Apple doesn't get it. Either backwards compatibility or a file upgrade path are essential for useable and reliable software. Removal of key features is not an "upgrade" but a downgrade. There is an Apple history of issuing, rewriting, replacing or abandoning software- Appleworks, FCP, iWork. How many more messages does Apple need to send to pro users that they cannot rely on their software products over time? In this context, why bother making the new trash can Apple Pro? Who is going to buy it and what Apple software will they run, at risk of application and file death down the road? Any professional in his right mind now will go with a Windows PC where at least major software vendors such as MS and Adobe do consider backwards compatibility and file upgrade paths as keys to keeping customers (for a price that now seems with paying). iWork/Pages 5 should never have been released as such, but given a different name. To do so without at least a warning to users of '09 about feature removal and file incompatibility is just plain dishonest. With billions in (overseas) bank accounts, Apple could spend a little more to understand their customers needs and provide reliable software development paths.
Obviously they are trying to achieve synchronicity between the iCloud and off-line applications. It would be impractical to implement the floating inspector in iCloud and they decided, correctly, that the choice of a single interface was advantageous and that iCloud functionality trumped user interface optimization. I prefer the old user interface as well but as soon as iWork/Cloud collaborative editing was released I immediately implemented it at my company and it's already streamlining our workflow for the development of technical documentation. It's a worthwhile trade.
This discussion only mentions Pages and Numbers, but the changes to Keynote (which include all of the feature losses and downgrades affecting the others) are even more devastating. The customizable presenter display, long one of the distinguishing features of Keynote, has been rendered all but unusable, and the editing interface much less convenient. It's fine for them to develop an application suite with cross-platform compatibility, but since that means least-common-denominator functionality, why does it have to entail the disappearance of (much used) previous capabilities on more powerful platforms? Why not preserve and improve the old versions as "pro" products without crippling them? The claim that there's no problem because you can always keep the old versions ignores the facts that (a) there's no way to tell how long those versions wil continue to work, given changes in OS X; (b) there's no easy way to get them for new machines [I was just about to buy a new MacBook Pro, but if I can't have usable presentation software on it, I'm not so sure]; and (c) if you have the new version on your system at all, there's no way to make the old one the default app to open Keynote (Pages, Numbers) files. These are not trivial issues, and responses along the lines of "shut up, suck it up and go with the flow" that I see on this thread are not really appropriate answers to them.
This discussion only mentions Pages and Numbers, but the changes to Keynote (which include all of the feature losses and downgrades affecting the others) are even more devastating. The customizable presenter display, long one of the distinguishing features of Keynote, has been rendered all but unusable, and the editing interface much less convenient. It's fine for them to develop an application suite with cross-platform compatibility, but since that means least-common-denominator functionality, why does it have to entail the disappearance of (much used) previous capabilities on more powerful platforms? Why not preserve and improve the old versions as "pro" products without crippling them?
The claim that there's no problem because you can always keep the old versions ignores the facts that (a) there's no way to tell how long those versions wil continue to work, given changes in OS X; (b) there's no easy way to get them for new machines ; and (c) if you have the new version on your system at all, there's no way to make the old one the default app to open Keynote (Pages, Numbers) files.
These are not trivial issues, and responses along the lines of "shut up, suck it up and go with the flow" that I see on this thread are not really appropriate answers to them.
Or you can simply uninstall the app, in this case the new Pages/Numbers/Keynote and revert back to the old one which is still on your machine. Don't just drag and drop into the trash bin but also look for system wide files like in /Preferences/Library.
Finally, if you have a business that depends on such software, no one should update blindly. Be it an OS or individual apps. At the very least do some reading on compatibility issues before making such a move. That may entail a wait of a month or so before upgrading.
Mikey, the article needs to be updated. There's no data loss since the autosave feature allows past versions to be restored, even without Time Machine. Please update it so the frenzy of panicked users calms down.
Of course I can uninstall the new versions, or just not "upgrade" to them at all. But you haven't told me how to get the old ones for a new machine, or what to do when Apple "uninstalls" the old ones in a future OS X update, or why I should buy into the notion that unlike Micr$oft products, my day to day productivity software won't be seeing any more updates in the future, or why I should be happy that a formerly professional presentation program has been reduced to something suitable for not much more than fifth grade book reports. None of this is inevitable, but it follows from Apple's ongoing dumbing-down of OS X in favor of iOS.
Whilst I hope Apple reinstates some of the missing features in Pages and Numbers in the future, overall I am very happy with the new design and the compatibility across OS X, iOS and iCloud.
There are always people who baulk at change: they see the threats, not the opportunities.
