Microsoft released Office 2008 SP1 Update (12.1.0) today just four months after its initial release and a little over a month since its Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac 12.0.1 update. This is a major release and includes nearly 50 bug fixes and improvements for Entourage. This update is available through AutoUpdate or you can download from Mactopia.
Although service packs (SP = “service pack”) may sometimes include new features, such as Office 2004 SP2 (11.2.0) did for Exchange support, this one does not. Instead, it appears to be focused on stability and functionality. The big news is
VBA will be returning in the next version of Office. more info
Tips
- Before Installing: 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.
- Easy way: log out/in with Shift key down to disable any start-up items.
- How to quit Notifications
- Restart after updating and run Repair Permissions.
- This update does not include an uninstall feature. To restore your application to its original state, delete it from your hard disk, reinstall Office from your original installation disk, and then install ALL updates.
- Easy way: Archive (zip) your Office folder before updating. You can easily delete the new updated Office folder and revert to the previous version.
- The Entourage database will be upgraded. Make a backup copy of your Identity before updating. See below for more details.
- Quit and restart Entourage after the upgrade.
- You might have to re-enter all your mail account passwords.
Features
Compared to Office 2004, Office 2008′s first service pack is nearly a full year earlier in coming, which indicates MacBU is aggressively working to squash reported bugs. It includes Entourage improvements and fixes for:
- More than a dozen Exchange issues
- Sync Services
- Switching views
- Appearance issues
- Error handling
- Junk E-mail Protection
- Importing and exporting data
- Database Utility
- Searching
- Gmail
- My Day
- Graphics and PDFs
- File server connections
See the following posts on the Entourage Help Blog for a list of improvements found in SP1 for Entourage and Entourage working with Exchange.
- [Office 2008 SP1] Entourage receives major improvements
- [Office 2008 SP1] Exchange Server 2007 support improved with update
VBA to return!
Craig Eisler announced today that VBA support would return as a result of user feedback
Microsoft’s standard release schedule is 2-3 years. We anticipate the next version (“MacOffice 14″) will be out in 2010. Yes, they are skipping “MacOffice 13.”
Entourage database is upgraded
After applying SP1, when you open Entourage, your database will be upgraded. This is a lengthy process. Once Entourage has upgraded your database, you will be unable to open it in a previous Entourage 2008 version. You will get an error “This Identity Cannot Be Opened With This Version of Entourage”, if you ever use “Remove Office” and re-install without updating. For this reason, I suggest that you make a backup copy of your Identity in case for any reason you install SP1 and want to revert back to 12.0.1.
Quit and restart Entourage after the upgrade. You could see this error message.
You might need to re-enter all of your mail account passwords. If you do not have your passwords listed, open Keychain Access and search for your accounts. You can view passwords there.
If you get the error “there was nothing to update” you can try this workaround
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VBA comes back – what a waste of time!
What world is Microsloth living in?
First they remove VBA support, so the software assurance my client‘s buy was a waste of time (they now have a copy of Office 2008 that does support all their VBA code).
So now we are halfway though converting to iCal, Address Book, Apple Mail and staying with Word 2004 (but checking out Open Office).
And now they try and dangle the carrot in front of me again. “Spend $XX,000 now for a new software assurance agreement now and in two to three years you’ll get VBA back.”
With no assurance they they wont change their minds again.
Thanks, but no thanks.
First, please keep in mind that this blog is peer-to-peer. There isn’t much we can do. The best way is to send any feedback to Microsoft .
When working in Office, you can use the “Send Feedback” option under the Help menu in all of the Office applications.
Diane,
Yes I’m aware of that and that you aren’t Microsoft.
I’ve sent feedback and posted to the Mactopia blog but I suspect the moderator wont approve it as its not a “Microsoft is fantastic” post.
Basically they have lost me and eight of my clients (100+ machines each) due to this VBA “flip flop”.
Your best bet is to send the feedback through Help in the menu bar. Not sure if the blog comments are recorded in the feedback database.
Well I’ve done both.
Hence the words “I’ve sent feedback and posted to the Mactopia blog“ above. Note “AND” not “OR”.
Anyway its a mute point as the damage was done with no VBA support in Office 2008.
After installing SP1 I am having problems opening my inbox in entourage. It keeps telling me not enough memory… everything worked fine before I installed sp1. any thoughts?
Unfortunately, the “not enough memory” error message has been known to occur when the issue has nothing whatsoever to do with memory. i.e. it’s a faulty description on a generic error that can be triggered by all sorts of things.
A user reported on the newsgroup that he was able to fix this by rebuilding his database. Important that you make a duplicate before rebuilding.
How to Rebuild your Database
If this does not work see these links.
Not enough memory error message
Not enough memory
I upgraded Office 2008 to SP1 today and I can open everything except Entourage. It keeps crashing.
