Office 2008 for Mac

Office 2008 Planning

Most Office 2008 preferences are stored as a key/value pair in the property list (.plist) files. These

.plist files, also known as preference files, are stored in /Users/username/Library/Preferences.

However, some Office 2008 preferences are stored in other locations such as in the Entourage

2008 database.

For information about preference file locations, see Office 2008 preference file locations for

deployment in the Office 2008 Deployment section.

The first time a user opens an Office 2008 application, Office finds the preference files that

correspond to that application and then uses the settings that are stored in the files.

You can use the following methods to deploy preferences:

•

Workgroup Manager Use Workgroup Manager specifically when you want to modify

preference settings that have been deployed already or when you want to manage

individual preferences in a .plist file without disrupting other settings in the same file.

•

Apple Remote Desktop Use Apple Remote Desktop when you want to replace or

update application preferences.

Setup sequence of events

The setup architecture in Office 2008 has been redesigned to enable users to easily install and

remove Office for Mac components. The new setup design also offers an improved user experience

with cross-language upgrades and includes enhanced customization capabilities, such as optional

font installations.

Office 2008 uses the Apple installer technology for installation. Office Installer is compatible with

Apple Remote Desktop, the data that Office 2008 installs is in the .pkg format, and the installation

programs are AppleScript-ready. This helps to distribute resources to user computers on a

network.

In Microsoft Office 2004, the entire process of installation was handled by the Office Setup

Assistant. In Microsoft Office 2008, installation is divided into two stages:

1. Using Office Installer to install Office 2008

2. Using the Office Setup Assistant to set up Office 2008 applications

In stage 1, Office Installer copies the Office 2008 files on to the user’s computer. In stage 2, the

users' computers are prepared for first use of the Office 2008 applications.