I actually bought iWorks when it came out. I don't use it. I even regret buying it. I'm a student and no matter how I like it my school expects assignments in Microsoft Word format. I usually e-mail them in.
Thank God for Microsoft Office 2004 on the Mac. It is a great program. The Mac Business Unit has done a wonderful job.
As a student, I'm betting IWork can do everything you need word to do. This is assuming your writing basic reports. If I'm wrong, please let me know what it can't do. BTW, you can export using RTF. Anyone can open that up in their word program.
I think most are complaining much too much over a version 1.0. Yes, I'm also having issues, but I've used it because it provides far better graphics than Word. My big problem is that I need to use a reference program like EndNote or my current new favorite Sente. However, these programs don't work from within Pages. My last grant was written with Sente in MSWord X. Then when the text and, more importantly the references, were finished I exported to Pages to add the figures and finnish the layout. It worked well, but I dislike that if I ever use the text again and need to add references, I have to go back to the figureless version in Word. Nonentheless, since a reviewer recently complained about the fuzzy quality of my figures printied out from Word, I am very happy Apple came out with Pages. Now if they could only provide a means for other developers to add plugins so that we can get it to play nice with Sente or Endnote.
I really think Pages has the potential to be everyhting anyone needs working in the life sciences. Basic papers and grants with figures can be easily written using Pages.
edit. Keynote is sooooo much better than PP. iWork is worth it simply for Keynote. Think of Pages as a bonus.
Exactly... look what happened to Internet Explorer on the Mac once Apple came out with Safari. Microsoft announced tha all future development of Mac IE would cease. Clearly shows that Microsoft is willing to abandon Mac development if Apple gets directly in their way.
You're wrong. Microsoft was under contract to develop Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office only for so long. When that time was up, they continued developing Office because it made them money, and they stopped development of IE since it brought them no money whatsoever.
Apple built Safari in response to what they knew would most likely happen - Microsoft would kill off IE for Mac once their contract was up, and they did. When Safari debuted, IE had not been updated for many months.
I actually bought iWorks when it came out. I don't use it. I even regret buying it. I'm a student and no matter how I like it my school expects assignments in Microsoft Word format. I usually e-mail them in.
Thank God for Microsoft Office 2004 on the Mac. It is a great program. The Mac Business Unit has done a wonderful job.
Maybe you didn't know this but Pages exports to Word format.
That's cool. But how well is the HMTL output. I've tried exporting several things into HTML on the mac, but they always come out wrong with the spacing, coloring, etc.
I like Pages. It has some bugs (such as the well-known problem with tabs when text is not left-justified) but overall it's very cool.
The problem is that most people expect it to be a Word clone, but it's not. It's an odd hybrid between a page layout program and a word processor. It's pretty good for page layout, but only OK as a word processor. Where people really have trouble is when they mix the two uses w/o understanding how the various features interact with each other.
My main use of Pages at this point is as a sort of "Keynote for paper" .. I used to use PowerPoint for making posters (both my current and former employers do this) but Pages is much better for this. I can create beautiful 36"x56" posters with very little effort, and it works much better than PowerPoint. (why 56"? because that's our standard size, because it was the largest dimension supported by PPT. With Pages I can make them even bigger if I'd like, but so far we're sticking with our old standard size just to be consistent.)
I'm trying to figure out what I miss most about Word after I switched to Pages.
The little brain behind Word that decides for me how everything should be formatted, the bad grammar checker or the terrible, terrible drawing tools and image-embedding capabilities. I think I miss all of them equally.
I'm just sad iWorks came out at the end of my university degree.
That's cool. But how well is the HMTL output. I've tried exporting several things into HTML on the mac, but they always come out wrong with the spacing, coloring, etc.
You can't make anything complex. I wonder if this'll change in a future release...I doubt it though. Pages isn't a webpage authoring app.
I'm trying to figure out what I miss most about Word after I switched to Pages.
The little brain behind Word that decides for me how everything should be formatted, the bad grammar checker or the terrible, terrible drawing tools and image-embedding capabilities. I think I miss all of them equally.
I'm just sad iWorks came out at the end of my university degree.
As long as that annoying paperclip annimation stays far, far away, I'm all good.
Just incase any of you didn't know - as it seems that people haven't taken notice of this - Keynote is just an updated "Concurrence" from the NeXt days. Literally down to the same locations of some of the items on the palettes etc.etc.
So was there any spreadsheety or word processor type applications back in the day that are seemingly familiar when it comes to Pages or what will become the new Numbers?
