AppleWorks X?

[gopher]

Nope, AppleWorks doesn't get updated, even though Internet Explorer does. I don't quite understand Apple's policy about non-OS software updates, unless it's that Explorer, like iTunes et al, is included with ALL Macs out of the box. Plus it's a chronic security hazard.

The update is worthwhile, by the way, because it finally provides support for a scrollwheel mouse (though not in the database ).

Explorer hasn't been updated for a couple years. And Microsoft recently announced this past year they won't be updating it further except with MSN. So if you are going to complain about Appleworks not getting updated, look at something that actually has gotten updated.

 

[nuckinfutz]

To be honest, I don't agree with that comment anymore. Sun has been propped up by MS and have you noticed how they've targeted IBM with their rumblings about buying SUSE to lock IBM into being their bitch for the SUSE OS that they run on their zSeries, iSeries, and pSeries products.

I sure did notice that. Sun is going through the same thing Apple went through after the infamout $150 million MS Stock purchase. Despite MS' numerous attempts to thwart Java Sun has to play nice. Very interesting these computer Politics.

I just thought of something. iCal. It hasn't been updated significantly in a while. It's currently at verison 1.5.2 and it's announcement date was July 2002(MacWorld NY). This means one of two things. iCal is dead for all intents and purposes or iCal 2 might be a significant update that is forthcoming.

Let us conjecture for a minute here that Apple is looking at providing tools for the low end "Works" arena as well as business level.

might we see an eventual Appleworks 7 integrated app by next summer along with an Apple Office?

I could see an Apple office with

Document- The Word Processor to rule them all.
Keynote2- Keynote becomes turbocharged
iCal/Mail Pro- The Biz oriented version of Calendering
Applebase- Nice RDBMS application based on tweaked Filemaker code
Cellblock- Spreadsheet application with a twist.

The cool thing about the suite would be it's modularity and integration. Core Data would fuel the backend of all the apps so that accessing a spreadsheet from Cellblock in Document would be as simple as choosing "recent spreadsheets" from a Document menu. Robust support for .doc and .xls as well as pdf. Multimedia support strengthened by Quicktime and the Core API. HTML display/editing by Webcore. Spotlight and Automator support throughout.

There's no doubt it could be a tour de force. So what if MS gets pissed. People that truly need Office will buy it.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

I sure did notice that. Sun is going through the same thing Apple went through after the infamout $150 million MS Stock purchase. Despite MS' numerous attempts to thwart Java Sun has to play nice. Very interesting these computer Politics.

I just thought of something. iCal. It hasn't been updated significantly in a while. It's currently at verison 1.5.2 and it's announcement date was July 2002(MacWorld NY). This means one of two things. iCal is dead for all intents and purposes or iCal 2 might be a significant update that is forthcoming.

Let us conjecture for a minute here that Apple is looking at providing tools for the low end "Works" arena as well as business level.

might we see an eventual Appleworks 7 integrated app by next summer along with an Apple Office?

I could see an Apple office with

Document- The Word Processor to rule them all.
Keynote2- Keynote becomes turbocharged
iCal/Mail Pro- The Biz oriented version of Calendering
Applebase- Nice RDBMS application based on tweaked Filemaker code
Cellblock- Spreadsheet application with a twist.

The cool thing about the suite would be it's modularity and integration. Core Data would fuel the backend of all the apps so that accessing a spreadsheet from Cellblock in Document would be as simple as choosing "recent spreadsheets" from a Document menu. Robust support for .doc and .xls as well as pdf. Multimedia support strengthened by Quicktime and the Core API. HTML display/editing by Webcore. Spotlight and Automator support throughout.

There's no doubt it could be a tour de force. So what if MS gets pissed. People that truly need Office will buy it.

I'd be willing to bet that Cellblock would share some functionality with Gnumeric, arguably the best FOSS spreadsheet program out there.

 

[Doctor Q]

Applebase- Nice RDBMS application based on tweaked Filemaker code

I like your name better than the one I suggested above: FileMaker Lite. Then again, maybe Apple should name it aBase. It follows that "lowercase leading vowel" pattern and it's also a wink toward the ancient product dBase!

 

[Jeffsters]

Sorry to burst your bubble

you will often see a computer book pop-up on Amazon etc., with the Roman Numeral "X" as a placeholder. It has NOTHING to do with OS X. When they assign an author for a book and they are unsure of the release schedule or what version the vendor is going to call it, they will just use the "X" when they get the ISBN number etc. There is no guarantee the book even exists or if work has started or that it will ever be released.

 

[Windowlicker]

Sheesh people. I can't believe the "Appleworks X" is going over your head. Let me explain how it works.

