Endnote X4 and Mac

EndNote EndNote General
1

The Thomson Reuters website and print mailings for Endnote X4 has not been forthright when describing compatiblity issues with the new versions of Word, especially for Macs.  I would not have purchased the application if I were told beforehand that it was not functional with current versions of Word.

The website states that Endnote X4 has been designed for Mac OS X, yet Word 2011 is not supported, nor does it specifically state that Word 2008 is compatible either (X3 is listed as compatible with 2004, 2008). 

  1. Thomson Reuters needs to examine their Endnote Management team.  A 2011 patch is unacceptable.

  2. Thomson Reuters needs to place a disclaimer on the main home webpage that Endnote X4 is NOT compatible with Word 2011, and perhaps even Word 2008.

  3.  Thomson Reuters should provide free license upgrades to everyone who has purchased X4-Mac for the upcoming X5-Mac version, in addition to offering a full refund.

  4.  Do not sell a product if it does not work!  

2

I do not want to comment on Thomson’s  marketing strategy for EndNote X4 (Mac), but I have not encountered any problems using EndNote X4 (Mac) with Word 2008.

Office 2011 has only just been officially released, and while many in the EndNote user community have expressed frustration with the delay in releasing a corresponding patch for X4, I can appreciate Thomsons reluctance to undertake development based on earlier beta releases of Office 2011.

As a librarian who provides EndNote training and support for faculty and postgraduate students, I have been more concerned about bugs introduced with the X4.0.1 (Win) patch. There is something wrong with QA and software testing processes that allow a patch to be released, that immediately requires development of a further patch!

I am happy to wait a bit longer for the office 2011 patch, if it means that it has been thoroughly tested.