The past is littered with folk who didn't want to move on from MS DOS, Win 3.1/95/98/XP, WordPerfect, AmiPro, etc.
The new iWork produces beautiful cross-platform documents, and it fulfils 100% of the needs of 99% of users…and that is a big deal for companies that can now supply their staff with OS and iWork upgrades for free, and without the expense, high-wastage and inefficiency of using MS products.
If it doesn't meet your needs for now, use the old iWork or buy other software; and contact Apple with reasoned suggestions for improvements.
The furore is childish nonsense. I hope Tim Cook tells people to stop whining, to stop hankering for the past, and to wise up to the opportunities of the future.
And remember, employment is just like natural selection: if you can't (or won't) adapt to new ways of working, your company can easily find people who can. There are a ton of young people coming into the marketplace who have grown up with iPods and iPhones and Apple's simple way of doing things. They will embrace the new iWork in an instant, at which point the naysayers will be history only.
Of course I can uninstall the new versions, or just not "upgrade" to them at all. But you haven't told me how to get the old ones for a new machine, or what to do when Apple "uninstalls" the old ones in a future OS X update, or why I should buy into the notion that unlike Micr$oft products, my day to day productivity software won't be seeing any more updates in the future, or why I should be happy that a formerly professional presentation program has been reduced to something suitable for not much more than fifth grade book reports. None of this is inevitable, but it follows from Apple's ongoing dumbing-down of OS X in favor of iOS.
You can get the old version for a new machine by using the Migration Assistant when you set the new machine up, or even afterward by dragging the application over File Sharing from the old machine, or a Time Machine backup. Apple will never remove the old version or files. They will always be there.
iWork was rewritten to achieve parity on a roadmap to the future. It was critical and necessary. Like FCPX, the features will be restored in time and until then, '09 will continue to function normally. Nothing is lost.
I'm very happy to see that my voice is one amongst the multitude... So many issues with the new iWork update. I purposely abandoned Microsoft Office a long time ago. As an instructor of college English, iWork does everything I need and, indeed, does things that Office couldn't handle. All my grade books and attendance rosters translated fine, my presentations for lecture content in Keynote translated without issue as well... My beef is with Pages. I can no longer make comments in the margins and .pdf the work to return to my students. All my online coursework and other work I receive electronically now needs to be handled through Office and Word so I can make it happen. If I REALLY want to inconvenience myself and jump through hoops, I can be home on my MacBook and download all the papers to work on and place them in cloud storage, then while I'm mobile I can use Pages in my iPad to critique them and e-mail them to a different account as Word documents (so the comments still show up) and then go home to .pdf them from there and then send them out. But with a full course load, who the #%@^ has time for that kind of nonsense!?!
The inspector is an issue as well, as it seems like it does less on my initial review of it.
The application worked SO WELL for so long that to lose it's functionality at the cost of creating a streamlined experience across the OSX and iOS platforms breaks my heart. Now, to be truly mobile again, I need to invest in a portable Windows environment (until Pages for iOS has all the functionality the old Pages for OSX did, or at least until the functionality is returned to Pages on OSX. Grr, snarl, spit spit hiss growl roar! I never, never thought Apple would drive me back into the arms of Microsoft for functionality, but soon I'll have to carry a surface an an iPad to class. Joy...
I'm not criticising Apple for starting again from scratch and ensuring feature parity with iCloud and iOS as a top priority...these are great things for which they should be commended, but...
If you're going to put out a clearly unfinished product be open and honest about that and don't try to pass it off as an upgrade until it's ready! Call it a beta and people will be much more forgiving and probably even more willing to help in the development process by way of feedback and feature requests.
It's just astonishing to me that it's now the third time in as many years they've made exactly the same mistake, even more so now with the benefit of hindsight regarding the FCP X and Maps fiascos.
Is it that hard for them to say: "We love iWork but sometimes you have to start again and we wanted to make a suite that has feature parity across all your Macs, devices and the web. It's not ready yet but we're offering a free public beta of the new iWork for OS X today and we'd love to work with you to make it the best possible platform to get work done as quickly, easily and fun as possible."
Seriously is that so freaking hard??? Or is that not arrogant enough for Apple these days?
I agree that the new iWork programs are a great improvement on the previous ones. I think they've made the interface much simpler and easier to use. The side panel tool bar is an excellent development. I genuinely think Pages and Keynote are now better than Microsoft PowerPoint precisely because they have been simplified. I was able to create a brand new presentation so much faster than before.
The seamless experience across platforms via iCloud is excellent. I love the ability to review the same document on my iPhone, iPad and Mac.