Apple has a new product coming. They want to have 3rd party book for this product out so they contract out to a few writers. They are %100 sure about the name but if it's a previous version and not a totally new product they simply append an "X" onto the product. "X" has always signified "unkown" in some areas just as Malcom X kept the "X" until he "found" his true name.

What this "Appleworks X" means is that there IS a new version coming. Apple hasn't chosen a final version number. It could be Appleworks 6.5 or Appleworks 7 or Appleworks CS or whatever they want. The publishers will get the final name before mass production. Trust me Appleworks X is not going to be the final name.

How do I know this? Because I've been following book like this for a while and 6 months before Filemaker 7 shipped there were a couple "Filemaker X" books pending print. This is great news because we're getting something new in AW. It just depends on how large the update is.

So in short yes a new Appleworks is coming.

I really hope you're right.. What MS has to offer is ok (just like much of the stuff on PC), but it's so bloated and confusing I wanna get rid of it asap (for instance, changing the dictionary was a pain in the ass because MS doesn't keep all the preferences in one place). What I've liked most so far is ClarisWorks 4.x. It's just not very much up to date anymore and Office has some stuff the CW4 doesn't.

But pleasepleasepleaseplease let it be true! An office suite that's just as easy to use as itunes or safari....... that would be NEAT'OMATIC!

 

[Jmitch]

Okay, first of all, the "X" like everyone else said, means nothing. It could just be a way to wait until a new version comes out, or it could just be Peachpits name for Appleworks for OS X. Google it and Appleworks 6.02 X comes up everywhere. Yes, it would be beautius to have a new office suite from Apple. Personally, if Apple does release a new office suite, Keynote will remain seperate, (it's good enough of an app to stand-alone by itself), and they will not just do a simple update and keep the same name. If they do anything they are going to completely redo the whole thing, new name and everything.

But, to be quite honest, I don't think it will happen. I'm not saying I don't think it could happen at all, but I don't think it will. One, because why would Apple promote Microsoft's Office X so much, if they new they were to release they're own in the near future?

 

[GregA]

Apple doesn't need to make a better Office, they need to make a cheaper Office, one that they can sell to education markets again. I think we'll soon see the quiet introduction of AppleWorks 7, Cocoa on Mac OS X, C++/Carbon for Windows and OS 9. The reason for the length between major updates being due to the necessity of rewriting the entire app, then porting it not only to two different platforms, but also to a different language and two APIs (assuming they make it a standard Win32 app like its predecessors).

Nah - much nicer to do 1 API - But release Appleworks in Cocoa - and use cocoa to run it on both Mac OS X and Windows 2000/XP. The former version of cocoa ran on Windows 95, NT, 2000, Solaris, HP/UX, and OpenStep... time to take advantage of it?

Think different when using an Office app?:
On another note - remember Apple and IBM (I think) were working on a document based system - so you open a document and you then may do word processing in it, or spreadsheets, or presentation... etc. That could still be interesting as a way of thinking different.

File formats:
To the person who said use OpenOffice formats - I agree - don't invent any new file formats, use something open. OpenOffice files are based on XML too aren't they?

My wish - something for making great web sites. Integrate THAT with iPhoto and other apple iApps maybe.

 

[sockeatingdryer]

AppleWorks has been getting long in the tooth. When my Bondi Blue was the primary machine, I first used AppleWorks 5 and loved it, then bought my Pismo with 6 and Office X and loved both. However, now that I just gotten my eMac last month, AppleWorks has been pushed to the dust bunnies in favour of Office. It is bloated, and slow, and overall buggy, with a need for an update BAD. If it is great enough to unseat Office, then I will most certainly push Office aside... I'd love to go straight "non-Microsoft."

That aside, I use RapidWeaver Pro now, but what if they incorporate a webpage builder with AppleWorks? How cool would that be?!

 

[djjon]

Why doesn't somone just email Nolan? (The author)

 

[SiliconAddict]

Um no they didn't. My PC still runs IE6. MS stopped external updates for all platforms including Wintel. I really wish Mac users would stop revising history to try to prove their points. There's no proof either way but the fact that there is no IE7 weakens the whole Safari debate.

What does your PC have to do with them dropping IE support for the Mac? MS may have stopped external updates for Wintel at IE 6 but they stopped at IE 5 for the Mac and from what I hear it was a crappy version at that. MS didn’t even bother to release a final version of IE for the Mac to get it up to 6 before they dropped it. If memory serves it was literally months after Safari came out when MS dropped it. I’d call that a little too convenient. And please keep in mind that as of this writing I’m not a Mac user. The only Mac I own right now is a Newton. So please don’t lump me in with people that alter facts to suit their biased. I’m just calling it as I see it.

