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Is apple killing off iWork?
- Thread starter baddj
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Well, Microsoft isn't any faster than Apple. Office 2007 was released on January 30th, 2007 and Office 2010 was released on June 15th, 2010. That's three and a half years. iWork '09 is "only" two years old.
Anyway, there isn't much to improve. The basic features of productivity suites have been the same for years, if not for decades soon. A new version won't revolutionize the way you do documents. I'm fine with Apple staying with iWork '09 instead of releasing new version each year with one minor extra feature and charging 79$ for that.
When they have something worth releasing, they will do that.
Anyway, there isn't much to improve. The basic features of productivity suites have been the same for years, if not for decades soon. A new version won't revolutionize the way you do documents. I'm fine with Apple staying with iWork '09 instead of releasing new version each year with one minor extra feature and charging 79$ for that.
When they have something worth releasing, they will do that.
The difference is that Office is a lot more mature so development doesn't need to be so rapid where as iWork is lacking and could do with updating (autosave anyone?).
Isn't Office a more complicated program (meaning a lot more code) so it's harder/takes longer to update?
Whereas iWork is a simpler program. I'd appreciate better Bibliography management for iWork
Autosave's coming with Lion though
Isn't Office a more complicated program (meaning a lot more code) so it's harder/takes longer to update?
Whereas iWork is a simpler program. I'd appreciate better Bibliography management for iWork
Well, it depends on what the update includes. I'm not a programmer but I'm pretty sure MS could use the same code with few tweaks of course and then add couple of new, minor features and update is annually.
Haha fair enough. They claim to be rewriting major pieces of code though...and after using Office 2011 I don't doubt it.
I'd be surprised if Apple killed off iWork. I think the most they would do would be rebrand it and make some major changes, or develop a whole new office suite, like what they did with Appleworks.
I've been holding off of buying iWork '09, I've got '08 on my computer.
I've been holding off of buying iWork '09, I've got '08 on my computer.
Microsoft Word reminds me of Pages now. Maybe the entire purpose of iWork was to get Microsoft to step it up.
the current office version is simply amazing. there is absolutely no need to use iwork.. and the people who claim that office is "too" difficult to use for the casual user has never used office, at least not the current version, which is 2010 for Windows and 2011 for OSX. it's straightforward and miles ahead of iwork.. besides, people seem to forget that you get more with office than just powerpoint, excel and word. Onenote is an incredible piece of software (that's just one example) and outlook is great too. when it comes to software it's just microsoft >> apple.
dont' get me wrong, mail and iwork are decent applications. but that's about it. if you do more than writing an email per day or sending/receiving more than 2 emails a day, you'll never go back to either of the mentioned apple software if you've used office for 3 days.
I use mail and ical everyday and have written quite some papers with pages.I'll admit i never used numbers for more than "notes" and the same goes for excel. powerpoint and keynote are both great, while I find keynote easier to use for a quick and 'cool' looking presentation but I would NEVER use keynote to prepare a presentation in a business environment.
just my 2cents
As a general rule: yes, a program with more lines of code is more difficult to maintain, but that does not mean that it is too complex to do. That does not mean that it is harder to upgrade. You split your code in different modules so that you can work on one part without affecting the rest (in general). There are several techniques to maintain good software, but that's whole different discussion and filled so much literature....
dont' get me wrong, mail and iwork are decent applications. but that's about it. if you do more than writing an email per day or sending/receiving more than 2 emails a day, you'll never go back to either of the mentioned apple software if you've used office for 3 days.
I use mail and ical everyday and have written quite some papers with pages.I'll admit i never used numbers for more than "notes" and the same goes for excel. powerpoint and keynote are both great, while I find keynote easier to use for a quick and 'cool' looking presentation but I would NEVER use keynote to prepare a presentation in a business environment.
just my 2cents
Isn't Office a more complicated program (meaning a lot more code) so it's harder/takes longer to update?
Whereas iWork is a simpler program. I'd appreciate better Bibliography management for iWork
Autosave's coming with Lion though
As a general rule: yes, a program with more lines of code is more difficult to maintain, but that does not mean that it is too complex to do. That does not mean that it is harder to upgrade. You split your code in different modules so that you can work on one part without affecting the rest (in general). There are several techniques to maintain good software, but that's whole different discussion and filled so much literature....
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Hopefully. I still have iWork '08 and anyone else I know that I iWork has '09, leading to incompatibilities when documents are shared. I don't want to buy iWork '09 when a new release is imminent.
In the end it depends on ones needs... sort of follows the 80/20 rule. 80% probably will find iWorks just fine for their needs (as I do). The other 20% will be better off with the power MS Office.
