Capable of what, precisely?
BTW, has anyone found iWork '08 listed on Amazon yet? I thought they were taking preorders at least, but I can't find it.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iWork '08 Introduced
- Thread starter bmpwe
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Capable of what, precisely?
BTW, has anyone found iWork '08 listed on Amazon yet? I thought they were taking preorders at least, but I can't find it.
Just a guess, but I would think that this is about the formulas and scripts. Numbers couldn't possibly have every Excel function ever made on the first iteration for instance.
I would bet that importing an Excel sheet with some fancy calculations or (especially) VB crap in it would give you the message that it could not be done. As long as no one emails you a spreadsheet from some hard-core Windows only place though, it will probably work.
I'm downloading it now.
I had trouble finding it. I tried going to Apple's website but saw no sign of it. Even the only Apple Store rep (spoke via chat...way cool) knew nothing about it and couldn't find any mention of it. Then I came here and found the link on the front page. Go figure.
I'm sure they will exchange it if you ask, but another solution for you is to download the trial version and use the authorization code for the copy you just bought. Unless Apple has changed something, the trial version is time-limited but otherwise feature-complete.
It's kind of interesting also that the new iWork reads all the new Office formats.
Where I work now (a University) everyone is getting screwed by the new format because there is no way to really open them on a Mac. They have to be sent back to the student along with an explanation of how to use "SaveAs.." (instead of the default "Save"), and instructions to pick a decent file format.
Now we know iWork will open these things we will probably be buying everyone a copy just for this purpose.
I think after five months or so of opening Word documents in iWork, that the average Mac user will wonder why in the hell they should buy the new Office when it's *also* a completely new interface anyway. The only hope Microsoft has here is to put a mode into the new Office that replicates the original interface again so as to entice switchers back to Office. But then that will take even longer.
Who wants to bet that the next Office actually comes out closer to next Summer?
Yep, same omissions affect me too.
Error bars definitely a big omission.
However, my needs are hardly mainstream!
Hopefully the second version will allow more control over graphing.
Also a few more statistical functions would be good - but again can't really expect to have the "F-test" in the first version!
BTW for those wondering, you can purchase the trial version just by entering your purchased serial number. No need to travel to any Apple Store...
Attachments
Well I have just installed iWork Trial.
Numbers is fantastic for normal everyday users. The included templates are a great starting point and you can really make some nice spreadsheets real quick.
Yes it isn't Excel. There are features missing. But for probably 80% of the people who need a spreadsheet program at home, Numbers is as good as it gets.
For a nice template to experiment on, try out the Team Organization template. Yes you can probably do the same thing in Excel, but it wouldn't nearly look as good and definitely could not be created from scratch as quickly as you can in Numbers.
I have already uninstalled iWork '06 and Office 2004. All due to a 30-day trial! Never going back to Office after using this.
Numbers is fantastic for normal everyday users. The included templates are a great starting point and you can really make some nice spreadsheets real quick.
Yes it isn't Excel. There are features missing. But for probably 80% of the people who need a spreadsheet program at home, Numbers is as good as it gets.
For a nice template to experiment on, try out the Team Organization template. Yes you can probably do the same thing in Excel, but it wouldn't nearly look as good and definitely could not be created from scratch as quickly as you can in Numbers.
I have already uninstalled iWork '06 and Office 2004. All due to a 30-day trial! Never going back to Office after using this.
I don't see any "word processing" mode...
I am especially miffed that they *say* they have added a word processing mode, when in fact they don't seem to have done that at all. I find this a bit deceptive.
If you look carefully at the tutorial, you can see that their idea of a word processing mode is simply to add page layout templates that conform to tasks that are usually done with a word processor. The "section breaks" are not section breaks but new template insertions, and if you hit the return key you won't get a new line, you will just confirm your changes on that template.
This ****** up mixing of page layout tools and word processing tools is exactly what makes MS Word so unwieldy and bug-ridden. A lot of folks don't *want* to "click anywhere to begin" or base everything off of some tasteless pink bordered template. (I am talking about Word templates there), and those that do generally prefer it to be the default. Page layout and Word processing are different things; different metaphors for accomplishing the task. They don't mix well in Word and while I am sure Apple does it better, it's still not what most serious writers will want. I, (and a lot of people I would wager), want to use a word processor for most of my documents, not a PageMaker 3.0 clone.
