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MS Office 2004 or iWork '08
- Thread starter rossgumbrell
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MS Office 2004 is not Universal Binary, so I cannot recommend buying it if you have Intel hardware. It is common knowledge that MS Office 2008 is coming soon, so it is frankly *dumb* to buy old Office. Unless one has too much money and desperately needs non-creative ways to spend it...
My vote is still for the Office. But this is because I need error bars in Excel/Numbers and at work I often use Office documents created on a PC. Keynote is the only iWork app that is superior to its Office counterpart.
Plus, my home computer runs 10.3.9, so in this case Microsoft has a better support for Macs than Apple does.
Plus, my home computer runs 10.3.9, so in this case Microsoft has a better support for Macs than Apple does.
I'm a bit on the fence. I'm used to Word and not as familiar with Pages yet (and word processing is mostly what I do) but because I'm running Intel, I much prefer the speed and resource management of Pages. I think that once I get used to it I will prefer it over Word.
If I need to write something like a user manual, I won't do it with MS Word because any editing will move the screenshots regardless of what can be done with the application.
Anything with graphics needs significant re-work that doesn't happen with other word processors. Pages isn't complete but for most work, it does just fine and it's far ahead for any page layout.
What wasn't in your poll was MS Office 2007/2008. You should take a look at it to see how well it works.
Anything with graphics needs significant re-work that doesn't happen with other word processors. Pages isn't complete but for most work, it does just fine and it's far ahead for any page layout.
What wasn't in your poll was MS Office 2007/2008. You should take a look at it to see how well it works.
Ah, but MS Office isnt released yet! Or... am im seriously lacking some important news here!?!?
If it isnt out yet, what do you think woulod be better, MS Office 2008 or iWork '08
I love iWork 08 its so great! The whole thing is just a joy to work with 
I am actually looking forward to doing my homework with it!
I am actually looking forward to doing my homework with it!
For most people iWork does what they need to do for much less money than Office does. I am a graduate student, and Pages does what I need for it to do without any difficulty. I simply turn electronic versions of my assignments in .pdf format. If I need to turn it in in Word format, I can do that to. I also used to use Publisher in Windows, which is not available in the academic version of Office. So for $72 I am getting the equivalent of about $250 in Microsoft software.
I certainly understand people who are using office because they need compatibility in business. However, for the average home user, Office is overkill, in my opinion. I thought so even when I was a PC user. I certainly believe there is a place for programs like Pages and AbiWord.
I occasionally use NeoOffice, especially for Excel spreadsheets, when I need better office compatibility.
Overall, I am very pleased with iWork '08 and have no plans to purchase Office '08.
I certainly understand people who are using office because they need compatibility in business. However, for the average home user, Office is overkill, in my opinion. I thought so even when I was a PC user. I certainly believe there is a place for programs like Pages and AbiWord.
I occasionally use NeoOffice, especially for Excel spreadsheets, when I need better office compatibility.
Overall, I am very pleased with iWork '08 and have no plans to purchase Office '08.
Up front, I have iWork 08, Office 2004 (Mac) and Office 2003 (PC) and have been trying out Office 2007 (PC).
iWork is very nice, especially with the Numbers addition. For those who do not need to interface with those who use Office apps, then iWork will probably suit your needs.
However, if you need full Office compatibility (Word, Excel & PowerPoint) with your PC counterparts, then I would get Office 2004 because it still supports VB. Office 2008 for the Mac will not.
If, however, you need to use Access, then you will need to use Office 2007 (PC). To do this you will need to use Parallels/VMWare and install Windows XP/Vista and Office 2007 (PC).
iWork is very nice, especially with the Numbers addition. For those who do not need to interface with those who use Office apps, then iWork will probably suit your needs.
However, if you need full Office compatibility (Word, Excel & PowerPoint) with your PC counterparts, then I would get Office 2004 because it still supports VB. Office 2008 for the Mac will not.
If, however, you need to use Access, then you will need to use Office 2007 (PC). To do this you will need to use Parallels/VMWare and install Windows XP/Vista and Office 2007 (PC).
MS Office 2007 is out and it's essentially the same as the Mac version, so you should be able to read reviews already posted.
Since I don't know what you want to do with it, I can't tell you what's better. Since I already don't like or trust MS Office, it's not going to be my first choice. It's going to depend on your needs and other software that you might use.
I would beg to differ.
The Office 2007(PC) interface with the ribbon is quite a bit different than Office 2003(PC) or Office 2004(Mac). When released, Office 2008(Mac) will have a similar ribbon interface like Office 2007(PC). For those comfortable with Office, this won't make much difference. For those who are novices at Office, this interface change seems to stump them a bit.
Also, with Office 2007(PC) and Office 2008(Mac) they will save in XML format by default.
So, what's your disagreement? We're both talking about MS Office 2007 and what used to be Office 2007 for Mac.
That Office 2007(PC) is the same as Office 2004(Mac).So, what's your disagreement? We're both talking about MS Office 2007 and what used to be Office 2007 for Mac.
Interface wise they are very different.
BTW, there is no Office 2007 for the Mac. The next Mac version will be Office 2008 which will have a similar interface with Office 2007 for the PC.
I never said anything about Office 2004 being like Office 2007 and there was Office 2007 for Mac until the MacBU realised how much work is was to get the code working on Mac OS X and now, it's Office 2008.
Guess I misread your original comment:
"MS Office 2007 is out and it's essentially the same as the Mac version, so you should be able to read reviews already posted."
When you said the same as the Mac version, the most current one out is Office 2004, so that is the one that I thought you were referring to and not Office 2008.
Now I understand what you are saying, that if one wants to see what Office 2008 will be like they can read a review of Office 2007.
Sorry for the misunderstanding.
Right Now, I'd prefer iWork '08 to Microsoft Office, but I'm using office due to the fact I got it for free from a university. But, after seeing screenshots of the AWESOME looking Microsoft Office 2008, id say that that would be much, much better than iWork.
Maybe I should be more awake when reading MacRumors!I should have been explicit in what I was saying.
iWork. I don't need to share my files with anyone (or if I do I can export into a compatible format) and don't need any of the other stuff that Office offers. Keynote alone is worth it...
iWork! Numbers is fantastic and the whole suite does just about everything one needs without the hefty Microsoft price tag.
A friend, who LOVES Apple, told me that Pages is a terrible word processor. He didn't really go into detail, but it surprised me that he didn't like it.
Also, how do you know if you're Office isn't universal binary? I thought you needed Rosetta or something to emulate the PowerPC. I have a MBP and do not use/open anything whenever Office opens.
Also, how do you know if you're Office isn't universal binary? I thought you needed Rosetta or something to emulate the PowerPC. I have a MBP and do not use/open anything whenever Office opens.
All MS:Office is not universal. Rosetta is used automatically when a PPC app is opened on an Intel Mac...Office '08 will be universal and is set for release next January...
Pages is great BTW