Why does the blinking I-beam cursor keep disappearing when editing text inside tables in Word 2011?

I have been writing about this problem since 2004:

http://www.betalogue.com/2004/06/28/word-2004-more-on-disappearing-i-beam-cursor/

The scenario described in this post is the first manifestation of it. Since then, it's been spreading to other areas, including tables, text frames, etc.

http://www.betalogue.com/index.php?s=disappearing+cursor

But of course, it's all my imagination and there isn't a single other Word user in the world who has the same problem.

Ahem.

It seems to me that there are enough reports of this problem here and elsewhere online by enough users to warrant proper investigation and a fix by Microsoft. 

My own work is done.

Pierre

I mean, Safe Boot to prove that the cursor is still disappearing? Give me a break. Next thing I know, you'll ask me to go to the North Pole with my computer and see if I can reproduce the problem there

No, I'd rather you went to the North Pole and stayed there.

I'm a professional writer/editor and use Word 2011 almost exclusively. I consider myself a power user (I've been using Word since the 1980s). There are many things that work better in the Windows version than on a Mac. For example, on a Mac, vertical text in shaded cells in tables is not even visible.

But your I beam/cursor visibility problem is a new one. I just finished editing a report with over 30 tables and have no problem seeing the cursor (except if the text is vertical/shaded, which, fortunately, is rare for me). I'm working on a Macbook Pro (Mavericks). Word 14.4.7.

I just noticed there is a new Word update (14.4.8). Can I ask what version you are using, and if this problem was present for you in previous versions. If it seems limited to 14.4.8, I might wait for the next update.

Sure, I've got tons of time to do yet more testing to PROVE that Microsoft Word 2011 is a pile of ****.

My turn to ask a question: Does anybody out there actually USE Word 2011 for actual WORK? Because it seems to me that anyone who uses this tool seriously would notice all these things, including the unpredictable cursor blinking or lack thereof.

I have wasted enough time in my life trying to convince Microsoft and its cronies that its products are full of flaws and bugs. I am tired of having to go through the same thing again and again. At some point, someone other than an "MVP" has to take responsibility for these problems and do something about them. If not, it's basically just us users wasting our time and you MVPs choosing, for some reason, to be complicit in this endless torture of end users.

I mean, Safe Boot to prove that the cursor is still disappearing? Give me a break. Next thing I know, you'll ask me to go to the North Pole with my computer and see if I can reproduce the problem there.

Microsoft gets away with way too much, and you guys are complicit, by sending users on endless goose chases.

Have you tested in another user account? Or after pressing Shift during a restart (Safe Boot)?