Still, Mac users aren't adopting iWork in large numbers; partly because it lacks components like a spreadsheet application, but more so because Microsoft Office has established itself as an industry standard for home and office productivity.
I hate to say this but I want to use Pages but I can't seem to get over my MS Word training that has been driven into my head. The most frustrating thing was trying to figure our how to get it to bullet automatically when taking notes in class.
MS Word just did it when I was on a new line and pressed "tab" - it would indent and add numbers and letters etc. To this day haven't figured out how to do this with Pages.
P.S. I know you can do bullets and numbering but it is very awkward an d won't do it automatically.
I don't think Automator would help. But that's the problem, I just want it to work like MS Word "out of the box" Also, if you indent a bullet by hand and number it, text on the next line moves all the way back to the left margin. This actually the most annoying problem.
When I bullet something and it continues onto the next line it should lineup with the bullet it's under - it doesn't.
I don't think Automator would help. But that's the problem, I just want it to work like MS Word "out of the box" Also, if you indent a bullet by hand and number it, text on the next line moves all the way back to the left margin. This actually the most annoying problem.
When I bullet something and it continues onto the next line it should lineup with the bullet it's under - it doesn't.
I don't know how you can stand that. That's exactly what I hate the most. "Word deciding how everything should be formatted".
Word seems to think it knows more than I do and decides to bullet everything or number everything or keep my in a list format. I always have to backspace to tell Word to calm the fuck down. And even that has a chance of failing. There's some voodoo I don't understand, no doubt, but sometimes I'll backspace and Word will finally drop me out of it's list spree but, on occasion, it'll backspace me back to the margin but keep me in a list.
Really weird stuff...I should probably turn that feature off...it's driving me up the wall.
I don't know how you can stand that. That's exactly what I hate the most. "Word deciding how everything should be formatted".
I've been conditioned - as simple as that. But even knowing and wanting to break the ugly MS training I find it difficult - especially when I'm in a hurry and my brain is focusing on what the Prof was saying and I just expect it to be a certain way.
I do think that MS's way of bulleting is faster for note taking.
I've been conditioned - as simple as that. But even knowing and wanting to break the ugly MS training I find it difficult - especially when I'm in a hurry and my brain is focusing on what the Prof was saying and I just expect it to be a certain way.
I do think that MS's way of bulleting is faster for note taking.
I'll give you that.
But then again...I'd use OmniOutliner for notetaking if I had an iBook or Powerbook.
I don't know how you can stand that. That's exactly what I hate the most. "Word deciding how everything should be formatted".
Word seems to think it knows more than I do ...
Really weird stuff...I should probably turn that feature off...it's driving me up the wall.
I agree completely!
I don't have a Mac (hence the screen name) and I haven't used Pages, but I have to use Word almost every stinkin' day and rarely does it make me happy. Now that I think about it, I haven't been happy doing word processing since back in the days of WordPerfect. Yeah, I know, I'm ancient history.
But there is one thing about Word that I hate above all else. Periodically (and unpredictably) when closing the program it will tell me that I have made changes to the "normal" template and then it will politely ask if I would like to save changes "Yes, No or Cancel". It's a good thing that there is not a "hit with hammer" option because the only choice that will let me leave the program is "yes" - "no" has the same result as "cancel". Man, this drives me insane because as you said earlier it is as though "Word seems to think that it knows more than I do..." Exactly. I can also relate to the whole automatic numbering / bullet issue - it just doesn't work like I want it to.
Maybe I should switch to Mac - perhaps not for Pages just yet, but so I can take my frustration out on my PC!
I don't know how you can stand that. That's exactly what I hate the most. "Word deciding how everything should be formatted".
Word seems to think it knows more than I do and decides to bullet everything or number everything or keep my in a list format. I always have to backspace to tell Word to calm the fuck down. And even that has a chance of failing. There's some voodoo I don't understand, no doubt, but sometimes I'll backspace and Word will finally drop me out of it's list spree but, on occasion, it'll backspace me back to the margin but keep me in a list.
Really weird stuff...I should probably turn that feature off...it's driving me up the wall.
Yes I love itwhen your list is all properly numbered and you go offf to do other things, print it out and soundly the numbers changed. Wee such fun.
The best is the junping figures that won't stay on one page (even if they fit) but insist on being on the page before or after. That is why I use Pages, the time spen getting Word documents in is less than adding figures to Word.
Comments
Originally posted by humanfellow
I actually bought iWorks when it came out. I don't use it. I even regret buying it. I'm a student and no matter how I like it my school expects assignments in Microsoft Word format. I usually e-mail them in.
