Entourage 2008
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This page is new and FAQs will be added as they come in. See the Entourage Help Blog for the latest news and help.
Demo Questions...
- There is currently no Demo/Test Drive version of 2008. We expect to see it available soon. Be sure to remove the Office for Mac 2004 Test Drive BEFORE installing Office for Mac 2008. How to remove.
General Questions...
- What version should I buy?
- Where can I find Volume Licensing Info for Microsoft Office?
- What promotions are available?
- Cannot register MS Office 08 for Mac... product ID invalid
- Home & Student version-Installed the same key on a second computer. How do I fix it?
- Trial to legal version conversion?
- Is 2008 faster?
- How does '08 handle system and user fonts?
- Is it possible to download proofing tools for different geographic areas?
- Home use rights
- Is the free upgrade to 2008 is just that, an upgrade or is it a full installation DVD?
- New Search box in Help menu bar does not search Entourage Help
- Run Multiple Versions of Office Apps at same time
- New features for Entourage 2008
- The Home & Student version cannot be updated if you find out you need Exchange.
Upgrade and Install Questions...
- Can I use Entourage 2004 and 2008 at the same time?
- After upgrade, download is flooded with thousands of old messages
- Trouble installing...everything crashes
- Does Entourage 2008 support RPA POP3 authentication?
- Import Addresses from Office X, Office 2001 and Apple Mail
- 2008 Database Utility repair Entourage X database
- MLM or Rules files messages in Inbox after update
- Does the Junk Mail Filter "learn"?
- Installer Fails
- Install for Intel/PPC
- Are Notes, tasks & contact pictures synched to Exchange servers?
- Import Identity fails to find Identity
- Unable to import - see how to manually import
- Are Return Receipts included in Entourage 2008? No! Read why.
FAQs for Entourage 2008
FAQs specific to Entourage 2008 listed here
Back to topBugs
- Sounds broken fixed in 12.0.1
- Edit Subject missing in 2008
- Sync Services for Leopard Users and Entourage 2008 recurring events
- Bug in AutoCorrect annoys multilingual users
- Fix Entourage and iCal time zones on case-sensitive drives
- Print issues in Office 2008
- After installing Office 2008 my fonts in Safari are jumbled and overlapping.
- Since 2008 install Safari downloads append .dot .pot .xla
- Crash on save attachments
- To Do dates stuck in 1970
- Fonts increasing in size with each reply
Caution...
If the Microsoft Database daemon is turned off, the Database Utility option "Verify Automatically in Background" will not take place. Spotlight will index any cache files the Entourage daemon has created even if the daemon is not launched, but no new cache files will be created until the daemon is launched again.
Command-Delete (deletes the word to the left of the cursor in Word) is interpreted in Entourage to delete message. Entourage 2008 added a warning message unless you have turned off this feature. Use command-z to undo the action.
Back to topGeneral Questions
6) How do I upgrade the Trial Version
The Trial/demo version is not upgradable. You must remove the trial version before using the retail version. Directions on removing the trial version.
After removing the trial version, you will need to reinstall Office from the original install disc, AND then install all the updates in sequence. You will find a list of updates required on this page. Posted Feb. 4, 2008
Back to topSee the benchmark links in
Hot Topics for Entourage 2008 (The Entourage Help Blog)
Back to top8) How does '08 handle system and user fonts?
Office 2008 uses a different method for fonts and many fonts are new versions. Office 2008 will install fonts to the /Library/Fonts/Microsoft folder. By being at the root, then all users on the machine have access to them and you don't get Office 2008 putting multiple copies on the machine for each user.
The installer will scour /Library/Fonts/ and ~/Library/Fonts/ for fonts with the same name and move them to /Library/Disabled Fonts/ or ~/Library/Disabled Fonts/ depending on where they were found.
Back to top9) Is it possible to download proofing tools for different geographic areas?
Office comes with an entire collection of proofing tools, and they're the same across all the international versions. In other words, if you buy the US version, you will still have access to the English (UK), French, German, Spanish etc. spell checkers.
13) Run Multiple Versions of Office Apps at the same time.
Yes, the only conflict is if you try to run both Entourage 2008 and an earlier version at the same time. For example, you can certainly run Excel X or 2004 and 2008 or Word X or 2004 and 2008 at the same time with no problems.
Many users are doing this for VBA that was dropped in Office 2008.
If you wish to switch between Entourage 2008 and an earlier version, you will need to quit Office Notifications/Reminders each time before swtiching. How to quit
Note, you cannot use the same database/Identity in both versions. Entourage 2008 will upgrade your Identity and it will no longer be able to be used in Entourage 2004 or older.