I find it disturbing that Apple is now getting actively deceptive in their practices and advertisements. I haven't tried it yet, but it seems to me that there is *not* a word processor mode in Pages.
I am disappointed in this myself. Pages is okay for basic stuff but as a writer I need real word processing.
I am especially miffed that they *say* they have added a word processing mode, when in fact they don't seem to have done that at all. I find this a bit deceptive.
If you look carefully at the tutorial, you can see that their idea of a word processing mode is simply to add page layout templates that conform to tasks that are usually done with a word processor. The "section breaks" are not section breaks but new template insertions, and if you hit the return key you won't get a new line, you will just confirm your changes on that template.
This ****** up mixing of page layout tools and word processing tools is exactly what makes MS Word so unwieldy and bug-ridden. A lot of folks don't *want* to "click anywhere to begin" or base everything off of some tasteless pink bordered template. (I am talking about Word templates there), and those that do generally prefer it to be the default. Page layout and Word processing are different things; different metaphors for accomplishing the task. They don't mix well in Word and while I am sure Apple does it better, it's still not what most serious writers will want. I, (and a lot of people I would wager), want to use a word processor for most of my documents, not a PageMaker 3.0 clone.
I find it disturbing that Apple is now getting actively deceptive in their practices and advertisements. I haven't tried it yet, but it seems to me that there is *not* a word processor mode in Pages.
Just noticed something for you education users.
If you open up the iWork Trial and click on Buy then 'Buy Serial Number', you are brought to a page where you can just get a download version of iWork for $49 if you have a education discount.
I can't find a similar option for iLife '08, but it seems like this will help out some of you.
If you open up the iWork Trial and click on Buy then 'Buy Serial Number', you are brought to a page where you can just get a download version of iWork for $49 if you have a education discount.
I can't find a similar option for iLife '08, but it seems like this will help out some of you.
Attachments
Sounds like this works for you, but consider this:
The new version of Office for Windows has a completely different interface from the old, so you have to learn a lot of stuff new anyway. Also, the new version of Office for Mac will be completely different from the old version of Office for Mac (which was slightly different from the old Windows version anyway), and also completely different from the new version of Office for Windows.
So in short, there have always been differences between the two versions of Office, and both versions are in the middle of the most radical interface changes they have ever undergone. Even if you stick with Office on both platforms, your going to have to use two different interfaces. So it seems like your going to have to get used to something new anyway.
No offense BTW, just another point of view.
There is a difference between a text editor and a word processor. Word processors generally let you stipulate headers, footers, contents, index, cross references, figures etc. Basically, its to do with the level of control over the formatting of a document, beyond just entering text. You are processing the text.
Jeeez but error bars!
can't use it cos of that. And really wanted to dump excell and stay with Graphpad Prism and Numbers. Whats wrong with you Apple??? Keynote got the same issue. How am I gonna do a presentation whithout error bars??? 
the general rule is that the stores don't offer the edu discount on software...only hardware.
if the manager at your store does differently, you are blessed! have you purchased software at the store with the edu discount?
~kyle
As a "serious" writer myself, I have to say this criticism makes absolutely no sense. I have never encountered a single one of these issues using Pages, not in over a year and a half of daily use. A section break is a real section break. The page layout tools never get in the way, unless I want them to be in the way.
I'm not sure why Apple thought it necessary to create a word processing "mode" for this version of Pages (I will reserve judgement until I've actually used it), but I suspect the reason is because too many users never looked past the included templates to realize that it has, since version 1.0, been perfectly easy to create a template without any graphics placeholders; nothing but a blank page with a set of defined paragraph and text styles, all ready to go for just plain typing.
I downloaded the QT video from their website (large file) and watched it. See the QT in the attachment?
In the context of my rant above, I am using word processing in the colloquial sense (that Apple is apparently using as well), of being a typewriter-like metaphor for creating documents.
So in that sense "word processing" is typing like in a text editor, as contrasted with "page layout" which is word processing also, but in a graphical object metaphor (boxes with type and vector objects).
I for one am kind of disappointed that Apple doesn't seem to have support for ODF in the new version. I was really hoping that Apple would at least offer the ability to export to this standard format that's gaining lots of attention, if not replace its own XML-based document format with this.
Cool I am about to check it out. Because its not Vista, but Vista-esque (which is Aqua-esque, but I digress) in that attachment.