At 9:10 AM -0800 19/1/07, Don Wieland wrote about Re: FMP8.5 and MS Word:
Are you saying that documents with Visual Basic code in them won't work.
You can open the documents, but the code won't work.
I gotta think there will be some unhappy campers if this is so ;-)
You bet. Better read on:
Office 2004 with Open XML converters may be the most cross-platform
compatible edition -- even after Office 2008 ships
Earlier this week we published a preview of Microsoft Office 2008,
the next generation of Office for Mac OS X that will ship in the
second half of 2007.
Though the update boasts some impressive new Mac-only functionality,
a pleasingly revised interface, and all-important compatibility with
Open XML documents (generated by Office 2007 for Windows) Microsoft
made no indication during its demonstration that the company has
changed its mind about including VisualBasic scripting capabilities
in the forthcoming release.
Microsoft Office 2008 will not include Visual Basic capabilities in
any form, as currently conceived. There will be no execution of
newly or previously compiled macros, and the macros cannot be edited
in Office 2008. Company representatives have defended this tack in a
series of blog postings.
As poignantly observed by one of our readers, this state of affairs
means that Office 2004 with the addition of an official converter
for Open XML documents (due in beta form for Mac OS X this Spring)
may remain the most cross-platform compatible version of Office in
existence. That is, assuming, that macros will survive the
translation process offered by the converter. In other words, will
users be able to run an Office 2007 for Windows document with Visual
Basic macros through the Mac OS X translator and then open the
document in Office 2004 for Mac OS X and retain the macros? We're
seeking information on this issue from the Microsoft MacBU.
http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20070112012645211&query=Visual+Basic
You can also read
<http://www.schwieb.com/blog/2006/08/08/saying-goodbye-to-visual-basic/>Saying
goodbye to Visual Basic by a leading MacBU developer.
Saludos,
Patricio Mason
Santiago, Chile
www.ics.cl
