Just in the process of going to be getting a new macbook pro and was wondering what you guys think of either Office or iWorks. Which one would you recommend?
Just in the process of going to be getting a new macbook pro and was wondering what you guys think of either Office or iWorks. Which one would you recommend?
cheers
Personally, I like Pages/iWorks better. It may be less powerful than Office, but it is more than enough for me (and presumable most consumers). Compatibility is not a problem as it will read Office docs, as well as saving your own creations to Office format (if you must).
Just in the process of going to be getting a new macbook pro and was wondering what you guys think of either Office or iWorks. Which one would you recommend?
cheers
You didn't mention your work environment, how and and with whom you needed to communicate with, and what kind of documents you needed to create. These will all have to be considered before we can give a recommendation. For example, if you do most of your work in spreadsheets that you need to share with Excel users (or need a lot of rare and/or obscured functions) I would recommend MS Office. If you don't need to share spreadsheets I like Numbers way of displaying and integrating multiple tables onto one page over Excels method of one big table per tab.
Also there is the learning curve to think about. After decades of using MS Office I am having a little bit of problems in using iWorks. But this is just the learning curve that I will get over.
Your new MacBook will have trial versions of both preinstalled.
Don't try to evaluate iWork in a few minutes of use, as some people seem to do. The approach is different and requires adjustment. Give it a chance and you'll probably find iWork to be very easy to use.
I just do a bunch of stuff on word and excel. I wouldn't consider myself a 'power' user but I write a load of reports and need to add (basic) graphs and charts etc.
I just do a bunch of stuff on word and excel. I wouldn't consider myself a 'power' user but I write a load of reports and need to add (basic) graphs and charts etc.
These statements are meaningless. It would me much more useful to state whether or not you need to share electronic versions of these files with others.
I just do a bunch of stuff on word and excel. I wouldn't consider myself a 'power' user but I write a load of reports and need to add (basic) graphs and charts etc.
You didn't mention sharing files with other people and collaborating on stuff, so am I right in assuming you do your own stuff, print and hand the paper to someone? If so, iWork should do for you. Sharing iWork files with others who use MS Office can have problems; other people here can fill you in more.
For the kind of stuff you suggest (writing papers, making charts), iWork might do the trick for you and be easy. Pages uses an similar charting format to Numbers which means you have less to learn. you can make great charts right in Pages. Of course, you can bring charts in from Numbers by copying and pasting. The great thing about iWork and iLife is they share many similar functions (the one I also list is the photo editing menu in Pages is almost the same as the one in iPhoto).
Demos of both MS Office and iWork will be on your new Mac, so give both a spin. Be careful comparing them as they are very different beasts. Look at each to see if it will suit your needs. If you need some help with either, post back here and some of us can give you a hand.
Also don't forget that iWork also includes Keynote, which is simply awesome if you ever have to make a presentation. Blows Powerpoint away.
It's important to define what is meant by "sharing documents." Unless you want and expect someone else to edit your documents, then the best and most appropriate way to share them is by creating a PDF. Otherwise, if you don't want the formatting to get hosed by someone else, you are stuck with basic formatting and fonts -- and that goes for Word to Word document sharing as well.
In my experience true "collaboration" on document production is rare. More typically, one person is responsible for responding to comments from others, and integrating them into the final document. How much document formatting needs to be preserved in this kind of process? Not much. Pages plays well in this environment, just about as well as Word.
Well, I would like to share documents too. We email each other the word files (currently). So, If I got Office, would word document be fully, 100% compatible with Office for windows?
Well, I would like to share documents too. We email each other the word files (currently). So, If I got Office, would word document be fully, 100% compatible with Office for windows?
The only thing 100% compatible with Office for Windows is Office for Windows. The real question is why 100% compatibility is necessary for your needs. If you aren't collaborating on professional documents I'm willing to bet that far less 100% compatibility would be entirely sufficient for your needs.
This is only true if you specify your version. Different versions of Office:win have varying degrees of incompatibility with each other.
That too, yes. The only way to entirely avoid incompatibilities is to freeze the feature set, which would never do -- especially for Microsoft. You also have to stick with common fonts (meaning, preinstalled on all computers), or all of your compatibility efforts are totally shot to hell. Compatibility is way overrated.
That too, yes. The only way to entirely avoid incompatibilities is to freeze the feature set, which would never do -- especially for Microsoft. You also have to stick with common fonts (meaning, preinstalled on all computers), or all of your compatibility efforts are totally shot to hell. Compatibility is way overrated.
You're being much too generous. Prior to Office 2007, the most compatible version of Office was Office 2004, the latest version of Office:mac at the time. With Office 2007, Microsoft introduced new levels of incompatibility to its product line.
The Macworld Expo 2009 saw Apple release details of a few new products and one of these included it?s new productivity suite, iWork ?09. Now how will Apple?s latest office software stack up against Microsoft Office?
PC World ask the question ?Is iWork ?09 an Office Competitor??, and it seems the very first point that hits us and them is support for Windows. While Microsoft Office has both Windows and Mac OS versions, iWork 09 is not supported by Windows and only works with Mac. This alone is a major problem with their software.
Apple?s iWork 09 will have to rely on its compatibility with Office files; the presentation software, spreadsheet program and word processor can save in Microsoft?s formats but if some of Apple?s features will not pass on to Redmond?s formats. Have a read of what PC World make of this latest competitor to MS Office and feel free to share your views.
