New Imac User needs Help

[John Little]

One thing I do find annoying is that after purchasing Office for Mac, including Powerpoint for Mac, none of the macros work on stuff that I did on my old PC and I do not know what to do about it. I have been thinking about buying a small laptop with Windows just for running presentations.

[secrets in symmetry]

Can't you "fix" the macros?

I have had problems importing Powerpoint presentations from Windows to Mac. I don't think these were caused by macros (I didn't write the presentations) - I suspect they were just badly written presentations!

Buying a small Windows laptop just for running presentations sounds like a backward step to me. One of the best features of OS X is that it "just works" when you plug in an external monitor or a projector.

[John Little]

If you can tell me how to fix them I should be glad to try it!

[secrets in symmetry]

If you can tell me how to fix them I should be glad to try it!

Lol!

Apologies for the flippant question.

I should have asked whether you wrote the macros yourself - in which case you might have some chance of fixing them on your Mac.

I'm an idiot Powerpointer - I don't use it unless I have to.

[John Little]

Unfortunately I have Office for Mac 2008 which, it transpires, is notorious for not supporting Powerpoint macros. However it's 3 years on and there may well be some sort of patch out there - I shall have a hunt.

[secrets in symmetry]

RecQuery once wrote something about older Mac versions of Office not being the full monty. I have Office for Mac 2011 - which was getting some good reviews at the time I installed it.

[RecQuery]

I was undering the impression Office for Mac 2008 didn't support macros and it was a feature they reintroduced in 2011.

[John Little]

That appears to be correct. Quite what to do about it I do not know. Either remove Office for Mac 2008 and buy the 2011 version, or get a cheap Windows laptop for presentations only.

Either way I'm not happy and cannot see why they removed the VBA macros in the first place.

[RecQuery]

That appears to be correct. Quite what to do about it I do not know. Either remove Office for Mac 2008 and buy the 2011 version, or get a cheap Windows laptop for presentations only.

Either way I'm not happy and cannot see why they removed the VBA macros in the first place.

You could try Libre Office (The better version of Open Office) I think it has some VB macro support. I find myself saving presentations as PDF documents these days and just full screening the reader. The reason they removed the macros is because a lot of the environment for them to run in used to actually be part of Windows. This made running them faster but it was a massive security issue and didn't really make office portable with 2011 they integrated the runtimes into the application itself.

[John Little]

You could try Libre Office (The better version of Open Office) I think it has some VB macro support. I find myself saving presentations as PDF documents these days and just full screening the reader. The reason they removed the macros is because a lot of the environment for them to run in used to actually be part of Windows. This made running them faster but it was a massive security issue and didn't really make office portable with 2011 they integrated the runtimes into the application itself.

A good suggestion - I tried the Libre but no go I'm afraid. Pictures appear which are supposed to be animations and when you try to play them they just click onto the next slide. I think I'll just slide down to PC computers and see what the cheapest thing they've got for conventional powerpoint is. Thanks for the idea.

[RecQuery]

If you're going to buy something you might want to try

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/

or

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/

Failing that you always install a Windows in a virtual machine, WINE has some pretty decent office support also. Crossover Office is a pay-for version of WINE that might help also.

[TAFKAL]

Wine is great

[secrets in symmetry]

A good suggestion - I tried the Libre but no go I'm afraid. Pictures appear which are supposed to be animations and when you try to play them they just click onto the next slide.

Lol! That's typical of my experience of Libre/Open Office. It's fine if you construct presentations in Libre/Open Office, but imported Powerpoint presentations rarely work properly.

I think I'll just slide down to PC computers and see what the cheapest thing they've got for conventional powerpoint is. Thanks for the idea.

Office for Mac 2011 is a lot cheaper than a Windows laptop - assuming you can get educational/academic discount. Before you commit, you could try out your presentations on a machine with Office for Mac 2011 - assuming you have access to one. If not, a nearby college or university (or maybe even an Apple Store) might have a machine you could try it on.

Does Apple's Keynote support Powerpoint macros?

You could run a virtual machine like RecQuery suggests, but that's a bit of a kludge. One of the reasons I use a Mac is because it runs everything I need (including Office) without any kludges.

At this point, I half expect RQ to provide a list of essential software that doesn't run on a Mac.

[John Little]

I should explain. I need the powerpoints to work because I am home-schooling a grand-daughter. If you are into a subject and you come to an animation on, eg, plate tectonics, it is infuriating to find most of it missing or not working.

So our new Mac owner of the OP should be aware that if you run Office for Mac then it very much depends on what you wish to do as to whether it works. Knowing what I know now I would not buy Office for Mac 2008.

However I found a refurbished Dell with XP on Amazon for £115 and it's on the way. In the end it's simpler and the kid also gets to use a machine with Windows; she's always used a Mac up to now. And Windows is the most widely used in Business, Commerce etc rightly or wrongly.

And thank you all for the helpful advice; caused a lot of thought this last couple of days.

[RecQuery]

I should explain. I need the powerpoints to work because I am home-schooling a grand-daughter. If you are into a subject and you come to an animation on, eg, plate tectonics, it is infuriating to find most of it missing or not working.

So our new Mac owner of the OP should be aware that if you run Office for Mac then it very much depends on what you wish to do as to whether it works. Knowing what I know now I would not buy Office for Mac 2008.

However I found a refurbished Dell with XP on Amazon for £115 and it's on the way. In the end it's simpler and the kid also gets to use a machine with Windows; she's always used a Mac up to now. And Windows is the most widely used in Business, Commerce etc rightly or wrongly.

And thank you all for the helpful advice; caused a lot of thought this last couple of days.

Didn't realise there were people home-schooling in the UK. You might want to take a look at http://www.khanacademy.org/

[John Little]

Didn't realise there were people home-schooling in the UK. You might want to take a look at http://www.khanacademy.org/

Thank you again - the server does not open though I see it on Google and will try later.

RE home-schooling; I don't wish to divert this thread more so shall open a new one later.

[secrets in symmetry]

I should explain. I need the powerpoints to work because I am home-schooling a grand-daughter. If you are into a subject and you come to an animation on, eg, plate tectonics, it is infuriating to find most of it missing or not working.

So our new Mac owner of the OP should be aware that if you run Office for Mac then it very much depends on what you wish to do as to whether it works. Knowing what I know now I would not buy Office for Mac 2008.

However I found a refurbished Dell with XP on Amazon for £115 and it's on the way. In the end it's simpler and the kid also gets to use a machine with Windows; she's always used a Mac up to now. And Windows is the most widely used in Business, Commerce etc rightly or wrongly.

And thank you all for the helpful advice; caused a lot of thought this last couple of days.

Ok, I can't argue with a laptop for £115 - assuming it works, and it has enough memory to run everything you need....

I don't really understand what home schooling has to do with it - and I thought you were retired!

[John Little]

Ok, I can't argue with a laptop for £115 - assuming it works, and it has enough memory to run everything you need....

I don't really understand what home schooling has to do with it - and I thought you were retired!

I am retired.

But the job needs to be done.

And I've also offered the local WI to do a talk on Suffragettes. Presentations that work are an asset in front of such an audience.

[secrets in symmetry]

Presentations that work are an asset in front of any audience!

[phil_moonbeam]

i use both pc runnin windows 7 and a apple power book g4 runnin 10x the mac is far better runs quicker dont get viruses much easier to use once you get use to it when i change win 7 pc im looking for a mac to replace it too