Review of Office 2004 for Macintosh: The Missing Manual (Paperback)

This is the first book I have read from the Missing Manual Series, and I will look for them in the future.I switched from a PC to a Mac last month and use Office daily.There have been several items I have not been able to figure out in the Office 2004 for Macintosh, but this book has now explained those issues, and introduced previously unknown functions to me.The book assumes one is familiar with Office and targets the changes and upgrades since 2000.This is not a "dummy" book, the five star rating is well deserved in that all concepts are illustrated with screenshots, and explained in prose in great detail.While the book was tedious at times if the material was not new, it was easy to follow when the information was new.
The highlights of the book were the introduction chapter outlining the changes in Office 2004, and the last chapterintroducing using Microsoft Office as a Whole with applescripting and the project gallery.I found this book to be helpful to users familiar with PC lingo as well as Mac language.I did not find the usual "Non-Apple bashing" throughout the text, only a few references, but each illustrating the value of a Mac over a PC in this instance of an Office application.There were several examples of how Office 2004 was improved from Office 2003 (PC) and the previous version for Mac.
The new Notebook layout and audio notes were illustrated for student application in Word and the Project Center in Entourage introduces offers space saving ideas for the Mac user.The idea of using Entourage as the Office icon on the dock that allows access to all Office applications, is one improvement I incorporated after reading this book.For users who enjoy Office at home and at work, those who enjoy words just as much as icons, this is the book for you to read.It is a stand alone reference book for those using Office 2004, and a book highlighting the Office applications for those who are considering purchasing Office 2004 for Mac.
The www.missingManual.com is available for those seeking (the missing manual) written information for Office 2004.In each application there are samples illustrating the how-to's of the application, but if it's written words you want, you will have to go to the help files.They are downloadable from the website for printing.

Product Description
Microsoft Office is the number-one selling software for the Mac; the Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Entourage applications are more dominant in the Mac world than they are among PC users. And Microsoft has greatly improved and enhanced Office 2004 to take advantage of the latest Mac OX features. In short, Microsoft Office for the Mac is wildly popular and better than ever.But as incredible and powerful it is, the Office 2004 suite comes without a single page of printed instructions. That means you're left to forge your own path through its countless innovative and useful new features and tools--until now.Office 2004 for Mac: The Missing Manual is the manual that should have been in the box. It's the map that clearly and easily guides both beginners and veterans through this new suite. Mark H. Walker, Franklin Tessler, and Paul Berkowitz deliver all the practical information you need to master the basics and make the most of all four Office 2004 programs--Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Entourage. It's four books in one!According to Microsoft's own research, the average Office user taps into less than fifteen percent of the suite's features. With first-rate writing, a handcrafted index, and the trademark humor and clarity of every Missing Manual, Office 2004 for Mac: The Missing Manual will change that. Because this isn't an authorized book, Walker, Tessler, and Berkowitz candidly point out which features are gems in the rough worthy of your focused attention--and which are junkware that you best continue to overlook.Whether you're an Office beginner eager to master one or all of the applications in the suite or a longtime Office user looking for detailed coverage of what's new (and what's removed) in Office 2004 and hoping to implement power-user techniques for better and more efficient work, this funny and friendly, comprehensive guide will prove indispensable.

About the Author
Mark H. Walker is a veteran computer book author, Microsoft Office aficionado, Virginia Tech football fanatic, and all around technosapien. He has authored over 40 computer related books including How to Use the Internet, The Visio Bible, and Visio 2003 Inside Out. His articles have appeared in Family Software, Alaskan Airlines, Smart Solutions, and Playboy, and he is a regular columnist for PCGamer and The Armchair General. He lives in the beautiful hills of south-central Virginia with his lovely wife, threedaughters, four dogs, two cats, and a horse.

A native of Montreal, Dr. Franklin Tessler has been a writer forMacworld magazine since 1986. Over the years, he has written numerousfeature articles and reviews, and has lectured extensively about how tocreate and deliver electronic presentations. Dr. Tessler is currently aProfessor of Radiology at the University of Alabama in Birmingham,where he resides with his wife and two children."

Paul Berkowitz (author of the AppleScript chapter and technical editor forEntourage chapters) has tech-edited other O'Reilly books, includingAppleScript: The Definitive Guide by Matt Neuburg and AppleScript: TheMissing Manual by Adam Goldstein, and has also done some technicalproofreading of AppleScript-related documentation for Apple and Microsoft.He is well known as the author of over 100 AppleScripts for Entourage,including major script programs for exporting and importing just abouteverything and for synching Entourage to Apple's Address Book and iCal. Inhis "other life" he is a classical pianist and Professor of Piano at theUniversity of California in Santa Barbara, where he now lives happily everafter.

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