A lawsuit wouldn't be needed. Apple could do far more damage to MS by simply creating a kickass Suite and delivering it on Linux.

That would require Linux to have a substantial chunk of the desktop market share. As it stands they are still just a drop in the bucket. Releasing a superior office suite for Linux or even Windows would do exactly squat. Along with the Windows monopoly they have their office suite monopoly which is just as big. Simple fact: if it doesn’t open up Office docs correctly most companies won’t touch it. Why do you think most companies haven’t gone Open Office yet? As for Linux. Right now you can run MS office 2000 and I think XP on Linux. So this isn’t that major of a deal. This isn’t about Apple doing damage to MS. Sorry but a +/-3% market share isn’t going to do much to a 90% market share. This is about the outcome of what would happen if MS dropped Office for the Mac. And as I said before the availability of Office, even a crappy version, is a major factor for a business to consider a platform. I still stand by my notion that Apple would be in trouble, not immediate mind you, if Microsoft discontinued Office for the Mac.

 

[SiliconAddict]

Why doesn't somone just email Nolan? (The author)

But that would take all the fun out of the speculation.

 

[Jeffsters]

An example!

Like I said, what you are seeing is a typical publisher ISBN number application title when a software book is signed and the vendors version number is not yet known. When that's the case they use "X" as a placeholder.

For example: How to Do Everything With Filemaker X (How to Do Everything)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...=sr_1_39/104-8528349-8849548?v=glance&s=books

We all know there is no FileMaker Pro X, and 7.0 just came out, but you'll see this book was supposed to come out back in March.

 

[Squire]

My wish - something for making great web sites. Integrate THAT with iPhoto and other apple iApps maybe.

So, so, so true. that is the one area where the iApps are lacking. "Web design for the rest of us" is what we need. And Homepage does not cut it for anything more than online photo albums, as far as I'm concerned.

Squire

 

[CmdrLaForge]

It's more complicated then that. Microsoft will drop Office for Mac when it's in their best interest to do so. e.g. They stop making money on it or if Apple starts invading their enterprise territory. I'm willing to bet a months salary that Apple has an anticompetitive lawsuit strategy on the table for the day MS drops office. For now its not a big deal since Apple owns a paltry +/-3% of the market which is hardly a threat to Microsoft.

Hmm I should consolidate my posts.

I agree with you that M$ is looking on their overall ROI (=return on invest) If that number gets under a certain value (I have no idea what it could be!) But yes, it is the overall return for M$ as a company and not only the Mac BU.

 

[flappo]

i've had ms office for 2 full years and only used it once , and then it crashed

i've had appleworks since it was clarisworks in 1992 and i've used it almost every day since

nuff said

 

[age234]

So, so, so true. that is the one area where the iApps are lacking. "Web design for the rest of us" is what we need. And Homepage does not cut it for anything more than online photo albums, as far as I'm concerned.

Squire

Oh, but hand-coding is so much more fun. I think so, anyway. CSS all the way!

 

[ClimbingTheLog]

May 2004

That the original publication date is May 2004 bolsters the argument that this will ship with the new iMacs. We all know they were supposed to ship in June.

Peachpit has to sit on a book that's done which is unfortunate, but they got early access to the software, so they have to play by Apple's rules.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Why isn't this a Page One rumor? The independently verifiable existence of the book is about as much confirmation of a pending new version of AppleWorks as we'll ever see.

Whether it's a minor or major upgrade, we don't know yet, but I'd place my bets on "major," for many of the reasons already mentioned. Another reason to expect this is that a couple of years ago Apple bought out a small developer of NextStep office applications. At the time, I think everybody assumed it would come to something, eventually.

It's about time, I say.

 

[BenRoethig]

your a strange strange little man.

appleworks is not that bad, ive never understood office fans

No, it's worse.

 

[ravijo]

I hate to burst this bubble, namely because I wish it were true!

But the current version of AW is refered to by many as AW X 6.x.x. Examples include versiontracker.com (http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/11281) and macupdate.com (http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/6355)

I also would say to additional things. First, there have been many rumors before which never resulted in a product for us. Even though apple might have indeed developed something behind closed doors, it never came out.

Second, I highly doubt that Apple would have pumped up Office: mac 2004 so heavily if they were coming out with this like 3-4 months later.

But I DO really, really wish it would come true!

 

[IJ Reilly]

The name isn't relevant. Whatever it's called, it's clear that a new version is coming out. It doesn't make sense to many of us for Apple to come out with yet another stop-gap version of AW, and that is all we've seen since 2000. This is the right moment for a significant upgrade.

