MS Office lacks Arabic Support…

Zaid Al Hilali · 20th March 2008, 19:25

The title says it all.

Mac users have been using MS office since it was introduced on our platform in the 80's and we believe many of us will continue to do so. However when it comes to Middle East support for local languages we find MS office on Windows supports Arabic while the one on Mac doesn't!

Before OSX, MS Office used to handle Arabic in a good way (Arabic wasn't fully supported), but since Mac OSX we didn't see the same service.

I do think it is not a big issue to solve in the office engine to make it support Arabic, yet this is something waiting for clarifications by Microsoft's Mac division themselves.

Magnus · 20th March 2008, 21:52

Yes this is an important issue and one that we'll surely bring up with them. I hope the discussions today will give us some better contacts so we can get better help with problems and answers to questions.

Keep adding questions and concerns.

Lotta · 9th June 2008, 10:51

Hi, so the MS Office for MAC 2008 still does not work with Arabic?

fangpyre · 9th June 2008, 14:39

The short answer: no.

The long answer:
Word: NO!
Excel: yes, but no right to left sheets.
Powerpoint: yes, but you might need to change fonts.
Entourage: kind of

Lotta · 11th June 2008, 11:36

Ok, thanks for reply. I'll go for Nisus then - is it obvious how it works once installed or do I just have to download it and follow instructions?

CWiebe · 18th June 2008, 09:35

agree that fact that Word X or 2008 does not do Arabic well, especially when opening files orginally done on a Windows machine. which is a real issue.

However, a few 'tricks' I have discovered that if you open an Windows Arabic document in X or 08 -- it will not be formated correctly and in X it displays as lines with no Arabic characters. However, if copy the Arabic and paste it into a Mail, or Pages or other native Mac program the Arabic will copy and display properly.

It is not a solution for originating Arabic, but if you need to read or recover Arabic text sent you -- AND reply to it by editing you can within an email or other format.

However, if you try to edit, even English text in the Arabic Word document and save it -- most of the time at minimum the formating will be screwed up when opening in Windows.

Zaid Al Hilali · 18th June 2008, 12:42

There have been always a work around to open Arabic Word. Adobe InDesign reads Arabic MS documents perfectly even if it contains tables, foot notes, headers and footers.

But what each and every Mac user could do, is open incoming Arabic MS Word files in Text Edit free program that comes with OSX, or even more you may type full Arabic letter, report with full formatting elements in Text Edit, then export as .doc

When you open an incoming Arabic MS Word file you can choose Text Encoding from the open dialogue window in case Text Edit failed to select the right encoding.

SaudiMac · 18th June 2008, 13:03

Wish it was as good as their windows applications ..
Microsoft Products and Arabic Support

20th March 2008, 19:25	#1 (permalink)
Zaid Al Hilali Senior Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Mirdif-Dubai Posts: 1,393	MS Office lacks Arabic Support… The title says it all. Mac users have been using MS office since it was introduced on our platform in the 80's and we believe many of us will continue to do so. However when it comes to Middle East support for local languages we find MS office on Windows supports Arabic while the one on Mac doesn't! Before OSX, MS Office used to handle Arabic in a good way (Arabic wasn't fully supported), but since Mac OSX we didn't see the same service. I do think it is not a big issue to solve in the office engine to make it support Arabic, yet this is something waiting for clarifications by Microsoft's Mac division themselves.

20th March 2008, 21:52	#2 (permalink)
Magnus Administrator Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Dubai Posts: 8,328	Yes this is an important issue and one that we'll surely bring up with them. I hope the discussions today will give us some better contacts so we can get better help with problems and answers to questions. Keep adding questions and concerns. Last edited by Magnus : 21st March 2008 at 08:54.

18th June 2008, 09:35	#6 (permalink)
CWiebe Junior Member Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 2	possible helpful Arabic 'solutions' agree that fact that Word X or 2008 does not do Arabic well, especially when opening files orginally done on a Windows machine. which is a real issue. However, a few 'tricks' I have discovered that if you open an Windows Arabic document in X or 08 -- it will not be formated correctly and in X it displays as lines with no Arabic characters. However, if copy the Arabic and paste it into a Mail, or Pages or other native Mac program the Arabic will copy and display properly. It is not a solution for originating Arabic, but if you need to read or recover Arabic text sent you -- AND reply to it by editing you can within an email or other format. However, if you try to edit, even English text in the Arabic Word document and save it -- most of the time at minimum the formating will be screwed up when opening in Windows.

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9th June 2008, 10:51	#3 (permalink)
Lotta Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Lund, Sweden Posts: 6	Hi, so the MS Office for MAC 2008 still does not work with Arabic?

9th June 2008, 14:39	#4 (permalink)
fangpyre Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Dubai Posts: 1,387	The short answer: no. The long answer: Word: NO! Excel: yes, but no right to left sheets. Powerpoint: yes, but you might need to change fonts. Entourage: kind of

11th June 2008, 11:36	#5 (permalink)
Lotta Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Lund, Sweden Posts: 6	Ok, thanks for reply. I'll go for Nisus then - is it obvious how it works once installed or do I just have to download it and follow instructions?

18th June 2008, 12:42	#7 (permalink)
Zaid Al Hilali Senior Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Mirdif-Dubai Posts: 1,393	There have been always a work around to open Arabic Word. Adobe InDesign reads Arabic MS documents perfectly even if it contains tables, foot notes, headers and footers. But what each and every Mac user could do, is open incoming Arabic MS Word files in Text Edit free program that comes with OSX, or even more you may type full Arabic letter, report with full formatting elements in Text Edit, then export as .doc When you open an incoming Arabic MS Word file you can choose Text Encoding from the open dialogue window in case Text Edit failed to select the right encoding.

18th June 2008, 13:03	#8 (permalink)
SaudiMac Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Posts: 250	Wish it was as good as their windows applications .. Microsoft Products and Arabic Support