AppleWorks database - future viability

[Robert G]

Having been disappointed to find that iWork '08 doesn't offer a database facility I am considering using AppleWorks database (pre-installed on my iMac G5) for several domestic purposes hitherto handled quite adequately by Microsoft Works database - this in spite of the fact that Apple have recently 'dropped' AppleWorks.

Would this be a wise move? For how many years might I expect to be able to run AppleWorks on any replacement Macs? Will Apple include database in a future version of iWork?

 

[PeggyD]

AppleWorks 6 runs very well in 10.4.10 on both my G5 tower & my MacBook Pro. No one can know for sure how long AppleWorks will continue to work. I have read a couple of reports that it runs well in Leopard. Who knows about 10.6? But that's a ways off.

Of course, with any important document, you should have backups. AppleWorks 6 database documents are more prone to corruption than other AppleWorks file types, so I suggest you keep more than one backup. That being said, I've not yet had a database corruption except for one small database mostly used in AppleWorks 6 for Windows. Even then, it worked on my Macs.