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iWork for iCloud Updated With Retina Support and Design Improvements, iOS and Mac Updates to Follow

Nunyabinez said:
Yes, you can force pages into a work flow by adding extra steps. But why would you want extra steps such as exporting to word when you can just work in word.

And yes I would send a pdf if I had a product that was finished and didn't want someone to edit, but I'm sending files that others need to open and edit and send back.

I'm not saying everyone has to do it my way, I'm saying that the work that I do requires multiple people to work on a document and Google docs doesn't cut the mustard.
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I can work twice as fast in pages so an extra step as you call it still works best for me. And this is work related. Not home use.
 
IJ Reilly said:
The old version of Pages was far more than basic. The page layout features in particular were fairly advanced. Unfortunately these are the features Apple deleted in the "upgrade" version. I doesn't seem like they have returned yet.
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Well give them a chance. For what we all can see is Apple is at least standing by what they promised. They promised to add features to iWork and they are doing it. Besides, rather than build a new office suite based off the old hog they are clearly a step in the right direction starting from scratch and building it into a nice office suite for the desktop, portables and the cloud. Honestly people need to applaud the efforts for once rather than just sitting on their butts complaining even when the company is trying especially when they are offering a decent office suite for free. For the people iWork is NOT for then there's Microsoft Office. You have choices.
 
Belmont31R said:
Office is a premium app suite. Most 'home' users can get by without the premium features. Lots of very simple cheap/free word processors out there. A business should be giving their employees the tools to do their job.

I personally think $99 a year with installs on 5 different computers is pretty reasonable.

We use a business 365 plan for our email hosting and I don't find the cost unreasonable. For the software we have downloaded I'd be looking at close to a grand and would have have to pay that all over again when a new version is released if I wanted to update.
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I agree. $99 a year isn't bad for 5 installs, cloud storage, the FULL office suite (Access), and tablet/mobile use.

Also, even if you only use Office one in a while, if it does something that not other software can come close to (Excel), or if it ensure that when you do work with other people you have compatibility, then it is worth the fee.

I like Pages '09 for small personal stuff, but Word is excellent for formal writing and nothing beats excel. I tried to use Numbers, but it was too frustrating and why waste time that I could use to become better at excel.

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Nunyabinez said:
If Pages did something amazing that Word didn't do I would be willing to add extra steps. But importing and exporting can introduce anomalies and I don't want to have to check to make sure that my formatting wasn't changed, etc.
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Yes. You are correct. Also, I cannot risk even the slightest issue with a Pages export. I work in an academic and professional setting, I can't risk Pages to export even a heading incorrectly when I submit something.

If it is critically important, I will check in Office on Windows through VMWare, though I haven't had any issue between Mac and Windows Word.

I did have a few issues between Mac and Windows excel though...
 
Freyqq said:
Yeah...lots of reasons why this statement is correct.

1. No windows version, so 90% of computers can't open your files
2. Compatibility of documents does not reach across all old versions
3. Missing many professional features that people use every day (ex. cross-referencing)

Even if it had all that, it would still need 100% cross-compatibility with .docx files to make a dent in the business world.
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When did Apple ever state that they were trying to merge iWork into the business world? They are catering to the home and entrepreneur type of user which are what most of these free suites are doing.
 
BornAgainMac said:
Retina websites and apps seems like a maintenance nightmare and extra work to support those privileged with those displays.
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It really isn't. Layout doesn't change; you just need 2x versions of bitmap resources.

WebKit does support the srcset attribute to easily load alternate image versions, but that attribute isn't supported on WebKit 7.0.2 (maybe on 7.0.3 released today, haven't checked).

As for App support, it's hardly 'privileged'. All iOS7 devices besides the iPad 2 and iPad Mini are retina.

EDIT: Nope, no srcset support in 7.0.3 :(
 
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iBlazed said:
iWork has a loooonnnnggggg way to go before people can ditch Microsoft Office.
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Not really-- I'm not sure I can say I've "ditched" office, but I only use it a few times a year when forced to by coworkers. Pages and Keynote satisfy everything I need except:
Oldedit said:
I've been playing with Numbers. It is a disaster compared with Office 2011. There is no obvious way to set or change the print area. Editing is almost impossible.

The help offered doesn't.

Clearly, now that iWorks is free, we're getting what we pay for.
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Numbers was worth "free" long before they started charging "free".