Upgrade and Install Questions
1) I'm using both Entourage 2004 and Entourage 2008. I'm crashing like crazy. What can I do?
If you are using both Entourage 2004 and Entourage 2008 be sure to quit Notification and/or the daemon before switching. You should only have one daemon in Startup Items. More info
The installer recommends that you delete old copies of Office, however many users want to be able to go back and forth. One option especially if you plan on doing this long term (for example to use VBA), is to install Office 2004 in a separate User in it's own application folder. This way all preferences are kept separate. Be sure to use "Remove Office" before installing Office 2008. Use Fast User Switching for easy access.
Do not use both versions of Entourage if you have them in the same User! You can use both versions of Word, Excel and Powerpoint in the same user, but separate users might result in less problems.
Office 2008 is using updated version of Fonts. It's possible you could overwrite your new fonts with the old version if you install 2004 after 2008. See Installing Office for Mac 2008 for details. Office 2008 will not go back retroactively and move fonts installed after it was installed.
Back to top2)I just upgraded to Office 2008 my computer was flooded with thousands of redundant messages that I had already previously retrieved.
Even though you had downloaded the emails on another computer, you had selected to leave the messages on the server. Entourage 2008 did not know you had downloaded these messages.
Tip: "Get all messages left on server" one final time in Office 2004, before launching and using Entourage 2008. After doing this check "Allow online access" to be doubly sure all messages are downloaded to Entourage 2004. More on "Allow online access" (here).
3) I'm having trouble installing. Everything crashes.
- Use Remove Office and try to reinstall
- Look for a corrupt font... Try removing fonts until it can successfully launch. more info
- Leopard users
- try installing in a new User to eliminate problems in your User's folder.
- Remove or rename ~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/Word Settings (10) and the ~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft folder.
4) Does Entourage 2008 support RPA POP3 authentication?
Entourage 2004 and 2008 no longer support RPA POP3 authentication. It is CompuServe's proprietary authentication method.
Back to top5) How do I import addresses from Office X, Office 2001, 2004 and Apple Mail?
Use the Import item in the File menu or turn on Sync Services.
Apple Mail does not have any addresses; they are kept in the Address Book Application. Entourage Sync Services was added in Entourage 2004 that will allow you to sync Entourage's Address Book to Apple's Address Book. In Entourage Preferences be sure to check Synchronize options. See Sync-Services FAQs for more info.
Back to top6) I have a damaged Entourage database that is over 4GB, can the new database utility repair the old database?
The problem is that you have to get the data into 2008 before the database repair tool can operate on it. If your data is damaged in an older version of Entourage, it most likely can't be imported into 2008. Your only real solution is to go to a backup, or if you can still open Entourage, manually move over your data. This usually clears up the corruption.
See this solution one user found to repair his damaged Entourage X database.
Back to top7) The Mailing List Manager won't send list mails to a folder, resulting in hundreds of list mails in my inbox. What happened? This also applies to Rules.
My guess is that the folder references were broken in the upgrade. You can probably fix it by simply reselecting the folder for your MLM rules. I would also check all of your custom Rules for folder destination.
Open up the MLM entries for editing, and re-select the folder that should receive the mail. It is possible that something has gone adrift and the folder reference has lost it's bearings and points to the Inbox.
Back to top8) Does the Junk Mail Filter "learn"?
No. While it is fixed and non-trainable, Microsoft issues updates to it with most Entourage updates, and collates the main features of all the spam that passes through MSN & Hotmail to include in those updates. As a result, they do the training for us, using ranges of spam that no single user ever has access to.
Note the key to good spam management is an updated Address Book. The JMF never assigns messages from contacts in your Address Book to the Junk category. To manage "spam" from your own address, see Junk Mail where "From is Me" For more help dealing with spam see Junk Mail Filter Basics.
Many Entourage users use SpamSieve. Make sure that you've updated to SpamSieve 2.6.6, since it works around a Leopard performance bug that could make spam filtering very slow.
Back to top1) Symptom: Installer just stops and shows a "finished" screen after only 5 minutes. Nothing is installed but a nearly empty folder.
Solution: Check the DVD Player setting re-set it to the max speed.
2) If you receive this error, quit any applications that are running, including virus-protection applications, all Office applications, Microsoft Messenger for Mac, and Office Reminders/Notifications, because they might interfere with installation. How to quit Reminders/Notifications. You can also log out/in with Shift key held down to quit any applications from launching. Now run the installer. Restart after installing from the DVD. After restart, run AutoUpdate and download the updater. Restart and you should have a good install and update.
