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This may be just something that I'm going to have to lose with the conversion from PC to Mac, but:

On the Windows version of Word 2011, when you click equation, the program immediately goes into equation mode and you can start typing the equation right there on the line. Once you're done, you just hit the right arrow key to exit. If you want to edit the equation, just click in it and the cursor will move inside it. It's incredibly convenient for someone who has to use equation mode every ten seconds to add an integral or something, like me.

On the Mac version, equation is a button that you press. A window comes up (it takes about five seconds to appear), and then you have to type your equation in the window and click X. If you want to edit the equation, click on it and the window will pop back up. It's very inconvenient and makes writing math documents take a lot longer.

Is there a way to get the Mac version to behave like the Windows version?

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    This isn't an answer (which is why I'm posting it as a comment), but in general, Microsoft does not maintain feature parity across the Mac and Windows versions of its software. It is quite possible that this is one of those features. If you want a standardized way to create math documents, LaTeX, of course, is the same across platform :-/ (which I'm guessing isn't quite what you're looking for)
    – Daniel ♦
    Mar 26, 2012 at 12:47
  • No, LaTeX would take even longer, unfortunately. I use the equation editor to do quick inline things like putting in a bunch of integrals or adding functions.
    – Andrew Latham
    Mar 26, 2012 at 13:09
  • @AndrewLatham Have you tried LyX, a somewhat WYSIWYG LaTeX editor?
    – gentmatt
    Mar 26, 2012 at 15:08

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The 2007 version of Word for Mac was quite different from the Windows counterpart and Microsoft didn't maintain a 1:1 release schedule for the Windows version and the Mac version. Consequently the Windows version got ahead of the Mac version and this can lead to some confusion and frustration with the different behaviours when you move between then platforms.

The good news is if you upgrade to Office for Mac 2011 you'll get inline equation editing in Word that works very much the same as the Windows counterpart. And it's as fast as the Windows counterpart on similar hardware.

Inline equation editing in Word 2011 for Mac

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  • Same here. I happen to have both Word 2008 (v12.2.3) and Word 2011 (v14.1.3) for Mac, and while both versions allow inserting an embedded Microsoft Equation Editor object (which, of course, opens an auxiliary application in an external window), only the Word 2011 version also allows inline equations.
    – fanaugen
    Mar 26, 2012 at 13:36

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