Still, if I had to choose one suite, I'd choose iWork and put up with Numbers rather than choose Office and be forced to use Word.

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wizard said:
I don't know about Pivot Tables, though I suspect MS has that patented. However I can agree with one thing, iWork needs a real scripting language and again Python would be a good choice.
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This got me looking and I kind of enjoyed what I found.

Pivot tables have been around since Lotus Improv, which tried to make spreadsheets easier to use. Improv released first on NeXT. The feature that makes pivot tables so easy to use-- being able to grab category tiles and drop them onto axes to reorganize the data? That was a Steve Jobs innovation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_Improv

Yeah, everywhere you find elegance in usability, Steve isn't far away...

Reading up on Improv, it looks like Numbers draws a lot of inspiration from it. I'm not sure why pivot tables wouldn't have made the cut.

(Oh, and Python would make a great macro language, methinks. I'd like to see Python replace Applescript across the board.)
 
Freyqq said:
Yeah...lots of reasons why this statement is correct.

1. No windows version, so 90% of computers can't open your files
2. Compatibility of documents does not reach across all old versions
3. Missing many professional features that people use every day (ex. cross-referencing)

Even if it had all that, it would still need 100% cross-compatibility with .docx files to make a dent in the business world.
Click to expand...

Where exactly did you find the statistic that 90% of computers don't have access to the internet? You do realize even Windows users can access and edit iWork documents at iCloud.com with full compatibility with the mobile and desktop apps right? The business world is full of iPhones and iPads. I think iWork will do just fine there when it comes to compatibility.

But anyway, Apple is targeting the much larger consumer and prosumer market anyway. This is not the 90's. The consumer market drives the overwhelming majority of sales and profits. Choosing to focus on not "making a dent in the business world" is one of the best decisions you can make.
 
Does anyone have a sense of exactly what features were updated or put back? For example, the article says improvements to keynote's presenter mode are included. But, presenter mode looks largely the same to me. Also, the one presenter-mode feature I really wanted back -- the ability to customize the previous slide, next slide, and note box sizes still isn't there.
 
kk1ro said:
Is there ANY way to re-download Pages '09?
Pages 5 is lacking many of the features I need for my work (mainly, clickable links and bookmarks when exporting to PDF), but I also don't want to keep using the *horrible* MS Word for Mac.
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I actually talked to Apple support a few weeks ago asking about that, and the guy on the other end literally gave a nudge-and-a-wink suggestion that "other sources" might still have iWork '09 available.

In other words, an Apple representative told me to visit the Pirate Bay to get a clean install of iWork '09. Seriously.
 
HenryDJP said:
Well give them a chance. For what we all can see is Apple is at least standing by what they promised. They promised to add features to iWork and they are doing it. Besides, rather than build a new office suite based off the old hog they are clearly a step in the right direction starting from scratch and building it into a nice office suite for the desktop, portables and the cloud. Honestly people need to applaud the efforts for once rather than just sitting on their butts complaining even when the company is trying especially when they are offering a decent office suite for free. For the people iWork is NOT for then there's Microsoft Office. You have choices.
Click to expand...

For new users, maybe. It's a little different situation for people who've been using iWork since the beginning and have learned to take advantage of its features. I use templates and section inserts constantly. Once you've designed a set of templates with the sections you need, the benefit to workflow is huge. I also use linked text boxes quite a bit. Both are gone in Pages 5.0, so the new version is complete a non-starter for me. So no, I'm not sitting on my butt. Far from it. Maybe it's the people who never tried iWork until it was free who are butt sitting, eh?
 
Nunyabinez said:
Fair enough. I would actually prefer to work in Pages, mostly because I love Apple products and want to support my chosen platform. But I'm just too lazy too fight the system and there are a few features that Word has that I need that aren't in pages.

I'll probably revisit my decision as more features are added, but at this point I'm not optimistic.
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The nice part about fighting this system is nobody has to know. It is also good to be able to make decisions about what tools work the best for you instead of feeling compelled to use what other people use just because other people are using them. To me that's the worst reason to make a choice. If it's a matter of specific features that you know you need, I can't argue about that.
 
DoctorFedora said:
I actually talked to Apple support a few weeks ago asking about that, and the guy on the other end literally gave a nudge-and-a-wink suggestion that "other sources" might still have iWork '09 available.

