iWork alternatives (yet another time)

[maclearning]

I know there's endless threads on the topic of iWork alternatives (i've been reading them for days). I could just go ahead and buy the iWork, but would rather try one of the free alternatives (this "it just works" thing is getting expensive).

People keep recommending open office aqua. Problem is: when I go to download, the site clearly states that its for "Windows", even though the search is for "iWork alternatives for Mac."

I'm brand new to Mac, and would really appreciate useful input, not yet another round of complaints/opinions. Where is the "it just works" philosophy when you need something as simple as a way to write a letter that other systems can read?

Sorry if this is more of a rant than an actual question...Thanks for your input in advance.

 

[fleshman03]

For simply writing a letter, use Bean or OpenOffice.

Bean is nice, plain and simple. However it's not meant for long, academic writing. Does not support footnotes or anything like that.

Open Office is a nicer alternative, but doesn't have the templates and other nice things. It's plain and simple, but not as elegant as Bean or iWork.

I really would suggest iWork. M$' alternative to iWork (see how I put that?) costs $150 for the student & teacher edition.

 

[maclearning]

Hey...sorry about the last rant...guess I'll just keep reading and stop w/my own complaints.

Anyone that has the proper link to download free open office or neo office on my brand new Mac (no windows installed, just pure osx), feel free to do it here. the "open Office" link says its for windows. Guess that's what's confusing me...Told you I'm a mac newb.

Thanks again.

 

[Dimwhit]

http://porting.openoffice.org/mac/download/aqua.html

 

[jzuena]

While OpenOffice.org is great, when I tried it, it still required X11 when run on the Mac (version 3 should be native). NeoOffice is a port of OpenOffice.org that has run natively on OS X from the beginning.

 

[Cap41]

Try NEO office...great program...if purchasing, i would D/L or purchase MSoffice 08 for mac, over the iwork suite

 

[txnoob]

I love OpenOffice. I use it on my Mac and PC. I find inter-compatibility with office to be flawless so far.

 

[carl201167]

Depending on how sophisticated an office apps user you are, have you considered Google Docs?

Works fine for most spreadsheets and word processing. And it's free too

 

[kastenbrust]

As above Google Docs is pretty good, Open Office is the second best. The reality is no alternative to Microsoft Office is as good as iWork, infact it surpasses office in many ways and its definitely worth the investment, even in the long term.