Thank God for Microsoft Office 2004 on the Mac. It is a great program. The Mac Business Unit has done a wonderful job.
As a student, I'm betting IWork can do everything you need word to do. This is assuming your writing basic reports. If I'm wrong, please let me know what it can't do. BTW, you can export using RTF. Anyone can open that up in their word program.
I think most are complaining much too much over a version 1.0. Yes, I'm also having issues, but I've used it because it provides far better graphics than Word. My big problem is that I need to use a reference program like EndNote or my current new favorite Sente. However, these programs don't work from within Pages. My last grant was written with Sente in MSWord X. Then when the text and, more importantly the references, were finished I exported to Pages to add the figures and finnish the layout. It worked well, but I dislike that if I ever use the text again and need to add references, I have to go back to the figureless version in Word. Nonentheless, since a reviewer recently complained about the fuzzy quality of my figures printied out from Word, I am very happy Apple came out with Pages. Now if they could only provide a means for other developers to add plugins so that we can get it to play nice with Sente or Endnote.
I really think Pages has the potential to be everyhting anyone needs working in the life sciences. Basic papers and grants with figures can be easily written using Pages.
edit. Keynote is sooooo much better than PP. iWork is worth it simply for Keynote. Think of Pages as a bonus.
Originally posted by Reid
Exactly... look what happened to Internet Explorer on the Mac once Apple came out with Safari. Microsoft announced tha all future development of Mac IE would cease. Clearly shows that Microsoft is willing to abandon Mac development if Apple gets directly in their way.
You're wrong. Microsoft was under contract to develop Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office only for so long. When that time was up, they continued developing Office because it made them money, and they stopped development of IE since it brought them no money whatsoever.
Apple built Safari in response to what they knew would most likely happen - Microsoft would kill off IE for Mac once their contract was up, and they did. When Safari debuted, IE had not been updated for many months.
Originally posted by humanfellow
I actually bought iWorks when it came out. I don't use it. I even regret buying it. I'm a student and no matter how I like it my school expects assignments in Microsoft Word format. I usually e-mail them in.
Thank God for Microsoft Office 2004 on the Mac. It is a great program. The Mac Business Unit has done a wonderful job.
Maybe you didn't know this but Pages exports to Word format.
Originally posted by kim kap sol
Maybe you didn't know this but Pages exports to Word format.
Can it do PDF too?
Originally posted by Nak
Can it do PDF too?
Yes.
PDF, Word, HTML, RTF and Plain Text.
Originally posted by Jambo
Yes.
PDF, Word, HTML, RTF and Plain Text.
That's cool. But how well is the HMTL output. I've tried exporting several things into HTML on the mac, but they always come out wrong with the spacing, coloring, etc.
The problem is that most people expect it to be a Word clone, but it's not. It's an odd hybrid between a page layout program and a word processor. It's pretty good for page layout, but only OK as a word processor. Where people really have trouble is when they mix the two uses w/o understanding how the various features interact with each other.
My main use of Pages at this point is as a sort of "Keynote for paper" .. I used to use PowerPoint for making posters (both my current and former employers do this) but Pages is much better for this. I can create beautiful 36"x56" posters with very little effort, and it works much better than PowerPoint. (why 56"? because that's our standard size, because it was the largest dimension supported by PPT. With Pages I can make them even bigger if I'd like, but so far we're sticking with our old standard size just to be consistent.)
The little brain behind Word that decides for me how everything should be formatted, the bad grammar checker or the terrible, terrible drawing tools and image-embedding capabilities. I think I miss all of them equally.
I'm just sad iWorks came out at the end of my university degree.
Originally posted by Nak
That's cool. But how well is the HMTL output. I've tried exporting several things into HTML on the mac, but they always come out wrong with the spacing, coloring, etc.
You can't make anything complex. I wonder if this'll change in a future release...I doubt it though. Pages isn't a webpage authoring app.
Originally posted by kim kap sol
I'm trying to figure out what I miss most about Word after I switched to Pages.
The little brain behind Word that decides for me how everything should be formatted, the bad grammar checker or the terrible, terrible drawing tools and image-embedding capabilities. I think I miss all of them equally.
I'm just sad iWorks came out at the end of my university degree.
As long as that annoying paperclip annimation stays far, far away, I'm all good.
http://winkin.phpwebhosting.com/~buf...oncurrence.gif
So was there any spreadsheety or word processor type applications back in the day that are seemingly familiar when it comes to Pages or what will become the new Numbers?
