iWork 2007 expectations?
What are the known and rumored expectations of iWork 2007?
iWork is usually released in january. I think now is the perfect time for Apple to make a full attack on Microsoft as Office 2007:Mac isn't going to be released the next 5-7 months. Leopard seems very strong compared to Vista. Lots of switchers coming to the Mac. They need a word processor, and why shouldn't be Apples own?
* I agree with Ireland elsewhere on the AI forums that Apple should start bundling iWork with Leopard, as it currently only has a 2% market share on the mac word processing market. A method to recover from the lost sales would be for Apple to integrate iWork more with .Mac, so as to sell more .Mac subscriptions.
* A .docx import/export option has been spotted on several screenshots from developer builds.
* A Numbers or Database application has been rumored about at several sites, but I remain skeptical. With the current integration of very rudimentary spreadsheet functions in Pages it seems Apple has decided not to compete with Excel. A database would on the other hand seem to be quite easy to produce for Apple, as the underlying frameworks ( to my very limited knowledge of the subject) seems to be in order now -Spotlight, Coredata, SQL, etc.
* Another very needed thing to make iWork a robust Office package is a basic vector drawing tool or separate application. But I don't think I have seen this mentioned anywhere?
* I really hope to see some speed improvements in Pages, and a much more dedicated word processing approach.
What do you think should be included and does anybody know anymore than the abovementioned?
iWork is usually released in january. I think now is the perfect time for Apple to make a full attack on Microsoft as Office 2007:Mac isn't going to be released the next 5-7 months. Leopard seems very strong compared to Vista. Lots of switchers coming to the Mac. They need a word processor, and why shouldn't be Apples own?
* I agree with Ireland elsewhere on the AI forums that Apple should start bundling iWork with Leopard, as it currently only has a 2% market share on the mac word processing market. A method to recover from the lost sales would be for Apple to integrate iWork more with .Mac, so as to sell more .Mac subscriptions.
* A .docx import/export option has been spotted on several screenshots from developer builds.
* A Numbers or Database application has been rumored about at several sites, but I remain skeptical. With the current integration of very rudimentary spreadsheet functions in Pages it seems Apple has decided not to compete with Excel. A database would on the other hand seem to be quite easy to produce for Apple, as the underlying frameworks ( to my very limited knowledge of the subject) seems to be in order now -Spotlight, Coredata, SQL, etc.
* Another very needed thing to make iWork a robust Office package is a basic vector drawing tool or separate application. But I don't think I have seen this mentioned anywhere?
* I really hope to see some speed improvements in Pages, and a much more dedicated word processing approach.
What do you think should be included and does anybody know anymore than the abovementioned?
Comments
That will hurt Apple Big Time!!
So expect no big steps in iWork, just minor improvements.
Apple improves iWork too much -> Microsoft stops developing office for Mac
Bull.
Office for the Mac is terminal. It's only a matter of time. Might as well make iWork as good as you can.
Yet more bull.
Have a nice day.
Microsoft is in no danger of losing to iWork. That being said my own personal needs dictate that I am more of a iWork 07 guy so I'm definitely looking for a solid upgrade but I'm not going to expect huge changes. A spreadsheet is a must, I'd like to see some drawing and painting tools and toss in a few more surprises and you have my $79
Add:
- drawing function (basic is fine, but more than what is standard in Pages now)
- a spreadsheet of sorts (again, nothing big and fancy, but enough to run a small business)
- a simple database would be nice, too, but is not essential. Wiki type would be awesome.
You already have iCal for scheduling, so here you would have everything necessary for a small business or home business without the bulge and cost of Office.
Though I would REALLY like to see it bundled with all new Macs, I have an eerie feeling Apple has make a deal with MS to not include a document app; that's why Office and iWork demos exist on the new machines.
Its secondary function is to offer an advanced backup strategy in case Office is ever pulled from the platform.
If you doubt the second statement, ask yourself why the modules were separated from each other instead of integrated a la AppleWorks. An integrated suite would have been the safer option and would not have the Mac web wondering whether Apple has plans to 'compete' with Office.