And with the Mac App Store, Apple has created a bargain in that for IIRC is $15 each for what you really need. Don't need a spreadsheet, don't buy it! Same for the other two programs in iWorks.
Maybe it is just me, but we use the new Outlook at work on a PC - and find it frustrating to use compared to older version and Apple Mail.
As for Keynote vs Powerpoint - it depends on ones needs it seems based on reviews I have read. For collaboration IMO MS PP rules it seems. Was wondering how you feel in "a business environment" that you would never use Keynote?
Not a "business user"; but do use Keynote for presentations at work for educational purposes. And one feature I just used that I loved was the ability to use my iPhone to control my MBA and a Keynote presentation. Saved me from laying out cables to my MBA or my iPad (which I used previously for presentations).
My two cents here as well....
Personally, I'm not crazy about Numbers. For some reason, to me, it feels kind of bogged down, or heavy. Maybe it's just me / my MacBook. Then again, I don't like Mac Office excel either.
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What are your needs? Answer that question. Then find the tools that do the job.
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If Apple is touting a focus of "back to the Mac" I think it's a lock that we'll see a new FCP and new iWork in the next six months.
Jobs will want to be able to show Lion together with new apps and a new iMac.
I don't care about iWork or iLife updates with this big exception: Keynote. That program impacts my business and still has a lot of possible growth.
Jobs will want to be able to show Lion together with new apps and a new iMac.
I don't care about iWork or iLife updates with this big exception: Keynote. That program impacts my business and still has a lot of possible growth.
IMO, they are expanding it NOT killing it... Sort of.
As a suite, it may be killed off... Or just set aside/ less focused. The apps are expanding to the iOS platform, and almost feel like they are making a permanent footing there... Plus there is the mac app store versions. So I doubt the are dropping it.. They are just getting started by changing thhe target ( someone who wants a specific program for a specific platform).
As a suite, it may be killed off... Or just set aside/ less focused. The apps are expanding to the iOS platform, and almost feel like they are making a permanent footing there... Plus there is the mac app store versions. So I doubt the are dropping it.. They are just getting started by changing thhe target ( someone who wants a specific program for a specific platform).
this...post is full of BS.
1.) there's a ton to improve with iWork. it's nowhere NEAR good enough to be a reasonable replacement for MS Office for professionals.
2.) People who need office are using more than "basic features", so citing the fact that "basic features" (I assume you mean bold, italics, font sizing, etc.) works for all productivity suites is about as worthwhile as saying all cars run on *gas*, therefore they're all basically the same. How about no.
3.) Basically, you don't use professional office productivity applications in your life. That's cool, but don't speak beyond your actual application and use for these applications. Most people that seriously use productivity applications WANT to see iWork step up. Pages is way behind Word. Keynote is decent but lacks extended features. Numbers...ugh. Once you get used to the deep integration of algorithms and formulas found in Word, you realize how far behind Numbers (or whatever comes in Open Office) is behind.
iWork needs work...and a lot of it. It's fine for your average student who needs to write a basic paper or for really simple projects. But the minute you need (a) assured compatibility/consistency when passing something made with an iWork app to someone who isn't using iWork or (b) advanced features, iWork is worthless. There's a reason it's not seen in the business world.
I'd love to see iWork step up and become more robust and compatible with the world standard (Office). But it's not there currently...and suggesting it's "fine as-is" only speaks to how little you do with these applications in the first place. It really is like saying iMovie is "good enough" for movie making so there's no real need for Final Cut Pro.
I hope the new version of iWork properly supports British English (or as it's otherwise known, English )
It doesn't detect it automatically based on your location when you set up your OS. What's the point in having a system wide spellcheck and then giving Pages its own thing (at least I think that's what's happening, analyse is a word in TextEdit but not in Pages by default).
Then to top it all, when I change it, it doesn't remember the setting after I close it down.
)It doesn't detect it automatically based on your location when you set up your OS. What's the point in having a system wide spellcheck and then giving Pages its own thing (at least I think that's what's happening, analyse is a word in TextEdit but not in Pages by default).
Then to top it all, when I change it, it doesn't remember the setting after I close it down.
I love mac OSX but one thing I have to admit is that word and excel are very amazing software. I have seen many people use only excel to do their PhD analyses.
I hope the new version of iWork properly supports British English (or as it's otherwise known, English
It doesn't detect it automatically based on your location when you set up your OS. What's the point in having a system wide spellcheck and then giving Pages its own thing (at least I think that's what's happening, analyse is a word in TextEdit but not in Pages by default).
Then to top it all, when I change it, it doesn't remember the setting after I close it down.
It is possible to set it up, I have dug up this thread which may provide the solution although it may be an older version of Pages, I forget when it was last updated.