a mature and powerful product
- Many millions of users
- Independent reviewers around the world have recommended the product
- With a fully open development process, Apache OpenOffice has nothing to hide – the product stands or falls on its reputation.
- The software looks and feels familiar and is instantly usable by anyone who has used a competitive product
- It’s easy to change to Apache OpenOffice – the software reads all major competitors’ files
- Few language barriers – if it’s not yet available in your language, the chances are it will be soon
- Apache OpenOffice is supported by a global community of friendly volunteers, happy to provide assistance to newcomers and advanced users alike
Apache OpenOffice Screenshot
#4. Download ThinkFree Office For OS X
Install ThinkFree Office for Mac
ThinkFree Office is the most accurate MS Office-compatible productivity suite on the market today. Use ThinkFree Office to create word processing documents, spreadsheets, and graphic presentations, or open and edit Word, Excel, and Powerpoint documents in ThinkFree Office. You will be amazed by our faithful recreation of the Office user interface — new users are immediately productive.
- ThinkFree Write: is a powerful word processing application that has all the features you expect with the same look-and-feel you already know. Create rich, professional-quality documents and web pages. Write’s seamless compatibility lets you to share documents and collaborate with MS Word users.
- ThinkFree Calc: lets you create spreadsheets just as you do with MS Excel™, or open and edit existing Excel files. Calc has every feature Office users expect and allows you to tackle the most complex analytical tasks
- With ThinkFree Show: you produce the same high-impact presentations as Powerpoint. Use existing .ppt files, templates, and animations, or create compatible presentations from scratch.
ThinkFree Office Screenshot
#5. Download Keynote For OS X
Install Keynote App on Mac
Easily create gorgeous presentations with the all-new Keynote, featuring powerful yet easy-to-use tools and dazzling effects.
The Theme Chooser lets you skim through an impressive collection of 30 new and updated Apple-designed themes. Once you’ve chosen the perfect canvas for your presentation, simply replace the placeholder text and graphics with your own words and images. Easy-to-use tools let you add tables, charts, shapes, photos, and videos to slides—and bring it all to life with cinematic animations and transitions that look as though they were created by your own special effects team. Animate your data with new interactive column, bar, scatter, and bubble charts.
Use iCloud to keep your presentations up to date across all your devices. You can instantly share a presentation using just a link, giving others the latest version and the ability to edit it directly with Keynote for iCloud beta from www.icloud.com using a Mac or PC browser.
With Keynote, you have all the tools you need to make an amazing presentation quickly and easily.
Get started quickly
• Choose from 30 Apple-designed themes to give your presentations a beautiful start
• Use the slide navigator to quickly skim through your presentation, add new slides, and reorder slides
• Engage your audience with new interactive charts and chart animations
• See live on-canvas previews as you animate your slides
• Use gorgeous preset styles to make your text, tables, shapes, and images look beautiful
• Choose from 30 Apple-designed themes to give your presentations a beautiful start
• Use the slide navigator to quickly skim through your presentation, add new slides, and reorder slides
• Engage your audience with new interactive charts and chart animations
• See live on-canvas previews as you animate your slides
• Use gorgeous preset styles to make your text, tables, shapes, and images look beautiful
Keynote App Screenshot
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