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Mac PowerPoint 2008
September 24, 2008
In a previous blog we talked about the Microsoft Office for the Mac 2008. In this blog will talk about PowerPoint 2008. There are some major changes in this version compared to the previous two versions, such as the new top menu with Slide Theme, Slide layouts, Transitions, Table Styles, Charts, SmartArt Graphics and WordArt.
While some of these features existed before they were less accessible and therefore less often used. But making some features in software more accessible – often results in a misuse or overuse of the features.
I have already seen too many people who are seduced by the “dark side of the feature force” and use these slide special effects way too often. In other words every slide having a different transition with different noises, so text “flies in” or “circles in” with all sort of strange noise like typewriter sounds or brakes screeching to a stop in a car.
While its interesting for 5 minutes it gets old after the next 5 minutes. It reminds me of the old days in desktop publishing when people thought that ransom note typographic was a beautiful thing.
But one thing I like about PowerPoint in Office 2008 are the special effects for bit map graphics such as Glow, and Soft Edges, Reflection and 3-D format. For someone who likes to add a small graphic each slide in an attempt to avoid the dreaded “death by PowerPoint” feeling – it adds a nice touch.
But be careful if you open that file that includes the new effects in an older version of PowerPoint. I recently discovered it could take a very long time, 20 minutes or more to open that file. And if you need the security that your presentation may have to run on a variety of computers regardless of the age or version of Office, you may not want to use those new features. I recently abandoned a whole presentation that used those new effects after it took 20 minutes to open on a computer using an older version – while people waited for the presentation to start.
Posted by Howie Fenton on September 24, 2008 | Comments (1)
