Apple Opens iWork for iCloud Beta to All Users

[Small White Car]

Web based software? no thank you.

Did you actually try it?

It's not like it's a web form that refreshes every time you enter some text. It's actually loading the program which runs in a browser window.

I'd say it reminds me of working on a native program on a 2010 Macbook. You notice it's not quite the same as your actual computer but it's certainly usable.

If I'm on someone else's computer it sure as hell beats downloading or syncing a bunch of Dropbox files an then having to clean up after myself when I'm done.

 

[ValSalva]

This doesn't replace your native OSX apps, just supplements them. You can access your personal files even if you are working on a different computer. For example, you can have access to your personal documents at work, without having to put them on your work computer.

I see what you mean. I am lucky in that my work computer is a Mac with iWork installed.

 

[madsci954]

Has anyone worked on this yet?

Could be useful.

I used it to make a basic Keynote presentation for work. I had to export it as a PPT presentation, but there was no issue with fonts or themes. If the iWork apps for OSX are just as good or better, Apple really pulled through.

 

[bpcookson]

iWork free for all?
Yes, please.

 

[Elbon]

Web based software? no thank you.

I wish I had more than one upvote. Couldn't agree more.

 

[monaarts]

Web based software? no thank you.

If you don't think this is the way of the future, you are crazy. As a software consultant, I can tell you right now that any company who isn't trying to push their software offerings in the 'cloud' will eventually be dead. Let me give you a couple examples of industry disruptions, and let me remind you that each of these companies were thought of as a "fad" in the beginning.

CRM - Salesforce.com
ERP - Workday.com
Storage - DropBox
Music - Pandora

If there is ANYTHING I know of, it is software trending... Do you think in 10 years your phone will have 128GB+ storage? No way, it isn't needed. Once wireless networks are able to perform fast enough to feed all data as you need it, storage on devices will start disappearing and you will be left with services only. iOS in the cloud, for example (iOS 15 maybe? lol)

 

[foodog]

I wish iWork for iCloud would be more like DropBox.

Finder integration is an absolute must for this kind of thing when you've got a lot of documents.

Also, I once lost three days worth of work while using Pages with iCloud. I was on the phone to Apple Support for almost an hour trying to get it sorted, but it turned out my Pages file got corrupted while it was syncing… never again!

(Just tried it out very briefly… lots of formatting errors when it comes to text wrapping and photographs in Pages!)

Its Beta software right?

 

[rdlink]

Has anyone worked on this yet?

Could be useful.

There's a hands on review on MacWorld this morning. Might want to read it. It's got some good info.

 

[rhett7660]

I see what you mean. I am lucky in that my work computer is a Mac with iWork installed.

You are lucky, heck my work doesn't even allow cloud based storage, let alone accessing it from your computer or mobile device that have issued you. Very frustrating. But they don't block any external ports on your computer! Go figure.

 

[rdlink]

If you don't think this is the way of the future, you are crazy. As a software consultant, I can tell you right now that any company who isn't trying to push their software offerings in the 'cloud' will eventually be dead. Let me give you a couple examples of industry disruptions, and let me remind you that each of these companies were thought of as a "fad" in the beginning.

CRM - Salesforce.com
ERP - Workday.com
Storage - DropBox
Music - Pandora

If there is ANYTHING I know of, it is software trending... Do you think in 10 years your phone will have 128GB+ storage? No way, it isn't needed. Once wireless networks are able to perform fast enough to feed all data as you need it, storage on devices will start disappearing and you will be left with services only. iOS in the cloud, for example (iOS 15 maybe? lol)

I agree with most of what you said, but I don't think that storage will go anywhere, simply because it continues to get cheaper and cheaper.

 

[spaceballl]

This isn't going to be useful to me until it supports the same features as the desktop version. For example, my wife and I do our monthly budget with Numbers. I just tried to open it with the web app, and it gave me a notice about how some features aren't supported and things will be removed. The document looks kinda messed up. So... useless to me.

 

[MasterHowl]

Its Beta software right?

Yup, with no mention of Apple with respect to Finder integration.

And no, documents in the cloud wasn't in Beta when I lost my work!

 

[till213]

Hebrew text is, as always with Apple products, not working well. The letters show up in reversed order (Hebrew/Arabic are written right-to-left).

