If you do a lot of cutting and pasting from one document to another in Word (2004 and 2008) and want your pasting to adopt the style of the new document, you will know what a pain in the butt it is.

Word expects you to go to the Edit menu, choose Paste Special and then select Unformatted Text in the next dialog box and click OK.

I couldn’t count the number of hours I’ve spent doing this. I came to accept it as an Office for Mac user’s fate; something that just had to be endured.

Joe Kissell, senior editor at TidBITS, has the shortcut I wish I had discovered years ago. In a TidBITS post he provides the scripts needed to reduce this convoluted process to a single keystroke.

As he points out, I could have automated this with the macro-recorder in Word 2004. Never thought of that!

But Word 2008 has lost its scripting support for Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) and ,along with that, the ability to record macros.

Instead, in Word 2008 you will need to use AppleScript.

Joe provides the steps for setting up the macro in Word 2004 and the applescript Word 2008 users will need to get the same result.

He even unlocks the mysteries of the way a file called Paste Plain Text\smV.scpt is automatically bound to a keystroke shortcut.

Check out his article and other newsy posts and tips at TidBITS. word 2004, word 2008, office for mac, pasting, scripts, VBA, tips, productivity, tidbitsSimilar Posts:

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The update features improvements to all the Office apps, but Entourage gets some features that users have long been asking for. (Remember the Entourage developer who posted here in January looking for user feedback and feature suggestions?)

According to the release notes:

• Entourage now syncs with Mac OS X Sync Services. Users of Mac OS X 10.4.3 or later versions of Mac OS can synchronize Entourage items with other programs, such as Address Book and iCal. You can also synchronize items with other Macintosh computers via Apple’s .Mac online services, and with portable devices, such as phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs).
• Users of Mac OS X 10.4 or later versions of Mac OS can use Spotlight to search Entourage items. You can use Spotlight to index all unencrypted Entourage items and search their contents.
• Entourage can use smart cards to sign, encrypt, and decrypt e-mail messages. For users of Mac OS X 10.4.2 or later versions of Mac OS, this update provides improved compatibility with Mac OS keychain support for smart cards, such as Common Access Cards. As a result, Entourage can use certificates and private keys stored on smart cards to sign, encrypt, and decrypt Entourage e-mail messages.
• SSL connections to Mac OS X 10.4 servers work correctly Entourage and other Office programs are more compatible with self-signed certificates, which are used to establish secure (SSL) connections to servers running Mac OS X 10.4 Server.
• Entourage is smarter about handling iCal invitations

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From March this year, Entourage users will be able to search their emails with Spotlight, finally bringing Entourage into line with Word, PowerPoint and Excel, which already have Spotlight support.

Microsoft’s Macintosh Business Unit will also bring iSync support to Entourage, so that users will soon be able to sync their Entourage calendar, address book, notes and tasks with handheld devices that also work with Sync Services.

Entourage will also gain new converters to allow it to read the new Microsoft Open Office XML formats.

Microsoft introduced these improvements as part of a promise to continue the development of Office for Mac for another five years. ?¢‚Ǩ?ìWe?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ve had many years of success with Office for Mac”, Microsoft Consumer Productivity VP Tom Gibbons said in a press release, “and this formal commitment confirms that we?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢re in the Mac business for the long haul.?¢‚Ǩ¬ù

[Thanks, Dan!].

The full text of Microsoft’s Macintosh Business Unit after the jump…

Microsoft Commits to New Versions of Office for Mac
Formalised commitment underscores Mac BU, Apple long-term relationship

SAN FRANCISCO ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äù Jan. 10, 2006 ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äù Microsoft Corp.?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s Macintosh Business Unit (Mac BU) today announced at Macworld Conference & Expo 2006 a formal five-year agreement that reinforces Microsoft?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s plans to develop Microsoft?Ç¬Æ Office for Mac software for both PowerPC- and Intel-based Macs. The Mac BU outlined several upcoming improvements to Entourage?Ç¬Æ 2004 for Mac and said it plans to build converters to read the new Microsoft Office Open XML Formats. The commitment agreement and product announcements emphasise the cooperation between the two companies and serve as significant indicators of Microsoft?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s ongoing commitment to the Mac platform.

?¢‚Ǩ?ìMicrosoft has a history of successful collaboration with Apple, and this agreement underscores our commitment to the Mac platform,?¢‚Ǩ¬ù said Tom Gibbons, vice president of the Consumer Productivity eXperiences Business at Microsoft. ?¢‚Ǩ?ìWe?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ve had many years of success with Office for Mac, and this formal commitment confirms that we?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢re in the Mac business for the long haul.?¢‚Ǩ¬ù

For more than 20 years, the Mac BU has collaborated with customers, other Microsoft teams and Apple Computer Inc. to deliver leading-edge productivity software. The agreement paves the way for the two companies to combine talents to meet the needs of Mac customers now and in the future.

?¢‚Ǩ?ìMicrosoft?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s Mac BU continues to be a great Mac developer, bringing innovative and compatible versions of Microsoft Office to Mac customers,?¢‚Ǩ¬ù said Philip Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide product marketing at Apple. ?¢‚Ǩ?ìThe Mac platform has never been stronger, and we?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢re pleased that Microsoft is committed to delivering great Mac products for many years to come.?¢‚Ǩ¬ù

Entourage 2004 Delivers on Customer Requests
Microsoft is putting the final touches on a number of Entourage 2004 enhancements scheduled for delivery in March 2006. Since the release of Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger), the Mac BU has worked with Apple to enable Sync Services integration with Entourage information and data. Customers will soon be able to sync their Entourage calendar, address book, notes and tasks with handheld devices that also work with Sync Services. Support for Spotlight, another Tiger feature, will allow customers to more effectively search Entourage e-mail messages, as they are already able to do with their Office 2004 for Mac Word, PowerPoint?Ç¬Æ and Excel?Ç¬Æ files. The Mac BU has enhanced Smart Card technology for customers who need to send digitally signed and encrypted e-mail messages.

Messenger for Mac Meets Enterprise Needs
The Mac BU will release new features that continue to make Messenger for Mac an ideal messaging application for Mac enterprise customers. While the current version of Messenger for Mac provides more secure messaging and file transfers within the firewall, Messenger for Mac 5.1 will allow users to send files more securely to external contacts. The updated version also will be better able to determine a user?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s location and where to send the message if the user is logged into Microsoft Office Live Communications Server on more than one machine. In addition, IT managers will have improved control over how they save chats at an organisational level. Messenger 5.1 is expected to be released in March.

Mac BU Focuses on Cross-Platform Compatibility
Seamless cross-platform compatibility is of prime importance to Mac users and remains a key focus of the Mac BU. To ensure that Office for Mac customers receive the highest level of compatibility, the Mac BU will issue converters that let Office for Mac users read the new Microsoft Office Open XML Format. These downloadable converters will be released for current versions of Office for Mac following the availability of the next version of Office for Windows?ǬÆ. The Mac BU partners daily with many groups at Microsoft to help ensure that its software operates smoothly with software on the Windows platform. Through this ongoing collaboration, the team is well positioned to continue identifying new and creative ways to help Mac users work smarter.Similar Posts:

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