I find the full-screen mode in Pages much easier to work in than the normal editing window. Is there a way to force Pages to open in full-screen? Manual hacking is no problem.
Hacking might not be necessary. You might try launching Pages via an AppleScript:
Code:
tell application "Finder"
activate
open application file "Pages.app" of folder "iWork '09" of folder "Applications" of startup disk
end tell
delay 10
tell application "Pages"
activate
set full screen of window 1 to true
end tell
If you've got a really fast Mac, the 10-second delay might not be necessary. The file path for the app might be different for you too. I just hit record and then copy/pasted that into the script.