What all the negativity makes me realise is that iWork is hugely important. i think people want an alternative to Office. Office was great 10 years ago. Today it has become bloated with features that 99% of users seldom use. We really needed something brand new built from the ground up.
I wonder if all this rubbish comes from Microsoft people who have been instructed to rubbish iWork merely to protect Office?
Software developers should be shot for removing functionality in new versions of software. If car companies did this, they'd be out of business. Imagine the new version of your car, which has all the mod-cons, minus ABS or airbags or cruise control etc...
1/. Communication. Users shouldn't have had to discover by using the app upgrades that things have changed. There should have been indications at the app launch event that there would be some differences in functionality. Maybe the software should have been designated a new name. The iWork for iOS updates that came bundled with 7.0.3 should have been optional. When opening old version files, the new app could have listed in a dialog box which features in the opened file it no longer supported and allowed a user to bail out.
Making things worse is the silent treatment Apple gives its customers; seemingly priding itself on its policies of not commenting or responding.
Let's get one thing straight: this is not The Acme Computer Company we're talking about here. This is Apple. One of the most profitable companies in the world. They could "personally respond" to every email, gripe and feature request... if they really wanted to.
2/. Trust. When people and companies adopt a given software application, they literally invest in it; in both time and money. It's a commitment that should be honoured. Apple depended on pro users who saw the company through its darkest times... then rewarded them by dropping support for things like Final Cut Server. Again, Apple has more than enough money in the bank to keep supporting-- and developing!-- older versions of software applications like FCP7 and even iWork 09... to make a firm commitment to its loyal users that their investment in Apple products is safe into the future.
My livelihood depends on Keynote. When features I depend on are removed I get nervous. I start to worry that I might be left high and dry. Sure, I can use the legacy versions of the software... but for how long? These are not things I should be feeling. Without trust, a brand is nothing.
FCP X is blooming in the right direction. Soon it will surpass FCP 7.x in functionality, never mind already surpassing greatly in workflow.
If this course of action is taken with iWorks then people will stop complaining.
Until then, just use LibreOffice for OS X. Next release will have full OpenGL acceleration across all platforms that matter: OS X/FreeBSD, Linux and Windows.
Or just use iWork '9 as well when needed. When not needed, the new features in '13 are pretty cool. Now the cross platform and collaboration base is there they can move forward and I agree, we'll see these apps gain back what's lost and more.
The comparison with FCPro X does have one problem, it's called iMovie. iWork is more akin to iLife ... so for a good comparison we need the equivalent Pro apps or at least Numbers Pro (not sure Keynote needs it) and Pages Pro, to that mix I'd add a Pro database and web development app. Maybe time to bring Claris (sorry, Filemaker) back into the fold and perhaps buy Hype.
It is interesting the radical perspective people have here, For example Maps was never a fiasco, it has worked perfectly fine for me from day one.
The problem here is that people only see their perspective. Nor do they realize this is a way forward not a dead end. In reality Apple has given us, in part, what many of us have been asking for. That is file compatibility no matter what platform. Sure more features are better than less, but a completely refactored product has to start some where.
I have to agree with many here people like to whine rather than think.
Comments
Superb Iphone 6 is super ultraslim.Thanks apple
Removal of key features is not an "upgrade" but a downgrade.
There is an Apple history of issuing, rewriting, replacing or abandoning software- Appleworks, FCP, iWork. How many more messages does Apple need to send to pro users that they cannot rely on their software products over time?
In this context, why bother making the new trash can Apple Pro? Who is going to buy it and what Apple software will they run, at risk of application and file death down the road?
Any professional in his right mind now will go with a Windows PC where at least major software vendors such as MS and Adobe do consider backwards compatibility and file upgrade paths as keys to keeping customers (for a price that now seems with paying).
iWork/Pages 5 should never have been released as such, but given a different name. To do so without at least a warning to users of '09 about feature removal and file incompatibility is just plain dishonest.
With billions in (overseas) bank accounts, Apple could spend a little more to understand their customers needs and provide reliable software development paths.
The claim that there's no problem because you can always keep the old versions ignores the facts that (a) there's no way to tell how long those versions wil continue to work, given changes in OS X; (b) there's no easy way to get them for new machines [I was just about to buy a new MacBook Pro, but if I can't have usable presentation software on it, I'm not so sure]; and (c) if you have the new version on your system at all, there's no way to make the old one the default app to open Keynote (Pages, Numbers) files.
These are not trivial issues, and responses along the lines of "shut up, suck it up and go with the flow" that I see on this thread are not really appropriate answers to them.
