The first time you launch Office 2008 you’ll think that it’s experienced an Extreme Mac-over. The windows, toolbars, and icons have been modernized and de-cluttered, helping Office blend in better with your other Mac programs—instead of sticking out like the “I’m a PC” guy at a Mac user group meeting.

To go along with its updated look, Office 2008 features a host of brand new features, including the Elements Gallery (Figure 1), offering quick access to document templates and graphics; Word’s Publishing Layout View, a complete page layout program replete with templates for newsletters, flyers, brochures, and so on; a gallery of Excel spreadsheet templates called Ledger Sheets; completely revamped Excel charting capabilities; and My Day, a desktop portal to Entourage showing your current appointments and to dos.

Other improvements are less obvious, but no less important: the new XML file format, Automator support, font ligatures, and the ability to put your PowerPoint presentation on an iPod.

Figure 1. Top: The new Elements Gallery appears in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, and gives you a quick way to insert pre-designed document elements like cover pages, tables, charts, and SmartArt graphics. Bottom: MyDay functions as a portal into your Entourage calendar and to-do list. This way you can keep an eye on your day’s essentials—without falling into the black hole of your email.