New math features in Word 2008

[John_...@officeformac.com]

Did the new math feature from Windows Word 2007 make it into 2008 Mac?

If not, is the Equation Editor essentially the same?

[John McGhie]

Hi John:

No, and Yes :-)

Cheers

On 17/01/08 7:11 AM, in article ee88e...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw,
"John_...@officeformac.com" <John_...@officeformac.com> wrote:

> Did the new math feature from Windows Word 2007 make it into 2008 Mac?
>
> If not, is the Equation Editor essentially the same?

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John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
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Nhulunbuy, Northern Territory, Australia
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[John_...@officeformac.com]

How disappointing!

[CyberTaz]

I also read somewhere (but haven't tested myself) that eqs done in 2007
won't display when the doc/docx is opened in 2008.
--
Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

<John_...@officeformac.com> wrote in message
news:ee88...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw...
> How disappointing!

[Daiya Mitchell]

I think I've heard they will display but not be editable. Haven't tested it.

[John_...@officeformac.com]

The known issues says that equations in word 2007 docs will be preserved but appear as placeholders in 2008. Such a bummer!

[Unknown]

I've been waiting for a year for this release, holding on begin writing my dissertation (with plenty of math), as I was SURE that Office 2008 was going to support the very good implementation of equation editing found in Office 2007.
So when I installed Word 2008 two days ago, I was extremely disappointed and quite frustrated. Not to mention that it is going to be a nightmare when my colleagues will start sending around Word 2007 files with equations in this format. It's going to be a huge problem for people working in engineering academia: we write a lot of equations but, at the same time, Word is basically the only choice since we often work with the industry (where LaTeX is out of question).
I understand that it is hard to port VBA on a new platform, but this? It's "just" clever formatting, and the Win version has been available for more than a year! I would like to know why it was not implemented, and if we can reasonably expect it to arrive in the next few months, as part of an update.

[CyberTaz]

<snip>
On 1/18/08 9:46 PM, in article ee88...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw, "Lawrence"
<Lawrence> wrote:

> I would like to know why it was not implemented, and if we can reasonably
> expect it to arrive in the next few months, as part of an update.

<snip>

Sorry Lawrence, but nobody here can answer these questions. We don't work
for MS nor do we have any insights on their intentions:-) You might try
Word's Help> Send Feedback option to voice your concerns - although you
shouldn't expect a personal reply they do pay attention to the messages.

[Unknown]

Bobby:
Thanks. I know this is a public forum, but I thought Mac BU employees were reading it (as their colleagues do on the equivalent Matlab newsgroup).
I will follow your suggestion for sending feedback.
Lawrence

[Beth Rosengard]

Hi Lawrence,

They *do* read this newsgroup as often as possible but things can slip through the cracks here.  Sending feedback puts it in their database though.

--
***Please always reply to the newsgroup!***

Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

Mac Word FAQ:  <http://word.mvps.org/Mac/WordMacHome.html>
My Site:  <http://www.bethrosengard.com>

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Hi Lawrence,

Please send your eloquently stated comments to Microsoft at this URL:
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/suggestions.mspx?product=word

Equation Editor and MathType (from the same company) require VBA, which is absent from Office 2008.

An explanation about this problem is on the MathType web site:
http://www.dessci.com/en/products/mathtype_mac/office2008.htm

-Jim

--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

MVPs are not Microsoft Employees
MVP info http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/

[Unknown]

Just like to chime in here. The lack of compatibility between equations composed in Word 2007 and Word 2008 for Mac is a serious problem for the disproportionately large number of scientists and engineers on the Mac platform. We won't even be able to see equations created in Word 2007, let alone edit them.

Have already submitted feedback to MS via the link above. I suggest others do the same.

[John_...@officeformac.com]

Does anyone have opinions on what _is_ the best approach to setting maths on the Mac? (Failing the addition of the Word 2007 editor.)

My daughter is in 4th year math, and is looking at learning TeX... is that the best use of her time, or is there a better approach?

[John McGhie]

Many of us get by with the supplied Microsoft Equation Editor, which is
built-in to Word 2008. It's perfectly adequate for non-mathematicians.

MS Equation Editor is actually a cut-down of the MathType product from
Design Science www.dessci.com/mathtype/

Design Science provides excellent and responsive customer service in this
newsgroup. They also make a trial version of their product available for
download.

Design Science kindly points out that if you decline to pay at the end of
the trial period, the product degrades in functionality, but it DOES NOT
stop working! So you get left with a superior solution to the built-in, and
it is free :-)

There's not much that even a professional mathematician will want that the
fully-paid version of MathType can't do.

For those cases, then yes, learning TeX is useful. However, someone making
a career out of Mathematics might look around the market ã there is a range
of products available.

Hope this helps

On 30/01/08 1:43 AM, in article ee88e...@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw,
"John_...@officeformac.com" <John_...@officeformac.com> wrote:

--

[John_...@officeformac.com]

Thanks John:
So, I guess the best answer is for her to consider MathType, and stick with Word 2004, since MathType isn't compatible with 2008.

She has had some problems in the past with equation editor in Word 2004, with a "disk is full" bug (see: <http://www.dessci.com/en/support/mathtype/tsn/TSN64.htm)> I don''t know if 2008 still exhibits that bug.

I don't really know what might be missing from the editor in 2008. She seemed to think there was some group theory notation she couldn't do, but I'm quite out of my depth, having a fine arts background, not a math one.

[Bob Mathews]

Great response to the question, John (M). I just have a couple of
things to add.

First, MathType isn't available yet for Office 2008, but we're working
feverishly on it. It should be ready by June 2008. We have some
recommendations regarding Office 2008, and you can read those
recommendations here:
http://www.dessci.com/en/products/mathtype_mac/office2008.htm

Second, when MathType 6 for Mac is released, it will have a feature we
introduced last year with MathType 6 for Windows, and that is TeX
input. John (N), if your daughter doesn't want to learn TeX, but needs
to collaborate with colleagues and other students who are using TeX,
this is a pretty painless way to go. She can create an equation in
MathType, then export it as TeX (or LaTeX) if she wants. Likewise, she
can copy a TeX equation from another document and paste it into
MathType, and it then becomes a MathType equation. Similarly,
equations on the web that have TeX embedded into the ALT tag can be
copied from the browser and pasted into MathType for use elsewhere. A
couple of sites this applies to are Wikipedia and PlanetMath.

--
Bob Mathews
Director of Training
Design Science, Inc.
bobm at dessci.com
http://www.dessci.com/free.asp?free=news
FREE fully-functional 30-day evaluation of MathType
MathType, WebEQ, MathPlayer, MathFlow, Equation Editor, TeXaide

[Unknown]

John Nolan:
I work for a University Math Science department. If your daughter is going to pursue an advanced degree in Math it will be worth her time to learn TeX sooner rather than later. TeX works fine on the MacOS as well as linux and windows and it is free. <http://www.esm.psu.edu/mac-tex>

The newest Office07 understands some TeX syntax to construct equations; as well as MathType ver 6. So whatever she learns of TeX is not wasted.

I am seriously disappointed Office08 does not include the new TeX equation constructor that Office07 has.

However, if she is going straight into industry; MathType 5 and Office 2004 are adequate to finish her degree until MathType 6 is released for Office 2008.

[Unknown]

BTW: That new "TeX equation constructor" as I referred to it is officially known as "Equation Builder" in Office '07.
 <http://tinyurl.com/36yzyu>

And it's incorrect to say it is TeX based. More like it uses the autocorrect feature to convert some TeX symbol names into it's own symbols. Still, that's a vast improvement over anything they had before and a glaring omission in Office 08.