This discussion only mentions Pages and Numbers, but the changes to Keynote (which include all of the feature losses and downgrades affecting the others) are even more devastating. The customizable presenter display, long one of the distinguishing features of Keynote, has been rendered all but unusable, and the editing interface much less convenient. It's fine for them to develop an application suite with cross-platform compatibility, but since that means least-common-denominator functionality, why does it have to entail the disappearance of (much used) previous capabilities on more powerful platforms? Why not preserve and improve the old versions as "pro" products without crippling them?
The claim that there's no problem because you can always keep the old versions ignores the facts that (a) there's no way to tell how long those versions wil continue to work, given changes in OS X; (b) there's no easy way to get them for new machines ; and (c) if you have the new version on your system at all, there's no way to make the old one the default app to open Keynote (Pages, Numbers) files.
These are not trivial issues, and responses along the lines of "shut up, suck it up and go with the flow" that I see on this thread are not really appropriate answers to them.
Or you can simply uninstall the app, in this case the new Pages/Numbers/Keynote and revert back to the old one which is still on your machine. Don't just drag and drop into the trash bin but also look for system wide files like in /Preferences/Library.
Finally, if you have a business that depends on such software, no one should update blindly. Be it an OS or individual apps. At the very least do some reading on compatibility issues before making such a move. That may entail a wait of a month or so before upgrading.
Whilst I hope Apple reinstates some of the missing features in Pages and Numbers in the future, overall I am very happy with the new design and the compatibility across OS X, iOS and iCloud.
There are always people who baulk at change: they see the threats, not the opportunities.
The past is littered with folk who didn't want to move on from MS DOS, Win 3.1/95/98/XP, WordPerfect, AmiPro, etc.
The new iWork produces beautiful cross-platform documents, and it fulfils 100% of the needs of 99% of users…and that is a big deal for companies that can now supply their staff with OS and iWork upgrades for free, and without the expense, high-wastage and inefficiency of using MS products.
If it doesn't meet your needs for now, use the old iWork or buy other software; and contact Apple with reasoned suggestions for improvements.
The furore is childish nonsense. I hope Tim Cook tells people to stop whining, to stop hankering for the past, and to wise up to the opportunities of the future.
And remember, employment is just like natural selection: if you can't (or won't) adapt to new ways of working, your company can easily find people who can. There are a ton of young people coming into the marketplace who have grown up with iPods and iPhones and Apple's simple way of doing things. They will embrace the new iWork in an instant, at which point the naysayers will be history only.
There is no glory or future in being a Luddite.
Of course I can uninstall the new versions, or just not "upgrade" to them at all. But you haven't told me how to get the old ones for a new machine, or what to do when Apple "uninstalls" the old ones in a future OS X update, or why I should buy into the notion that unlike Micr$oft products, my day to day productivity software won't be seeing any more updates in the future, or why I should be happy that a formerly professional presentation program has been reduced to something suitable for not much more than fifth grade book reports. None of this is inevitable, but it follows from Apple's ongoing dumbing-down of OS X in favor of iOS.
You can get the old version for a new machine by using the Migration Assistant when you set the new machine up, or even afterward by dragging the application over File Sharing from the old machine, or a Time Machine backup. Apple will never remove the old version or files. They will always be there.
iWork was rewritten to achieve parity on a roadmap to the future. It was critical and necessary. Like FCPX, the features will be restored in time and until then, '09 will continue to function normally. Nothing is lost.
I'm very happy to see that my voice is one amongst the multitude... So many issues with the new iWork update. I purposely abandoned Microsoft Office a long time ago. As an instructor of college English, iWork does everything I need and, indeed, does things that Office couldn't handle. All my grade books and attendance rosters translated fine, my presentations for lecture content in Keynote translated without issue as well... My beef is with Pages. I can no longer make comments in the margins and .pdf the work to return to my students. All my online coursework and other work I receive electronically now needs to be handled through Office and Word so I can make it happen. If I REALLY want to inconvenience myself and jump through hoops, I can be home on my MacBook and download all the papers to work on and place them in cloud storage, then while I'm mobile I can use Pages in my iPad to critique them and e-mail them to a different account as Word documents (so the comments still show up) and then go home to .pdf them from there and then send them out. But with a full course load, who the #%@^ has time for that kind of nonsense!?!
The inspector is an issue as well, as it seems like it does less on my initial review of it.
