Does Apple Pages Suck?

2

Comments

  • Reply 21 of 45
    Quote:

    Originally posted by a_greer

    [B]I could easily make a professional document in apple-"works" and there is NOTHING professional about that app, I could make a professional document in notepad/wordpad, Hell, I remember using txteditor (i think that is what it was called) on MS-DOS 4 to write a book report in grade school...





    You could but it would take you much much longer to get good looking formating accross a long document

    Quote:

    all that asside, I think iWork is great, but not quite ready for prime time as a "professional" tool, it needs:



    *way better export-to-office

    *a keynote player for windows with wide propagation (bundle it with QT7) Exporting to movie for windows playback is not an acceptable solution on a professional level.

    *spreadsheet app

    *basic vector drawing app to allow for easy design and layout of schematics, heirarchial charts and such, and very basic logo design or maybe letterhead layout. Because it would be vector, the resulting output would look great on a 10-foot poster, integrated into a keynote presentation or printed on a business card. This app could also be integrated with the spreadsheet app to render fully vector charts/graphs

    * tight filemaker integration - maybe make a filemaker lite or some such thing, integrate it with all apps, use it as a media/document manager(eg Adobe Version Cue) as well as a database tool

    *a basic web site design tool would also be nice to compleate the workflow, and with WebObjects going out the door for free now, why not retool it into a friendly drag n drop interface and include it, the back end code generators that adhere to the standards are already there...USE THEM



    Sure those features are good but out of that list only the first has any relevance to Word which is "considered" the "professional" word processor of the business world.
  • Reply 22 of 45
    kenaustuskenaustus Posts: 924member
    The more I'm using Pages the more I prefer it over Word. There is a lot less clutter and I tend to focus more on what I'm writing.



    In terms of Pages I would like to see an auto-correct feature, mainly because I'm not a good typist and transpose letters a lot. I also have a fairly long list of terms that I would like to be able to 'type" by using 3 key strokes - qqq is at the top of my list.



    I think Apple would also benefit by having industry specific dictionaries and spell checkers, like medical and legal. The medical field is happy with Macs (check out http://homepage.mac.com/rossetantoin...ix/Index2.html) and it's a logical enhancement - especially if they can get a small revenue stream going by charging a small fee ($25.00?) for each industry package.



    Other features like a spreadsheet and a database will follow before too long as Apple needs to bring the scope of the offering up AppleWorks at a minimum. I look for significant enhancements in January.
  • Reply 23 of 45
    placeboplacebo Posts: 5,767member
    People are expecting Indesign functionality from a Word-priced application. Sure, it could be better, but overall Pages is a great little application nice with funtionality.
  • Reply 24 of 45
    mpmoriartympmoriarty Posts: 289member
    I have been using Pages for about a week now and really like it. In fact, I am switching to it from Word because I really didn't need all of its features. Plus, Pages is just more responsive and less clutter.



    There are a few things that bug me about Pages:



    1) While typing in Pages, you can press Opt-Esc to display the little drop down menu that can help you complete words. This works fine in TextEdit.



    2) Holding down the Option key while selecting text does not turn on block text selection. This works fine in TextEdit.



    Note: It confuses me that these features work fine in Text Edit and not in Pages because I thought these were features of Cocoa's text services that are available to all developers and not specific features that have to be built into an app manually.



    3) No easy way to left, center, or right align an inline object. In Word, you just select your inline object and then click where you want it aligned. In Pages, you have to place the cursor right next to the object and make Pages think you are going to start typing text. Then you can align your object.



    4) Exporting to PDF does not preserve internal links or bookmarks. This is so goofy. If I just wanted a straight PDF of my document, I would use the "Save as PDF" button in the Print Dialog. The PDF exporting option should allow you to export your links and bookmarks you have made in your document.
  • Reply 25 of 45
    The real question is what will the next version of Pages have in it? We all saw the significant changes between the previus Keynote and the one included in IWork. So if they can change Keynote that much and make it even more interesting and functional, what are realistic improvements we can expect with the next version of Pages? I know I'd love to be able to finish a project I'm working on and push one button and have it automatically exported to my .Mac webpage in HTML.



