Still no iWork update...

iWork just isn't a priority, and rightly so.

A developer's conference would have been entirely the wrong setting for an iWork announcement.

MasterHowl said:

I was really hoping for a new version of iWork to be released/announced at the WWDC last night... and I mean more than just iCloud integration.

Keynote is brilliant, but Pages and Numbers are lacking vital features.

For example, why is there no equation editor in Pages?! and why is there a limited range of graph types available in Numbers?

Come on Apple, we're still on iWork '09...

Anyone think we'll be seeing a new version of iWork anytime soon?

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Not only does Apple not care about pro users but they don't care about any productivity being done on their devices.

Have you noticed a trend?

For the life of the App store (nearly 5 years) there have been ZERO paid "major" upgrades to all Apple apps. That includes Pages, Numbers, Keynote, GarageBand, iMovie and iPhoto as their main paid apps.

For the life of the Mac App store (1.5 years) there have been ZERO paid "major" upgrades to all Apple apps. That includes Pages, Numbers, Keynote, GarageBand, iMovie, iPhoto, Aperture, Logic Pro, and Final Cut Pro.

I know you can argue that most of those titles listed above weren't really due for upgrades or that Final Cut Pro actually launched in the App Store as the major upgrade... but the current implementation of the App Stores don't even allow for paid upgrades. They would have to be released as brand new apps. This causes even more issues because it allows no discount pricing for upgrade customers plus it would either a) put 2 active versions of the app on the MAS causing customer confusion or b) alienate old customers by deleting the old app which doesn't allow for updates or redownloads.

I could be wrong, but I get the feeling that Apple is trying to push a "pay once, keep always" mentality to their software. And this will likely result in more frequent, iteratary steps (like OSX) rather than a large paid upgrade every other year.

MasterHowl said:

Why?

Apple are always pushing the idea of their computers been good for educational use and productivity?

I'm not saying it's as essential as some of the things they announced last night, but with the number of students who use Macs for their university/college work, you'd have thought they'd pay more attention to iWork... especially since there's no good alternative. Microsoft Office for Mac is just god awful

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The answer is very simple ... Apple wants people to invest in iToys .... productivity is an outdated concept for them.

Hate to say it but they are probably done with iWork...

AFPoster said:

Hate to say it but they are probably done with iWork...

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Seems that way. Unless they're focusing on iCloud? Could be that they're moving toward that more, which isn't a surprise. MS has 360, Google has GD.

There's a whole lot of "FAIL" in this thread.

You guys sound like the life of the party lol.

There will be an update out to support iCloud when Mountain Lion is released. Whether it be major or minor, nobody knows.

That said, I'm surprised we didn't see an update this week to add support for the new MacBook Pro. It seems Apple has updated most of their key apps, apart from the iWork suite.

What's missing from iWork that makes you feel it needs to be upgraded?

If they add too many more features, it starts to become similar to MS Office: A serious power tool that's very difficult for a casual user to figure out.

I'd like to see new versions as much as the next guy, but only so I have something new to play with. I actually think it's fine the way it is.

Not sure what it means - but as of last week Apple had a number of iWork related job openings on their main employment site for a variety of development positions. Some had been posted recently.

I take it as a positive that it is still being developed.

AFPoster said:

Hate to say it but they are probably done with iWork...

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That doesn't make any sense to me. The ICloud implementation would be for nothing when you do not have the possibility to edit documents on the Mac. I think the rte will be an update when ML comes...

Battlefield Fan said:

Not only does Apple not care about pro users but they don't care about any productivity being done on their devices.

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A very misguided statement.

colourfastt said:

The answer is very simple ... Apple wants people to invest in iToys .... productivity is an outdated concept for them.

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Another misguided statement.

AFPoster said:

Hate to say it but they are probably done with iWork...

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I don't think so. I'm guessing Apple is waiting for a good enough reason to completely redesign the iWork Apps' interfaces. If I had to guess, I'd say they're waiting to release redesigned iLife and iWork when they switch the rest of the Macbook lineup to retina versions. The extra resolution will allow them to make significant changes to the app interfaces. Otherwise, there's really no reason for Apple to release major updates for those suites. They're doing a fine job releasing incremental updates via the App Stores.

nuckinfutz said:

There's a whole lot of "FAIL" in this thread.

You guys sound like the life of the party lol.

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You are right, unfortunately.

All I need from the update is when I export/import word files, the files to be 100% the same! So simple. then I will start using pages.

ilpap said:

All I need from the update is when I export/import word files, the files to be 100% the same! So simple. then I will start using pages.

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I agree with you. However, I feel that by making things a bit difficult, Microsoft is able to keep a strong grip on its products and technology. Imagine if Pages could open and render documents exactly the way that the original author intended on Microsoft Word. Why would anyone then buy Microsoft Word?

I would argue that something similar happend with Adobe. Their Acrobat Professional software is expensive and offers an awesome amount of features. However, many free PDF writers exist and do the one thing that most people want - print a document into PDF format without much fuss. In this case, Microsoft could suffer a similar fate if Pages could open a Word document without any issues. More and more consumers would move towards purchasing the cheaper software solution, rather than investing in the more expensive solutions from Microsoft.

ilpap said:

All I need from the update is when I export/import word files, the files to be 100% the same! So simple. then I will start using pages.

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thats more a MS problem than Apples'. If MS used open standards for their files then it would be easy to make sure everything was implemented properly to ensure 100% cross-compatability, but they maintain their own proprietary files systems to keep people locked into Office.

PlaceofDis said:

thats more a MS problem than Apples'. If MS used open standards for their files then it would be easy to make sure everything was implemented properly to ensure 100% cross-compatability, but they maintain their own proprietary files systems to keep people locked into Office.

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I understand your point, but, given MS Office's dominance in the area, it becomes Apple's problem to ensure consistency when converting.

I share this grievance. My prof is very particular about formatting–down the exact number of pages and how big text should be–and it becomes a problem if I spend time condensing my paper down to just below the maximum, only to find out that it is two lines over in office (or under for that matter).

It is not a deal breaker, but it is an issue.

When printing them on school computers, I have begun converting to PDF to print, but if the prof wants digital, then the problem returns.

iWork is going to be replaced by 500 apps and 17 adapters.

Still No iWork Update

I would love to get rid of Microsoft Office on my Mac. But I need additional functionality in Numbers, especially the XIRR function. I am amazed that Apple has stopped improving iWork. Their whole thing is about drawing customers into the Apple ecosystem, right? There must be many Mac owns like me, wishing for a more robust iWork suite. And probably a lot of PC owners also, waiting to buy a Mac if only iWork were better.

splash screen says iWork 09 here in 2012. That needs updating

Mac In School said:

What's missing from iWork that makes you feel it needs to be upgraded?

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Pages needs an equation editor, otherwise I'm fine with that one and Keynote.

Numbers on the other hand is slow as I don't know what. It *really* needs some speed optimizations! Also, working with graphs is horrible, and could also really use some work.

musio said:

splash screen says iWork 09 here in 2012. That needs updating

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That is really all it would take. Just change the name to Numbers 2.2 or whatever.

They are sitting on billions of dollars, I think they can throw some at producing a better version that is faster and has more features.

They just can't bundle it with the OS...