The application worked SO WELL for so long that to lose it's functionality at the cost of creating a streamlined experience across the OSX and iOS platforms breaks my heart. Now, to be truly mobile again, I need to invest in a portable Windows environment (until Pages for iOS has all the functionality the old Pages for OSX did, or at least until the functionality is returned to Pages on OSX. Grr, snarl, spit spit hiss growl roar! I never, never thought Apple would drive me back into the arms of Microsoft for functionality, but soon I'll have to carry a surface an an iPad to class. Joy...
If you're going to put out a clearly unfinished product be open and honest about that and don't try to pass it off as an upgrade until it's ready! Call it a beta and people will be much more forgiving and probably even more willing to help in the development process by way of feedback and feature requests.
It's just astonishing to me that it's now the third time in as many years they've made exactly the same mistake, even more so now with the benefit of hindsight regarding the FCP X and Maps fiascos.
Is it that hard for them to say: "We love iWork but sometimes you have to start again and we wanted to make a suite that has feature parity across all your Macs, devices and the web. It's not ready yet but we're offering a free public beta of the new iWork for OS X today and we'd love to work with you to make it the best possible platform to get work done as quickly, easily and fun as possible."
Seriously is that so freaking hard??? Or is that not arrogant enough for Apple these days?
I agree that the new iWork programs are a great improvement on the previous ones. I think they've made the interface much simpler and easier to use. The side panel tool bar is an excellent development. I genuinely think Pages and Keynote are now better than Microsoft PowerPoint precisely because they have been simplified. I was able to create a brand new presentation so much faster than before.
The seamless experience across platforms via iCloud is excellent. I love the ability to review the same document on my iPhone, iPad and Mac.
What all the negativity makes me realise is that iWork is hugely important. i think people want an alternative to Office. Office was great 10 years ago. Today it has become bloated with features that 99% of users seldom use. We really needed something brand new built from the ground up.
I wonder if all this rubbish comes from Microsoft people who have been instructed to rubbish iWork merely to protect Office?
I think AI needed a story because because of a slow news cycle. They don't have any scalpers waiting in line at the Apple Store to cover yet?
What if I only have the new version (because I'm a new Mac user) and someone wants me to read a file created with the old version?
If car companies did this, they'd be out of business. Imagine the new version of your car, which has all the mod-cons, minus ABS or airbags or cruise control etc...
What if I only have the new version (because I'm a new Mac user) and someone wants me to read a file created with the old version?
In that case you'll have to find a copy of the old version. Or have them export it as a PDF or .doc
1/. Communication. Users shouldn't have had to discover by using the app upgrades that things have changed. There should have been indications at the app launch event that there would be some differences in functionality. Maybe the software should have been designated a new name. The iWork for iOS updates that came bundled with 7.0.3 should have been optional. When opening old version files, the new app could have listed in a dialog box which features in the opened file it no longer supported and allowed a user to bail out.
Making things worse is the silent treatment Apple gives its customers; seemingly priding itself on its policies of not commenting or responding.
Let's get one thing straight: this is not The Acme Computer Company we're talking about here. This is Apple. One of the most profitable companies in the world. They could "personally respond" to every email, gripe and feature request... if they really wanted to.
2/. Trust. When people and companies adopt a given software application, they literally invest in it; in both time and money. It's a commitment that should be honoured. Apple depended on pro users who saw the company through its darkest times... then rewarded them by dropping support for things like Final Cut Server. Again, Apple has more than enough money in the bank to keep supporting-- and developing!-- older versions of software applications like FCP7 and even iWork 09... to make a firm commitment to its loyal users that their investment in Apple products is safe into the future.
My livelihood depends on Keynote. When features I depend on are removed I get nervous. I start to worry that I might be left high and dry. Sure, I can use the legacy versions of the software... but for how long? These are not things I should be feeling. Without trust, a brand is nothing.
Or just use iWork '9 as well when needed. When not needed, the new features in '13 are pretty cool. Now the cross platform and collaboration base is there they can move forward and I agree, we'll see these apps gain back what's lost and more.
The comparison with FCPro X does have one problem, it's called iMovie. iWork is more akin to iLife ... so for a good comparison we need the equivalent Pro apps or at least Numbers Pro (not sure Keynote needs it) and Pages Pro, to that mix I'd add a Pro database and web development app. Maybe time to bring Claris (sorry, Filemaker) back into the fold and perhaps buy Hype.
'13 opens '9 albeit it will remove linked text and unsupported features. So having both versions for now seems the best option.
The problem here is that people only see their perspective. Nor do they realize this is a way forward not a dead end. In reality Apple has given us, in part, what many of us have been asking for. That is file compatibility no matter what platform. Sure more features are better than less, but a completely refactored product has to start some where.
I have to agree with many here people like to whine rather than think.