Here is the error:
Dyld Error Message:
Symbol not found: __ZThn624_N11CFileStream8GetBytesEPvRl
Referenced from: /Applications/Microsoft Office 2008/Microsoft Entourage.app/Contents/MacOS/Microsoft Entourage
Expected in: /Applications/Microsoft Office 2008/Microsoft Entourage.app/Contents/MacOS/../Frameworks/EntourageCore.framework/Versions/12/EntourageCore
I don’t want to re-install the from the original disk because It will wipe out all of my e-mail and other documents. Please help. I don’t want to lose this info. I don’t know why it won’t open
Help Anyone.
thank you
Wheezermcg
Generally Frameworks errors indicate one or more components of Office have not been updated correctly and are now out of synch with other bits. Re-apply SP1. If that does not fix it, try this:
Insert the Office CD and reinstall over your current install. Restart and run the SP1 updater. This will not touch your emails. Your mail is stored in the Microsoft User Data folder in Documents. You can backup up this file as extra insurance. I would suggest backing up your data on a regular basis if your mail is important.
If the above does not work, you will need to use “Remove Office” and reinstall.( “Remove Office” does not remove the Microsoft User Data folder.) See these pages for extra help:
Framework Error
Install Office 2008
After applying SP1, when I opened Entourage, my database (4.5MB) was upgraded correctly. This was a lengthy process of about 20 minutes.
My problem now is that each time I restart my computer the process of upgrading identity and messages is repeated in about 2 minutes. Is it normal or is it something that I can do to stop it?
Thanks for your help
This is covered under [Office 2008 SP1] install causes setup assistant to loop
Thank you Diane for your answer.
As I obtained Office 2008 under an institutional license, I don’t have an activation key. Therefore, to solve my problem, I suppose that I will have to wait until my institution made available Office 2008+SP1 to perform a full reinstallation.
Office for Mac is not activated like Office for Windows. Did you remove these files?
/Users/username/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/Office 2008/Microsoft Office 2008 settings.plist
/Applications/Microsoft Office 2008/Office/OfficePID.plist
I removed both files and succeeded to go through the Office 2008 activation process. However, this didn’t solve the problem of rerunning the process of upgrading identity and messages each time I restart my Mac.
Thanks for your advice
Yves
Did you restart after removing the files?
Let’s eliminate your User’s folder as part of the problem. Drag your Identity folder to Shared. Go to System Preferences –> Create a New User in Accounts. Switch to the New User by logging out/in or use Fast User Switching. Open Entourage and let it create a Microsoft User Data folder and blank Identity. Now drag your Identity from shared (it copies it so your data is safe) Switch to your regular Identity. Does it want to upgrade? Try restarting to see if the upgrade occurs in the new User.
If the problems occur in the new user, try this…drag the Microsoft Office 2008 folder to the Trash, and then reinstall Office 2008 from your original installation disk. Restart. Update. Restart. Repair Permissions. (restarting is important)
Trying to install the update 12.1.0 and in the Destination Select process I get the message:
“You cannot install Office 2008 SP1 Update (12.1.0) on this volume. A version of the software required to install this update was not found on this volume.”
What is the software they are referring to? Where might I find it?
Thanks, John
6/25/08
Did you try the fix in the article 12.1.1 updater woes- a version of the software required not found
They are referring to the correct version of Office. As example would be if you had 12.1.0 installed but tried to install the wrong version 12.0.1, then this would be a legitimate error.
What worked for me:
1) Completely removed my initial install of Office 2008 and emptied trash.
2) Reinstalled from CD and chose Manual Updates.
3) Opened Word after re-install. (v12.0.0)
4) Checked for updates from Word. It found 12.1.0 and worked just fine. Did the same to get it to 12.1.1.
5) Only quirk was the install script hung up trying to close Word. Find hidden error message box and close the message box manually to continue the installation.
6) Version number was not visible in the “About” window until I rebooted the machine.
The 12.1.0 (SP1) and 12.1.1 updates have a blocked AppleScript that closes all open Microsoft applications after installing the latest Security Update released July 31 from Apple. Be sure to read Apple Security Update blocks Microsoft’s update process
Even though the install process seemed to be successful, some users have experienced severe problems in the application that was open.
I have tried all the remedies listed and seem to be stuck. I cannot open Entourage as I get the alert
this idenitity cannot be opened with this version
and no matter how many times and variations mentioned above I cannot install any of the updates, instead I get the dreaded
You cannot install Office 2008 SP1 Update (12.1.0) on this volume. A version of the software required to install this update was not found on this volume.
I believe I have done everything possible, including updating the updater, besides a complete restore from last weeks backup.
I’ve spent a good 8 hours working on this. Any suggestions?
Thanks
The error “this Identity cannot be opened with this version” means the database was created with a version that is older than the one you currently have installed.
Have you tried all the suggestions on this page: There was nothing to update?
If you still have problems, can you tell me what version the Microsoft Component Plugin is on your computer?
Microsoft Component Plugin is now in the package:
/Applications/Microsoft Office
2008/Office/MicrosoftComponentPlugin.framework/Versions/12/MicrosoftComponen
tPlugin
BTW, what happened that caused you to re-install Office?
Hoping someone can help…
Last night i was using Entourage as per usual, enjoying the 4 accounts i have on there and the many folders.
this morning after having shut down my computer as per normal, when i opened entourage it’s acting as though it’s my first time using it, with the welcome email in the inbox as the only item, and the set up wizard.
what happened to all my folders and established accounts? i did not do any program upgrades, nothing. just business as per usual and now, it’s all gone.
i had an entourage back up document that i tried to import which it did successfully but it brought no change.
help?