On Monday afternoon, Microsoft released version 14.1.0 (or Service Pack 1) of its popular Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac suite. The update, a 246 megabyte download, can also be located, snagged and installed via the Microsoft AutoUpdate program, offers the following fixes and changes:
– Security is improved. This update fixes vulnerabilities in Office 2011 that an attacker can use to overwrite the contents of your computer’s memory with malicious code. For more information, see the security bulletin that was listed earlier in this document.
– Stability is improved. This update fixes an issue that causes Office 2011 applications to close unexpectedly when you open or use Office 2011 applications.
– Alt Text authoring is included. This update enables the authoring of Alt Text for objects, such as shapes, pictures, tables, charts, SmartArt, and movies in Office 2011 applications.
Improvements for Microsoft Excel for Mac 2011:
– The Solver add-in is included. This update includes functionality that lets you install the Solver analysis tools in Excel 2011.
Improvements for Microsoft PowerPoint for Mac 2011:
– Password protect functionality is included. This update includes functionality that lets you protect presentations in PowerPoint 2011 by using a password.
Improvements for Microsoft Outlook for Mac 2011:
– Synchronization functionality is updated. This update increases support for Sync Services, and adds calendar, notes, and tasks syncing.
– Rules functionality is improved. This update introduces support for Microsoft Exchange-based Server-Side rules.
– Resend functionality is included. This update reintroduces functionality to resend an email message to the same or new recipients.
– Redirect functionality is included. This update reintroduces functionality to redirect an incoming email message to other recipients.
– Meeting invitation functionality is improved. This update improves creating meeting invitations by including a list of recently used locations.
Microsoft Office 2011 requires Mac OS X 10.5.8 or later to install and run and is available for US$149.99 and up depending on the suite purchased.
If you’ve tried the update and noticed any major changes, please let us know.
In other news, Microsoft also released version 12.2.9 of its Office 2008 suite for Mac. The update, a 333 megabyte download, adds the following fixes and changes:
– Improves stability. In addition, it includes fixes for vulnerabilities that an attacker can use to overwrite the contents of your computer’s memory with malicious code.
Microsoft Office 2008 12.2.9 requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later to install and run and
Microsoft Office 2008 with Service Pack 1. The update can, of course, be located and installed with the Microsoft AutoUpdate tool.
If you’ve tried the new version and have any comments, let us know in the comments or feedback section.
5 replies on “Microsoft releases 14.1 update for Office 2011, 12.2.9 update for Office 2008”
Try this experiment with just about any other application and you’ll notice that you can do quite a bit with windows in the background, such as (a) scroll them, (b) grab and drag’n’drop selections (and of course see selected bits to begin with, greyed-out), (c) manipulate some widgets and controls, etc.
I think I already downloaded the 14.1.0 critical update for Office 2011 but my Mac book wants to install it again. How can I tell if I have the update or not?
Since downloading the 12.2.9 update for Mac word 2008, my colleagues are having difficulties opening my word files on their pcs – is anyone else having this problem?
Early 2008 MacBook Pro, 2.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4 GB SDRAM, 750 GB HD, MacOS 10.6.7
I was a quick adopter of Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 (Home and
Business Edition) and had no major problems with it at first. In Outlook
for Mac 2011, I established one Exchange account, one IMAP account, and
2 POP accounts. All worked fine. Then recently the automatic updater
indicated that there was a 14.1.0 (also called “SP1”) update available. I
applied that update and discovered that my Exchange account no longer
worked – it repeatedly requested and rejected my account password. I
spent MANY hours trying to work this issue and thought I would share how
I’ve finally gotten back to where I started.
1) I verified that the account settings were correct by trying them on a PC laptop.
2) I exported an Outlook Mail (.olm) file from Outlook containing all
Contacts, Messages, Calendar, etc. (Note that just saving the Main
Identity folder located in the Documents/Microsoft User Data does little
to ensure one will be able to retrieve one’s data).
3) I followed the instructions at this URL:
to COMPLETELY uninstall
Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 from my computer.
4) I reinstalled Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 from my original DVD.
5) I imported the .olm file I had previously exported.
6) I created my Exchange Account and tested its send and receive functionality.
7) I created my other accounts.
8) I went through all the Office programs recreating the customizations I had previously made in each of the programs.
9) I did NOT install the 14.1.0 update.
As I said, I went through a few days and many hours trying various
approaches but this was the only thing that worked and it came at the
cost of the loss of a couple of days worth of previously-saved messages.
I had initially spent lots of time looking on the Internet for any
confirmation of this update causing this issue but found only a few
isolated complaints from users. There was NOTHING on the Microsoft site
acknowledging the issue nor providing any guidance.
Hope this info helps prevent someone from having to go through the heartache I experienced.
Sorry, I haven’t had a chance to do the update yet.
But let me take a wild guess: after doing it, Mac Office 11 still sucks.*
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*Okay, so maybe that wasn’t entirely fair, but putting aside all of the other slowness, weirdness, and general lameness, try this.
1. Select some text in Word.
2. Switch to another program. Anything will do.
3. Notice how the selected area disappears from view. —As a bonus, notice also that you can’t scroll the contents of the Word window while it is in the background.
These are not standard Mac OS behaviors, and they are just tip of the iceberg examples of the kind of slipshod coding our pals in Redmond are up to. Try this experiment with just about any other application and you’ll notice that you can do quite a bit with windows in the background, such as (a) scroll them, (b) grab and drag’n’drop selections (and of course see selected bits to begin with, greyed-out), (c) manipulate some widgets and controls, etc.
Word is supposed to be an important program for writers. But if it doesn’t allow you to do the simplest thing, such as compare two or more documents side-by-side (scrolling all of them while keeping a main editing version in the foreground), then the whole thing is just a joke.
Microsoft, get a clue already, willya?