Microsoft releases small update for Office for Mac 2011 to fix ‘critical issues’

A few weeks ago, Microsoft released Service Pack 2 for its Office for Mac 2011 product, which brought a myriad of fixes and new features. However, Microsoft quickly pulled the update from AutoUpdate last weekend due to the widespread issues users were facing— specifically in regards to Outlook. Do not get too bummed out though, because the folks up in Redmond were quick to release Office for Mac 2011 update 14.2.1 today. It brings fixes for the many “critical issues.” Microsoft said this update is “recommended for all users,” so go ahead and hop on over to Microsoft’s website to grab the 110MB update. You can check out the notes for the update after the break.

Fixes:

Office database issues 

• When you first start Microsoft Outlook after you install Office for Mac 2011 Service Pack 2 (SP2), you have to upgrade the Office database. If any corrupted files are detected during the database upgrade, the database utility runs. The database utility rebuilds the Office database. After the process is complete, the database upgrade restarts when you start Outlook. After the database upgrade is complete, Outlook starts.

File location changes

• AppleScripts are now copied to the new default script location.
  • If you previously used Office 2011 14.2.0, the scripts will not be copied.
  • You can manually copy AppleScripts to the new location. To do this, follow these steps:
    1. On the Go menu, click Documents, and then open the Microsoft User Data folder.
    2. Locate and then select the following folders:
       • Excel Script Menu Items
       • Outlook Script Menu Items
       • PowerPoint Script Menu Items
       • Word Script Menu Items
    3. On the Edit menu, click Copy.
    4. On the Go menu, click Go To Folder.
    5. Type the following folder location in the Go to the folder box, and then click Go:
       ~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office
    6. On the Edit menu, click Paste. The folders that you selected in step 2 are copied to the new location.
• Autocorrect lists are now copied to the new Auto correction list [?] folder location. 
  • If you previously used Office 2011 14.2.0, the autocorrect lists will not be copied.
  • You can manually copy your old autocorrect lists to the new location. To do this, follow these steps:
    1. On the Go menu, click Go To Folder.
    2. Type the following folder location in the Go to the folder box, and then click Go:
       ~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/Office 2011/
    3. Locate and then select the autocorrect lists. They are listed as the following:
       Microsoft Office ACL [LanguageName]

       Note The placeholder LanguageName represents a language for which you have autocorrect lists installed.

    4. On the Edit menu, click Copy.
    5. On the Go menu, click Go To Folder.
    6. Type the following folder location in the Go to the folder box, and then click Go:
       ~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/Preferences/Office 2011/
    7. On the Edit menu, click Paste. The autocorrect lists are copied to the new location.

Starting Outlook

• When you start Outlook, you are no longer prompted to select your Outlook identity.

Command-line installation

• You can now deploy Office 2011 SP2 updates by using a command-line installation or by using tools that call the command line, such as Casper or Munki, on Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) and on later versions of Mac OS X.