Microsoft Office 2008 Slow to Launch in 10.5.2

 A number of users are reporting incredibly slow launch times (up to several minutes) for Office 2008 applications under Mac OS X 10.5.2. Some MacFixIt readers report that Apple and Microsoft have both identified this as a known issue.

For some users, the following fix has proven mildly successful: In Word, turn off WYSIWYG fonts and “Show Project Gallery at Startup” in (go the “Word” menu, then Preferences > General). Quit any Office apps. Next delete the files:

• HOME/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/User Templates/Normal.dotm
• HOME/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Word.plist
• HOME/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/Office 2008

and restart.

Apple is aware of the problem and they claim there is a conflict with Office 2008 and Leopard 10.5.2. No word on when a fix will be available.