    Any ideas?
  • Reply 26 of 45
    biederbieder Posts: 15member
    I think Pages shows a lot of potential, because of the use and focus on styles, which is the key to seperate the content and the layout (like stylesheets on webpages). But I think the use of the styles could be better.

    It would be incredible cool to be able to write your text, easily apply styles as your writing using the styles drawer and THEN apply an apple layout template. Just like in keynote, where it's possible to switch themes for the entire presentation or single slides. But this is not the way pages works. Pages makes you choose a layout first and then exchange it's content with your own. This is really stupid, since the layout may influence your content and you can't switch to a different layout later. Luckily you can make Pages just open a blank page or your own template instead of the template chooser, when choosing new (in the prefs). This makes you use Pages like any other wordprocessor, you just miss the oppurtunity to use the layout templates.

    However, Pages is my favorite word processor with a clean layout, great microsoft word import and export (for "normal" word documents, not fancy layouts) and nice integration with iPhoto.
  • Reply 27 of 45
    kim kap solkim kap sol Posts: 2,987member
    Pages is as much as a toy as Spotlight and sucks as much as Spotlight. If you use Pages like you would use Word (like people trying to use Spotlight like the Finder's 10.3 search engine), you're going to be hitting a wall...fast!



    Pages isn't the traditional word-processor you're accustomed to.

    Just like Spotlight isn't just a simple search engine for trying to find files by file name.



    If you're only interested in writing text and couldn't care less about the layout...there's a woderful app called TextEdit that has been available since 10.0.
  • Reply 28 of 45
    kim kap sol, while you may believe Pages to be a "toy", several of us prefer its simplicity to MS Word. I prefer Pages layout feature for newsletters and my family loves how they look. I wouldn't dream of attempting something like that with Word. As you said, if you're looking for a word processor, TextEdit is there for all to use and it works for writing letters, as does Pages. Personally, I use Pages for all of that.



    Many will never be satisfied with anything out there that isn't Word because that's all they are used to using. Personally, I'd loath Pages if it ended up being like Word. While Pages obviously will be gaining more functionality as time goes on, I would hope that Apple doesn't bow to those who want them to give them Word just with a different name.
  • Reply 29 of 45
    kcmackcmac Posts: 1,051member
    Not a toy here. I use it at work all of the time. Every day. Must have driven around or through this wall you talk of.
  • Reply 30 of 45
    kim kap solkim kap sol Posts: 2,987member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Brian Green

    kim kap sol, while you may believe Pages to be a "toy", several of us prefer its simplicity to MS Word. I prefer Pages layout feature for newsletters and my family loves how they look. I wouldn't dream of attempting something like that with Word. As you said, if you're looking for a word processor, TextEdit is there for all to use and it works for writing letters, as does Pages. Personally, I use Pages for all of that.



    Many will never be satisfied with anything out there that isn't Word because that's all they are used to using. Personally, I'd loath Pages if it ended up being like Word. While Pages obviously will be gaining more functionality as time goes on, I would hope that Apple doesn't bow to those who want them to give them Word just with a different name.




    I think you misread what I said. I love Pages. Pages has the simplicity of Spotlight...I just think people don't use it the way they should because they're used to the alternatives and are too set in their ways.
  • Reply 31 of 45
    kim kap sol, you're correct, I misread what you said because what I got from your previous post didn't sound like you were looking favorably upon Pages. There's no other writing program I use now. Makes me curious to see what the next version will be like.
  • Reply 32 of 45
    kim kap solkim kap sol Posts: 2,987member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Brian Green

    kim kap sol, you're correct, I misread what you said because what I got from your previous post didn't sound like you were looking favorably upon Pages. There's no other writing program I use now. Makes me curious to see what the next version will be like.