Still, Mac users aren't adopting iWork in large numbers; partly because it lacks components like a spreadsheet application, but more so because Microsoft Office has established itself as an industry standard for home and office productivity.
I hate to say this but I want to use Pages but I can't seem to get over my MS Word training that has been driven into my head. The most frustrating thing was trying to figure our how to get it to bullet automatically when taking notes in class.
MS Word just did it when I was on a new line and pressed "tab" - it would indent and add numbers and letters etc. To this day haven't figured out how to do this with Pages.
P.S. I know you can do bullets and numbering but it is very awkward an d won't do it automatically.
Originally posted by FireDancer
P.S. I know you can do bullets and numbering but it is very awkward an d won't do it automatically.
I have absolutely no experience with Tiger yet
When I bullet something and it continues onto the next line it should lineup with the bullet it's under - it doesn't.
Originally posted by FireDancer
I don't think Automator would help. But that's the problem, I just want it to work like MS Word "out of the box" Also, if you indent a bullet by hand and number it, text on the next line moves all the way back to the left margin. This actually the most annoying problem.
When I bullet something and it continues onto the next line it should lineup with the bullet it's under - it doesn't.
I don't know how you can stand that. That's exactly what I hate the most. "Word deciding how everything should be formatted".
Word seems to think it knows more than I do and decides to bullet everything or number everything or keep my in a list format. I always have to backspace to tell Word to calm the fuck down. And even that has a chance of failing. There's some voodoo I don't understand, no doubt, but sometimes I'll backspace and Word will finally drop me out of it's list spree but, on occasion, it'll backspace me back to the margin but keep me in a list.
Really weird stuff...I should probably turn that feature off...it's driving me up the wall.
I don't know how you can stand that. That's exactly what I hate the most. "Word deciding how everything should be formatted".
I've been conditioned - as simple as that. But even knowing and wanting to break the ugly MS training I find it difficult - especially when I'm in a hurry and my brain is focusing on what the Prof was saying and I just expect it to be a certain way.
I do think that MS's way of bulleting is faster for note taking.
Originally posted by FireDancer
I've been conditioned - as simple as that. But even knowing and wanting to break the ugly MS training I find it difficult - especially when I'm in a hurry and my brain is focusing on what the Prof was saying and I just expect it to be a certain way.
I do think that MS's way of bulleting is faster for note taking.
I'll give you that.
But then again...I'd use OmniOutliner for notetaking if I had an iBook or Powerbook.
Originally posted by kim kap sol
I don't know how you can stand that. That's exactly what I hate the most. "Word deciding how everything should be formatted".
Word seems to think it knows more than I do ...
Really weird stuff...I should probably turn that feature off...it's driving me up the wall.
I agree completely!
I don't have a Mac (hence the screen name) and I haven't used Pages, but I have to use Word almost every stinkin' day and rarely does it make me happy. Now that I think about it, I haven't been happy doing word processing since back in the days of WordPerfect. Yeah, I know, I'm ancient history.
But there is one thing about Word that I hate above all else. Periodically (and unpredictably) when closing the program it will tell me that I have made changes to the "normal" template and then it will politely ask if I would like to save changes "Yes, No or Cancel". It's a good thing that there is not a "hit with hammer" option because the only choice that will let me leave the program is "yes" - "no" has the same result as "cancel". Man, this drives me insane because as you said earlier it is as though "Word seems to think that it knows more than I do..." Exactly. I can also relate to the whole automatic numbering / bullet issue - it just doesn't work like I want it to.
Maybe I should switch to Mac - perhaps not for Pages just yet, but so I can take my frustration out on my PC!
Originally posted by kim kap sol
I don't know how you can stand that. That's exactly what I hate the most. "Word deciding how everything should be formatted".
Word seems to think it knows more than I do and decides to bullet everything or number everything or keep my in a list format. I always have to backspace to tell Word to calm the fuck down. And even that has a chance of failing. There's some voodoo I don't understand, no doubt, but sometimes I'll backspace and Word will finally drop me out of it's list spree but, on occasion, it'll backspace me back to the margin but keep me in a list.
Really weird stuff...I should probably turn that feature off...it's driving me up the wall.
Yes I love itwhen your list is all properly numbered and you go offf to do other things, print it out and soundly the numbers changed. Wee such fun.
The best is the junping figures that won't stay on one page (even if they fit) but insist on being on the page before or after. That is why I use Pages, the time spen getting Word documents in is less than adding figures to Word.