In the words of His Holiness: "You're holding it wrong!" Turn your iPad by 180 degrees... there you go! Your letters are now right-to-left!

Glad I could help!



(Sorry, could not resist)

 

[new-to-mac]

If you don't think this is the way of the future, you are crazy. As a software consultant,

......

I stopped reading after this

 

[litmag01]

I wish I had more than one upvote. Couldn't agree more.

Is this because you have concerns about licensing fees in the future (like Office 360) or because of input lag due to ping times? Otherwise this runs smoothly. It is not too different from running supplimental software on a thin client.

The licensing may be a valid concern.

EDIT: Also thought of something else. Is the concern proprietary data? If so, I agree. Google, Dropbox and 360 pose the same issue even with NIST/FIPS compliance

 

[KdParker]

There's a hands on review on MacWorld this morning. Might want to read it. It's got some good info.

Thanks - I will check it out.

 

[till213]

If you don't think this is the way of the future, you are crazy. As a software consultant, ...

Buahh, LOOOOL, ROFL, MUAHAHAA, *fingerpointing at him* Sorry but I stopped reading RIGHT THERE!

Seriously, I want to see you using a video editing or photo editing app on the web. Okay, let's make it fair: a word processor with a little bit more than Bold/Italic/Right-Align/etc. functionality (so we are NOT talking SIMPLE Web Apps like iWork - I agree that it looks impressive, but that's it.)

LOOOOL...

 

[monaarts]

......

I stopped reading after this

You stopped reading it because I am in a position where I focus my career on understanding software and advising businesses what decisions they should make? That makes a ton of sense.

 

[bringel]

I enthusiastically jumped on the early invitation to participate in this beta but quickly became disenchanted with the implementation of the product.
All of the applications were horribly slow to initiate.
Numbers did a terrible job of importing Excel spreadsheets.
Controls such as formatting, etc. were either missing or extremely difficult to locate.
Upon launch, it told me that some features would not work correctly unless I was using a later version of Safari. I am running OS X 10.8.2 with Safari 6.0.2 and I could not find any way to download a newer version of Safari. I am waiting for 10.8.5 to be released to see if that will resolve any issues.
Overall, I am not impressed and I will be sticking with the stand alone versions.

 

[Superdrive]

Buahh, LOOOOL, ROFL, MUAHAHAA, *fingerpointing at him* Sorry but I stopped reading RIGHT THERE!

Seriously, I want to see you using a video editing or photo editing app on the web. Okay, let's make it fair: a word processor with a little bit more than Bold/Italic/Right-Align/etc. functionality (so we are NOT talking SIMPLE Web Apps like iWork - I agree that it looks impressive, but that's it.)

LOOOOL...

I think you missed the part where he addressed video and photo editing in the Cloud.

 

[monaarts]

Buahh, LOOOOL, ROFL, MUAHAHAA, *fingerpointing at him* Sorry but I stopped reading RIGHT THERE!

Seriously, I want to see you using a video editing or photo editing app on the web. Okay, let's make it fair: a word processor with a little bit more than Bold/Italic/Right-Align/etc. functionality (so we are NOT talking SIMPLE Web Apps like iWork - I agree that it looks impressive, but that's it.)

LOOOOL...

Just read this and then think about how dumb you will look:

http://listverse.com/2007/10/28/top-30-failed-technology-predictions/

 

[rleiter]

Works great!

I've used this and it works great - until you want to print a document! When you try, you get an alert that it "can't print from Pages for iCloud. Try downloading this document and printing it from your computer." The best you can do is email a pdf to yourself, download it and print from there.

Has anyone worked on this yet?

Could be useful.

 

[Frederico Luna]

Yay I've been waiting for this moment since I found out they were going to release this.

It's awesome for small and simple spreadsheets. Example: I have an spreadsheet to control certain expenses of a personal project. I used to do that only with Numbers for iPhone. Now I can still use my iPhone while I'm on the go, but I will start using iCloud when I'm at the office.

Aaaaand, it's free! Who can complain?

 

[otismotive77]

why is it crashing again and again? i wanted to see what it was

 

[peterdevries]

Web based software? no thank you.

Did you actually try it or are you one of these "get off my lawn" types?

It's quite amazing to use. I prefer the installed iWork version, but it is brilliant when I'm away and need to use it from another computer.