    It's already amazing now...and it can only get better. People are being extremely harsh towards a 1.0 product that, IMO, already works pretty well. As long as Apple keeps improving Pages' import capabilities/compatiblity allowing it to display most Word documents perfectly, I'm sure people will start replacing Word with Pages.
  • Reply 33 of 45
    kcmackcmac Posts: 1,051member
    Sorry Kim, guess I didn't quite get you either.



    I just made a directory for the block I live on using Pages this afternoon. Did it all with tables, columns, loads of pictures, shadowed fonts, etc. Turned out great. Don't think I would even want to attempt this in Word.



    Just for fun, I tried exporting it to Word. The tables were in completely different places in the columns and none of the pictures showed up.



    Thankfully, pdf's work great. And if you use the Print>save as PDF-X the shadows will all show up on Acrobat. That is a little bug I hope they fix in the next version.
  • Reply 34 of 45
    relicrelic Posts: 4,735member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by kim kap sol

    It's already amazing now...and it can only get better. People are being extremely harsh towards a 1.0 product that, IMO, already works pretty well. As long as Apple keeps improving Pages' import capabilities/compatiblity allowing it to display most Word documents perfectly, I'm sure people will start replacing Word with Pages.



    Replacing Word, not anytime soon, Pages, while cute in design, is know where near the level of Word.
  • Reply 35 of 45
    kim kap solkim kap sol Posts: 2,987member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Relic

    Replacing Word, not anytime soon, Pages, while cute in design, is know where near the level of Word.



    Why not? I'm sure most people don't use 80% of the features Word offers. If the features most people use are easier and more comprehensible in Pages, people will switch.



    Those that do use the advanced features of Word will keep using Word but for the average joe that needs simplicity, Pages offers it, Word does not.
  • Reply 36 of 45
    OK here is a question for all you Pages folks. I have imported a document from word and PAges tells me every time I open it that I'm missing 3 fonts. I don't care about those fonts. I've selected teh entire document and tried to use a font that is installed. Then I save. Yet, when I open up the document I get the same missing font statement. How do I find the characters using these fonts? Why won't they change when I select all? I've tried Save as and copying the intire contents to a new document, still no luck.



    Otherwise, I do like Pages and wish I could use it more often, but it doesn't play nice-and-easy with my scientific bibliography software (Sente or EndNote). Waiting fro version 2 or even 1.5.
  • Reply 37 of 45


    APPLE PAGES ...  How do you single space when typing?  Using the resume' template won't allow single-spacing between certain lines.  I'm really disappointed in Jobs' job on his one.  I'm going to have to install Office.


    Anyone know what's up with this?


     


    Tks

  • Reply 38 of 45
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by annamal58 View Post

    APPLE PAGES ...  How do you single space when typing?  Using the resume' template won't allow single-spacing between certain lines.  I'm really disappointed in Jobs' job on his one.  I'm going to have to install Office.


    Anyone know what's up with this?



     


    2005 necro? Really? And then a slam on… Ugh… 


     


    Look, Inspector/Text/Line, move the slider. You did no searching to fix your problem at all, you looked up "Pages sucks" instead. Come on.


     


     


    image

  • Reply 39 of 45
    nickmtnickmt Posts: 13member


    It sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!  There is no save as function.  It's buggy, keyboard freezes regularly.  I hate it, hate it, hate it.

     

  • Reply 40 of 45
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,310moderator
    nickmt wrote: »
    It sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!  There is no save as function.  It's buggy, keyboard freezes regularly.  I hate it, hate it, hate it.

    If you hold the alt-key, it should change to save as... I'm not a fan of their save/duplicate rubbish. I'm not even sure why they started doing this.

    As for the freezing, perhaps it's writing something to disk at regular intervals or maybe you don't have enough RAM. With enough RAM and an SSD, apps shouldn't freeze up nearly so much.
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