Keynote.app

der kopfder kopf
Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
I suppose there is a, fairly small yet powerful, first legion of Keynote users out there. About 24 hours now since it was introduced. Are there first reactions already? Is it really as delicious on your mac as Jobs made it seem to be? I'm wondering especially how those special, Powerpoint-obliterating, effects hold up on older (read, pre-Quartz Extreme) Macs and laptops alike. Probably, the non-Quartz-Extremist macs outnumber the enabled ones, especially since 2002 still saw non-QE macs sold as new top-end macs (well, the iBooks at least, I'm typing on one of these).



Also, how is the compatibility in reality? If you save, for instance, one of those fancy cube-transitions into a PowerPoint file, what does Powerpoint do with that transition?
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 83
    fishdocfishdoc Posts: 189member
    I have wondered the same - I would be tempted to buy it, but with no demo available to test speed, functionality (no error bars on charts? that would ruin it as an app for sciences), etc, I cannot justify the cost.



    I really wish they would make a demo available.



    Fish
  • Reply 2 of 83
    ghost_user_nameghost_user_name Posts: 22,667member
    It may not be a perfect solution, but I'm sure that Apple will let you try out the full Keynate app for as long as you want in the Apple Stores.
  • Reply 3 of 83
    fishdocfishdoc Posts: 189member
    [quote]Originally posted by Brad:

    <strong>It may not be a perfect solution, but I'm sure that Apple will let you try out the full Keynate app for as long as you want in the Apple Stores.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Good point - thanks Brad. There are no stores near me, but hopefully our campus computer store will get some, or I can try it out on my next trip to so cal.



    fish
  • Reply 4 of 83
    der kopfder kopf Posts: 2,275member
    Well, I played around with a copy for a bit, and I have to say, the speed is more than reasonable on this almost one year old iBook 600 (14 inch). Also with the 3D cube effect. AND: exporting to powerpoint works amazingly well. I did a very simple 'blackboard' presentation like Steve did, and it looks the same in Powerpoint, except for the transitions. Instead of a rotating cube, you get the typical 2D slide-over effect that seems to be the Powerpoint standard.



    This is not bad. However, apart from the very yummy themes and transitions, the app doesn't seem to have nearly as many options as Powerpoint. I might be wrong though. Time, and hopefully a bunch of other, hardcore, presentationists will tell.



    That's my first reaction. Anybody else care to join in?
  • Reply 5 of 83
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    Powerpoint (or as I like to call it powerpointless and powerlesspoint) has the worst ****ing drawing tools ever in the history of drawing shit on a computer.



    There's no way Apple did worse.





    BTW I like to put lots of diagrams in my PP presentations.
  • Reply 6 of 83
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Agreed, PP's drawing tools are lousy. Now, does Keynote *have* any? Doesn't appear to... which means you need to use another app. Bleah. iDraw, anyone?
  • Reply 7 of 83
    der kopfder kopf Posts: 2,275member
    Well, there doesn't appear to be a freeform drawing option, but I might be wrong. Also, I get the impression the folks over at Apple looked very intently on PowerPoint's solutions when they were designing their drawing tools. Everything is in about the same place where you would look for it in PowerPoint.



    So, Keynote already looks better still, because the drawing tools ARE easier to use (more intuitive, less 'mind-of-their-own'). Less shapes though.



    Anyhow, although I'm a heavy fan of Apple, I would be surprised to find that this 1.0 release would surpass the years of work poured into Powerpoint (especially since Apple's 1.0 releases are often public beta's in disguise).



    I have no doubt that this is a PowerPoint killer in the making though.
  • Reply 8 of 83
    jaskejaske Posts: 73member
    Here's the first review I've been able to find (from Versiontracker):



    "I bought and installed a copy of this software. Absolutely exceptional! I'm by no means an expert at creating presentations, but I just created one that totally blew everyone away. It's easy to use, has features that I can't even begin to guess at, and it *looks* absolutely incredible. This is really much better than I ever expected of presentation software from Apple (let alone a 1.0 version). Complaints? Only one: Feels sluggish at times, especially when entering in large-font text (obviously because of the anti-aliasing.)"



