Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit has made a couple of significant announcements; one, the release of Office 2008 SP1 for Mac, and two, that they will be bringing back Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) support in the next major release of the software.
While Office 2008 SP1 for Mac brings Office 2008 to version 12.1 and is claimed to offer over 1,000 fixes and improvements, it gives VBA support the miss.
In his blog, Lead Software Designer Erik Schwiebert writes that SP1 features significant improvements, including improved printing and file compatibility as also enhanced performance and stability. The update sees Excel bring back custom error bars and tick marks to chart formatting; PowerPoint gain object access to AppleScripting support; and Entourage gain improved compatibility with Exchange servers.
The sore point though is obviously -- the lack of VBA scripting support. Yet, according to Macintosh Business Unit General Manager, Craig Eisler, Mac Office 2008 qualifies as the best-selling version of Office for Mac till date. Eisler is prompt to add though that as with Office 2008 SP1, they will be taking customer feedback and using it to help make Office for Mac better. He says they're very clear that VBA is an important feature to certain customers, and that they will be bringing support back for VBA in the next version of Office for Mac, along with continuing support for AppleScript.
What isn't known though is when exactly the next version of Office for Mac (presumably with VBA support) will release.
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