 

[sockeatingdryer]

The name isn't relevant. Whatever it's called, it's clear that a new version is coming out. It doesn't make sense to many of us for Apple to come out with yet another stop-gap version of AW, and that is all we've seen since 2000. This is the right moment for a significant upgrade.

That does sound right. Since the new iMacs are coming out, and there's no new OS, they need something to fill in that gap. It will probably be something like "Work. And Play." Well, not that uncatchy, but something along that line.

 

[nuckinfutz]

What does your PC have to do with them dropping IE support for the Mac?

It has everything to do with it. I detest when people say Safari was the motivation for no more IE on the Mac. That simply isn't true fact.

That would require Linux to have a substantial chunk of the desktop market share. As it stands they are still just a drop in the bucket. Releasing a superior office suite for Linux or even Windows would do exactly squat

Yeah it may appear that way but I've seen big companies go extinct(Syquest) and former players get usurped(Novell) because they failed to evolve. The fact is Linux is working its way from the Server room to the Desktop. If Office is so unbeatable then why is MS dropping Office licenses to $40 to match Linux/Star Office? . That's rather telling that some governments aren't drinking the MS koolaid like they used to. Fact is the only reason why people say MS Office is essential is because they're the dumbasses sending their documents out in a proprietary format and don't realize there are other ways to disseminate information that doesn't require the recipient to buy a $400 application suite.

Right now you can run MS office 2000 and I think XP on Linux.

No you can't. MS is afraid of Linux

This isn’t about Apple doing damage to MS. Sorry but a +/-3% market share isn’t going to do much to a 90% market share. This is about the outcome of what would happen if MS dropped Office for the Mac

You're using rather pedestrian logic here. That %90 that MS owns runs Linux. So even Apple's %3 marketshare doesn't apply because linux simply needs to convert existing hardware to their platform. Much easier than say wishing that those Wintel boxes got replaced with Powermacs. You seem very comfortable with MS' place but I assure you Bill isn't comfy with the encroachment of Linux. I'm not sure that Macs losing MS Office would be all that damaging. Again I think the mythical "legions" of Office using Maccies is hyperbole. Appeasing Office has held this platform back more than it has helped IMO. With IE gone(ahh I remember the day when people thought no IE on Mac would be damaging...hellooooo Safari) Office is the only tool that most need to rid themselves of to be "MS Free"


It's about that time. All the tools are in place for a kickass Apple suite. Apple needs to ship a new AW and then create a nice full featured suite for businesses leveraging their own tech. If MS grabs their ball and goes home I'll personally open the door and let the damn carpetbaggers of our platform hit the road.

 

[alanbuilds]

Macs do everything - Whoops! - Except the good ones . . .

perhaps the biggest advantage (for apple) would be that it could use AWX to encourage educational institutions that they wouldn't need to buy any word processing, database, spreadsheet apps if they choose apple.

appleworks would fit well into iLife.

Appleworks/Clarisworks has ALWAYS come free and preloaded "ready-to-run-out-of-he-box" on all macs aimed at consumers and schools (iMac, eMac, & iBook; and their predecessors). ILife comes on ALL Macs, pro or consumer (excluding servers, of course), as do internet browsers. There is no need to buy additional software --- Macs do everything & more right out of the box!

[That said, however, the fact that Appleworks is left off the "pro" models is, IMHO, ridiculous beyond belief. Typing is typing, whether you're a soccer mom or a professional musician, graphic artist, filmmaker, photographer, etc. Everyone with a computer, including pros, needs to be able to "word process". Pros get computers that can't perform the most basic necessary function, with the justification that "they might want to buy a more expensive (read: Microsoft Office) software choice." Yet these professionals, who WOULD use Appleworks which is NOT provided for them, bought pro units specifically to NOT use iLife (which IS provided, but probably deleted or ignored) but rather its professional replacements like Final Cut Pro, etc. instead!

Must be an "understanding" with Microsoft, but still so illogical from a use standpoint. Until recently, you couldn't even burn a DVD, a basic amateur iLife application, without buying the professional Powerbook - no word processor included - instead of the i Book iLife was made for. (You still can't, except by special, unreturnable, build-to-order direct from the manufacturer -- not from retail resllers!)

This is nuts --or, at least, as un-Apple as you can get, in terms of stated "plug-in-and-play" philosophy.

I happily use the Appleworks I had to buy just to be able to use my Powerbook, and I am as far as you can get from a "professional" user.

Apple --- Let everyone type on Apple computers for free!!! (How much is this to ask?)]