    I will be going to an Apple store to possibly buy a copy this weekend, and if so I will post my review (I'm going to follow Brad's advice an review it at the store). I had to use PowerPoint for countless hours the past week, and I absolutely hated it . . . absolutely the worst component of Office for Mac. I hope the app is as promising as it looked.
  • Reply 9 of 83
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Excellent news on the basic drawing tools! Of course, after I posted that I realized that I've been using OmniGraffle even with PowerPoint, so it's rather moot anyway.
  • Reply 10 of 83
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    [quote]Originally posted by Kickaha:

    <strong>Agreed, PP's drawing tools are lousy. Now, does Keynote *have* any? Doesn't appear to... which means you need to use another app. Bleah. iDraw, anyone? </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Oh! :eek: I think that could be the only way Apple could do worse. I, may, stand corrected.
  • Reply 11 of 83
    appletothecoreappletothecore Posts: 11member
    Got K today. Am very impressed. The app seems (early take) to have a smoothness PP is lacking -- an elegance. More later.

    ATTC
  • Reply 12 of 83
    noseynosey Posts: 307member
    It just struck me why Keynote feels so familiar.



    It is very similar to the booklet mode of iPhoto. Which brings me to the question of how long it will take Apple to make the book ceation a part of Keynote, and allow more iPhoto booklet layout functions within Keynote...



    I mean yes, it is nice to be able to generate the books in iPhoto. But wouldn't it be real neat to be able to generate books with similar characteristics as the Keynote displays? Already I am picturing a lot of families making slide shows in Keynote of things they would normally have done in iPhoto.



    Now, if only they had a calendar generator for Keynote, like Photosoap did all those years ago... In fact, the more I think about this, the more it feels like the different photo albums Photosoap allowed you to create.



    Is this just wishful thinking, or will Apple include these different themes as plugins within iPhoto?



    Hmmm...
  • Reply 13 of 83
    physguyphysguy Posts: 920member
    I posted in another thread but this seems to be the active one.



    I've played with it for a little while and think, overall, its great. Much easier to understand, especially 'Themes/Master Slides. All of the interface in much more intuitive to me and the direct integration of Tables and Charts is Great. Using the MS model on the Mac for these was painful and slow to say the least.



    BUT there is a major missing feature, especially for the education/training uses - Actions. I can't find a way to create a button and assign an action to it. If I've missed this please tell me how to do it.



    How are other people finding this as a PP replacement?



    [ 01-10-2003: Message edited by: physguy ]</p>
  • Reply 14 of 83
    serranoserrano Posts: 1,806member
    There's a very good Keynote <a href="http://arstechnica.infopop.net/OpenTopic/page?a=tpc&s=50009562&f=8300945231&m=5240924545"; target="_blank">thread</a> over at ars.
  • Reply 15 of 83
    paulpaul Posts: 5,278member
    [quote]Originally posted by nosey:

    <strong>It is very similar to the booklet mode of iPhoto. Which brings me to the question of how long it will take Apple to make the book ceation a part of Keynote, and allow more iPhoto booklet layout functions within Keynote...</strong><hr></blockquote>



    this is a great idea, imagine giving a business presentation with a book of the presentation for each one of the audience members (no more then 10 or 12)



    not only do you make a better presentation, but everyone who got to keep the book would know it was from apple...........
  • Reply 16 of 83
    noseynosey Posts: 307member
    That certainly would be an interesting idea.



    But I read somewhere that you can make your own themes for Keynote...



    I only hope they have streamlined that function for iPhoto as well...
  • Reply 17 of 83
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    [quote]Originally posted by physguy:

    <strong>...



    BUT there is a major missing feature, especially for the education/training uses - Actions. I can't find a way to create a button and assign an action to it. If I've missed this please tell me how to do it.



    ...</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Sounds like a job for AppleScript.





    Hey, how long before Keynote exports to iDVD?
  • Reply 18 of 83
    defiantdefiant Posts: 4,876member
    it does already.
  • Reply 19 of 83
    m01etym01ety Posts: 278member
    On this here pre-QUE iMac 500 w/ 640 MB, some of the 3D effects are stuttery... Framerate seems to sux0r majorly, especially when you choose the effects to be slow rather than fast...



    Other than that, pretty decent. I'd like to see how it looks by Version 2.0, however.
  • Reply 20 of 83
    bungebunge Posts: 7,329member
    Action buttons? How about wrapping the Hypercard engine inside the Keynote application?



    (runs and ducks out of the way)
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