14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has released an update for Mac users of its Office 2008 suite of applications, fixing an issue that prevented them from opening some Office documents. The update is aimed at Office 2008, Office 2008 Home and Student Edition, Office 2008 Special Media Edition, Word 2008, Excel 2008, PowerPoint 2008, Entourage 2008, and is available for free download on Softpedia.
According to Mactopia, Microsoft’s dedicated web page for Mac software, improvements that are included in the Office 2008 for Mac 12.2.1 Update span all Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac applications. Besides compatibility enhancements, the update fixes an issue that caused Office 2008 for Mac to display an error message saying “Microsoft Excel cannot open the file. You may have to download the latest updates for Office for Mac. Do you want to visit the Microsoft Web site for more information?” This issue occurs when users try to open .docx, .xlsx, .pptx, .ppsx, .dotx, .docm, .ppsm documents and other formats, Microsoft says (more details are available here).
Supporting operating system versions including Mac OS X 10.4.9 (Tiger) and higher, the latest Office 2008 for Mac update requires Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac Service Pack 2 (12.2.0). Users can download this update for free from Microsoft’s web site. To verify that you have installed this update, you can check the version number by opening any Microsoft Office 2008 application.
To install the Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac 12.2.1, it is advised that you quit any running programs, including all Office applications, Microsoft Messenger, and Office Notifications, because, Microsoft says, “they might interfere with the installation.” Additionally, users must ensure that their computer meets the minimum system requirements. At this point, simply download the software, double click the downloaded “Office2008-1221UpdateEN.dmg” file and then the resulted application installer (pictured above). Follow the instructions on the screen to save the file to your hard disk.