3) The Entourage Help Blog has several articles on recent problems updating 2008.
Back to topOffice for Mac 2008 Installer will install both sets of code (Intel/PPC) regardless of what machine type you are installing onto. This is common behavior for the Apple installer and is important in the cases where you are installing onto a drive that might be shared with Intel/PPC computers (such as an external travel drive, Network Boot servers, and Shared Network Application Folders).
I'd like to tell you that it is ok to use utilities like "Trim The Fat" to remove the code that doesn't map to your processor, however I fear that doing so might complicate upgrades and patches released for Office 2008 in the future. These patches and upgrades will expect the full application and sets of code to be there in order to run and if not, you will be unable to apply them. This might also be true for other non-Microsoft applications that make use of the Apple installer.
11) Are note & Tasks synced to Exchange Server?
Neither notes nor tasks are synched to Exchange servers. As for workarounds: you could save your notes as e-mail drafts and store them in a mail folder that you have created for that purpose. Mail messages and folders are synched to the server, and you can use the same formatting options for both notes and e-mail messages.
Back to top12) Import fails to find identity.
Are your installed copies of Entourage 2004 and Entourage 2008 of the same geographic localization?
One User reports: I had the same problem when I updated my *Spanish* installation of Entourage 2004 to a new *USA (International)* copy of Entourage 2008. The USA (International) copy of Entourage 2008 could not find the old Identities because the *Spanish* installation of Entourage 2004 translated the file names needed to Spanish.
The solution was to rename the Identities folders from the old Entourage 2004 installation to their expected USA names.
Back to topBugs
Removal of edit subject was unintentional. According to developers- when we changed the appearance of mail headers, the dev removed this feature. Adding it back in after the change ended up being very risky and we decided to focus elsewhere. Download Edit Subject script and place it in your Entourage script menu items folder inside the Microsoft User Data folder to change subject.
Assign a shortcut to the script for easy use.
Back to top3) Sync Services for Leopard Users and Entourage 2008
Leopard broke the ability to retain recurring tasks with Sync Services. We are hoping for a fix in 10.5.2.
In addition, many users are seeing duplicate and/or disappearing events. Read more about this problem. Fixed in update 12.0.1
Note: Leopard 10.5.2 fixes the notorious Leopard iCal bug present in 10.5 and 10.5.1. Unfortunately that bug was replaced by a new bug with nearly identical symptoms: calendar events don't show up in iCal.
Back to top5) Fix Entourage and iCal time zones on case-sensitive drives
There is a known time-zone related issue on case-sensitive file systems with both Entourage 2004 and 2008.
Please check this MacOSXHints article for details on how to fix this (you may need to use a different path for 2008)
Back to top6) Print issues in Office 2008
MSFT and Apple are aware of this issue and are working on it. The only workaround we're aware of at this point is to change the printer resolution to something lower, like 600dpi, from the print dialog.
Back to top7) After installing Office 2008 my fonts in Safari are jumbled and overlapping. Making most pages unreadable. There are many people reporting this same problem is there a patch or fix to come?
No patch or fix. Just restart your machine to rebuild the font cache.
Note: updating to Leopard 10.5.2 and Office 12.0.1 fixes this for many users.
Back to top8) Since 2008 install Safari downloads append .dot .pot .xla
To be clear. Before I installed Office 2008, I could download any file type from Safari or Firefox, and the extension that was on the file is the one it had when downloaded. So if I went to a site and the file was named XYZ.ppt, i would get a downloaded file called XYZ.ppt. After installing 2008, the same file downloaded from firefox was correct (XYZ.ppt) but the same file downloaded from safari had an additional (wrong) extension - and that extension was always for a template. So XYZ.ppt had .pot added to become XYZ.ppt.pot.
It's pretty much just a cosmetic glitch. MS knows about it and presumably has talked to Apple, to find wherever the problem is. But you can just select the file name, delete the extra extension, and it will all be fine. You might not even need to delete the extra extension to open and use the document.
MSFT is aware of these crashes and plan to address them in future updates.
Best option: drag and drop to the desktop, and then move to the final destination.
10) To Do dates stuck in 1970 (I have a combination of Japan and US settings.)
"The 1970 issue is related to your date format settings. Entourage 2008 doesn't support non standard format well. You may want to change to the standard format such as "United States" or "United States (computer )" or "Japanese" that comes with the OS if you don't mind. I tried changing the short form from 080105 to 08/01/05 and Entourage works well with it."
In essence, don't try to customize the date format in the International System Preferences Pane.