Right now, it's important to keep Redmond committed to the platform during the changeover to Leopard and pushing the legacy developers to Intel and Xcode.
Therefore, I think iWork will most likely get a basic spreadsheet that doesn't come anywhere close to Excel, while Pages and Keynote will receive decent, but not revolutionary upgrades.
As far as iWork goes, I think that this is the year for Apple to fill it out, especially in relation to AppleWorks. Old AppleWorks is so OS 9 and Apple needs to replace it.
While a spreadsheet doesn't need to be as large as Excel it does need to be somewhat extensive. A database also needs to handle growing needs of the users even if it isn't up to the big boys. Since Apple owns FileMaker there is no reason why they can't basically come up with a FileMaker Lite to fill the need. That would also provide a revenue generating upgrade path to the full FileMaker when the users needs it.
Overall I think that iWork 07 should be a significant upgrade in order to motivate those of us who upgraded last year to repeat our order. Minor stuff won't get my money.
Mac Office is slowly but surely being killed off.
Apple needs to do something that makes it easier for the masses, not just people that really worry about styles or like to get into an app a bit more to learn it.
Once you learn Pages, it is very powerful and it all just seems to make sense. But you have to spend some time with it to get to that point. Something I don't think the masses wants and expects from a word processor these days. And I think this is shown in the low sales in general of iWork.
I use Pages nearly everyday. However, I think it is just too complicated for the average user. You can't just really turn it on and start typing. If you want to do a numbered list for example, you have to get into the styles drawer. You need the inspector for other things. Instead of menus or icons, you have to get used to the drawer/inspector thing.
Apple needs to do something that makes it easier for the masses, not just people that really worry about styles or like to get into an app a bit more to learn it.
Once you learn Pages, it is very powerful and it all just seems to make sense. But you have to spend some time with it to get to that point. Something I don't think the masses wants and expects from a word processor these days. And I think this is shown in the low sales in general of iWork.
Word is no different in complexity. It's probably, in some ways, more complicated than Pages.
It's doubtful the low sales of iWork can be attributed to the 'complexity' of Pages. I mean, c'mon, nobody's tried it so how can they judge it?
If the next version of Office for Mac looses VBA support it is totally dead in the water and pretty much useless as it stops all compatibility with Office for PC as the macros will no longer work.
Mac Office is slowly but surely being killed off.
My thoughts as well.
Between Merlin 2, xTimeProject and now Omniplan, the Mac is awash in quality project planning software.
Agreed. There are more choices than in the past, but an office suite ought to have more integrated functionality. If you put together apps from iWork, Omni and Tables, you could get all the office capabilities, but it's not an interoperable suite.
expect it to be add a more intutitive interface for simple, primarily text oriented documents. function is already there, but too much hooked up with the larger pages ability for "place holders" and other graphic layout.
keynote:
more of the same goodness that it already has. its nearly perfect already.
numbers:
simple extension of the chart/data sheet already present in keynote, but with more math functions.
I personally think that a Word compatible document revision system is the most obvious obstacle to competition with MS Word in most office enviroments. Along with Spreadsheet and that VBA-issue that MS wasn't - and Apple never will be- able to resolve.
Apple improves iWork too much -> Microsoft stops developing office for Mac.
That will hurt Apple Big Time!!
So expect no big steps in iWork, just minor improvements.
I'm going to write this in bold letters for all to see. IWORK IS A REPLACEMENT FOR APPLEWORKS. IT IS NOT A OFFICE COMPETITOR. It's fine for basic consumer tasks, but it can't begin to do the high level things that office does.
What I expect to see.
1. Bundled with all consumer Macs. There is no excuse whatsoever for a computer shipping without a productivity suite. I'm giving Apple a free pass for 2006. If it's not there in 2007, it's either greed or pure stupidity on Apple's part.
2. Consumer level Spreadsheet and database applications
3. A traditional interface mode for Pages for Word Processing.