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Comments
Hi All,
Just in the process of going to be getting a new macbook pro and was wondering what you guys think of either Office or iWorks. Which one would you recommend?
cheers
Personally, I like Pages/iWorks better. It may be less powerful than Office, but it is more than enough for me (and presumable most consumers). Compatibility is not a problem as it will read Office docs, as well as saving your own creations to Office format (if you must).
Bottom line... Price.
Hi All,
Just in the process of going to be getting a new macbook pro and was wondering what you guys think of either Office or iWorks. Which one would you recommend?
cheers
You didn't mention your work environment, how and and with whom you needed to communicate with, and what kind of documents you needed to create. These will all have to be considered before we can give a recommendation. For example, if you do most of your work in spreadsheets that you need to share with Excel users (or need a lot of rare and/or obscured functions) I would recommend MS Office. If you don't need to share spreadsheets I like Numbers way of displaying and integrating multiple tables onto one page over Excels method of one big table per tab.
Also there is the learning curve to think about. After decades of using MS Office I am having a little bit of problems in using iWorks. But this is just the learning curve that I will get over.
Don't try to evaluate iWork in a few minutes of use, as some people seem to do. The approach is different and requires adjustment. Give it a chance and you'll probably find iWork to be very easy to use.
IMO, ease of use = power. But that's just me.
I just do a bunch of stuff on word and excel. I wouldn't consider myself a 'power' user but I write a load of reports and need to add (basic) graphs and charts etc.
These statements are meaningless. It would me much more useful to state whether or not you need to share electronic versions of these files with others.
I just do a bunch of stuff on word and excel. I wouldn't consider myself a 'power' user but I write a load of reports and need to add (basic) graphs and charts etc.
You didn't mention sharing files with other people and collaborating on stuff, so am I right in assuming you do your own stuff, print and hand the paper to someone? If so, iWork should do for you. Sharing iWork files with others who use MS Office can have problems; other people here can fill you in more.
For the kind of stuff you suggest (writing papers, making charts), iWork might do the trick for you and be easy. Pages uses an similar charting format to Numbers which means you have less to learn. you can make great charts right in Pages. Of course, you can bring charts in from Numbers by copying and pasting. The great thing about iWork and iLife is they share many similar functions (the one I also list is the photo editing menu in Pages is almost the same as the one in iPhoto).
Demos of both MS Office and iWork will be on your new Mac, so give both a spin. Be careful comparing them as they are very different beasts. Look at each to see if it will suit your needs. If you need some help with either, post back here and some of us can give you a hand.
Also don't forget that iWork also includes Keynote, which is simply awesome if you ever have to make a presentation. Blows Powerpoint away.
In my experience true "collaboration" on document production is rare. More typically, one person is responsible for responding to comments from others, and integrating them into the final document. How much document formatting needs to be preserved in this kind of process? Not much. Pages plays well in this environment, just about as well as Word.
Well, I would like to share documents too. We email each other the word files (currently). So, If I got Office, would word document be fully, 100% compatible with Office for windows?
The only thing 100% compatible with Office for Windows is Office for Windows. The real question is why 100% compatibility is necessary for your needs. If you aren't collaborating on professional documents I'm willing to bet that far less 100% compatibility would be entirely sufficient for your needs.
It's called "iWork."
Best,
Q.
The only thing 100% compatible with Office for Windows is Office for Windows. ...
This is only true if you specify your version. Different versions of Office:win have varying degrees of incompatibility with each other.
This is only true if you specify your version. Different versions of Office:win have varying degrees of incompatibility with each other.
That too, yes. The only way to entirely avoid incompatibilities is to freeze the feature set, which would never do -- especially for Microsoft. You also have to stick with common fonts (meaning, preinstalled on all computers), or all of your compatibility efforts are totally shot to hell. Compatibility is way overrated.
That too, yes. The only way to entirely avoid incompatibilities is to freeze the feature set, which would never do -- especially for Microsoft. You also have to stick with common fonts (meaning, preinstalled on all computers), or all of your compatibility efforts are totally shot to hell. Compatibility is way overrated.
You're being much too generous. Prior to Office 2007, the most compatible version of Office was Office 2004, the latest version of Office:mac at the time. With Office 2007, Microsoft introduced new levels of incompatibility to its product line.
... You might want to reread what I wrote.
You might learn to recognize when others are agreeing with you and not pick fights.
The Macworld Expo 2009 saw Apple release details of a few new products and one of these included it?s new productivity suite, iWork ?09. Now how will Apple?s latest office software stack up against Microsoft Office?
PC World ask the question ?Is iWork ?09 an Office Competitor??, and it seems the very first point that hits us and them is support for Windows. While Microsoft Office has both Windows and Mac OS versions, iWork 09 is not supported by Windows and only works with Mac. This alone is a major problem with their software.
Apple?s iWork 09 will have to rely on its compatibility with Office files; the presentation software, spreadsheet program and word processor can save in Microsoft?s formats but if some of Apple?s features will not pass on to Redmond?s formats. Have a read of what PC World make of this latest competitor to MS Office and feel free to share your views.
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Keynote over PowerPoint... Keynote is a very good app.