Microsoft Office 2008 12.0.1: fixes launch, user permission issues

[Tuesday, March 11th]

As promised, Microsoft has delivered Office 2008 12.0.1. This update is designed to resolve a series of significant issues with the original iteration including incredibly slow launch times (up to several minutes) for Office 2008 applications under Mac OS X 10.5.2 -- previously confirmed as a known issue by Microsoft.

The update also fixes an issue that could give a local user who does not have administrator permissions access Office 2008 program files. This issue occurs when the non-administrative user account was assigned User ID (uid) 502.

The new release is available as a 114MB standalone download.

A long list of specific improvements includes:

• Word Stability is improved when you start Word 2008: This update fixes an issue that causes Word 2008 to quit unexpectedly when you try to start it. The issue occurs when Word 2008 tries to import settings from earlier versions of Word that might have been installed on your computer.
• Blank pages are no longer printed when you print to a high resolution printer: This update fixes an issue in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard that causes blank pages to print when you print to a high resolution printer.
• Excel Stability is improved: This update fixes several issues that cause Excel 2008 to quit unexpectedly. Additionally, this update improves overall stability during regular use such as copying and pasting data.
• Support for secondary displays is improved.: This update fixes an issue for users of computers that have more than one display. This issue prevents users from moving workbook windows to a position greater than the maximum height of the primary display on the secondary screen. This issue affects users who position a secondary display above the primary display.
• Reliability is improved for ledger sheets: This update fixes an issue that causes the width settings for columns in a ledger sheet to be lost when the workbook is saved in the following file formats: .xlsx, .xlsb, .xltx, or .xltm. This update also fixes an issue that causes calculated columns such as the Balance column to incorrectly display a sheet error when the column is inserted.
• Performance is improved when you open PowerPoint 2008: This update fixes an issue for users of Mac OS X 10.5.2 Leopard that causes PowerPoint 2008 to open slowly.
• Reliability is improved when you save to an SMB network volume: This update fixes an issue for users of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard that causes problems and potential data loss when you save a PowerPoint Presentation to a network volume that uses the SMB protocol. The following is an example of the protocol: smb://computer-name/volume-name
• Notification sounds now play when you use Entourage in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: This update fixes an issue for users of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard that prevents notification sounds such as New mail sound and Send mail sound from playing when you use Entourage 2008.
• Stability is improved when synchronizing data with devices and other applications: This update fixes an issue that causes the Sync Services component to quit unexpectedly while synchronizing calendar and contact information to iCal, to Address Book and to mobile devices that are connected through iSync or iTunes.

Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.

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