In other words, an Apple representative told me to visit the Pirate Bay to get a clean install of iWork '09. Seriously.
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The person you quoted was asking to redownload pages 09. If they bought it they would still have it. I still have it and still use it. Are you asking them to keep selling 09 when the new version is available? When have they ever done that?
 
kcmac said:
The person you quoted was asking to redownload pages 09. If they bought it they would still have it. I still have it and still use it. Are you asking them to keep selling 09 when the new version is available? When have they ever done that?
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I actually specifically cited iMovie HD and Final Cut Pro when talking to the Apple representative, noting that those were both cases where the new code base, while more efficient and better in many ways, lacked advanced features that the older versions had, and the older versions were kept available for that reason.
 
ra4oasis said:
That isn't necessarily true. For many people, all they use is the basic functions of Word, PowerPoint, or Excel. And although I can' stay I'm a heavy iWork user, from my limited experience, it does just fine for the basics. I fit into the category of I don't use "office" products enough to pay 100 bucks a year, so iWork will do just fine.
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No.... it's true. iWork sucks. The most basic of features are still missing.... like moving pages around in a document! Templates suck.... used to have several alternate pages per template, now two.

iWork08 is far more advanced in what it can do, and that version is six years old. I am doing a document for work that I wanted to be laid out nice, graphics intensive, etc. Word sucks for this. (Just try arranging a picture without ripping your hair out.) That is the only thing the new iWork still does well, and even then, editing tools are a downgrade (instant alpha was waaaay better before).

It was my first time really trying the new version.... and I had to revert back to 08.

Not releasing a new version for 5 years to put out a dung pile is a slap in the face. Usually later versions.... especially with 5 years to develop it.... become revolutionary and at least evolutionary.... this is like the after math of a nuclear holocaust.... but with internet features....

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kcmac said:
The person you quoted was asking to redownload pages 09. If they bought it they would still have it. I still have it and still use it. Are you asking them to keep selling 09 when the new version is available? When have they ever done that?
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In this case they should.... people would pay for that version over this free version. It sucks.

Broken record signing off...
 
newagemac said:
Where exactly did you find the statistic that 90% of computers don't have access to the internet? You do realize even Windows users can access and edit iWork documents at iCloud.com with full compatibility with the mobile and desktop apps right? The business world is full of iPhones and iPads. I think iWork will do just fine there when it comes to compatibility.

But anyway, Apple is targeting the much larger consumer and prosumer market anyway. This is not the 90's. The consumer market drives the overwhelming majority of sales and profits. Choosing to focus on not "making a dent in the business world" is one of the best decisions you can make.
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If icloud.com was truly sufficient, then apple would have never bothered to make an OSX app for it.
 
Gee, just bring back AppleWorks' database program, please. Or at least something that allows AW's DBs to be imported without having to recreate the entire database layout.

There's a lot of word processing programs, spreadsheets, presentation stuff, et al, out there, but there's only one database program for Macs and it's damn expensive and damn complicated to learn -- and it's not even backwards-compatible with AppleWorks' database program, yet they all came from the same company once upon a time. Heck, they even killed off Bento after only a few versions, and that wasn't even compatible with AppleWorks.
 
MacAddict1978 said:
iWork08 is far more advanced in what it can do, and that version is six years old. I am doing a document for work that I wanted to be laid out nice, graphics intensive, etc. Word sucks for this. (Just try arranging a picture without ripping your hair out.) That is the only thing the new iWork still does well, and even then, editing tools are a downgrade (instant alpha was waaaay better before).
Click to expand...

Just for the record, the last version of iWork before this one was '09, and it was last updated in 2011, I believe. I had no real problem with the lack of major updates for five years, because I was happy with iWork '09. I have a problem with the update, once it came, being an actual downgrade.

Otherwise, I agree. If you want to make complex documents, Pages 4.1 is the ticket. I didn't run the new version long enough to find out what they did with Instant Alpha. How'd they manage to wreck that feature?
 
I've been using iWork since the beginning and ditched MS Office not long after. In all those years of receiving Word documents (as badly written and lazily formatted as they usually are) and many Excel sheets I've not had to step back to Office thankfully. I'm happy with Apple's progress towards iWork and prefer they are rebuilding it for a new generation of hardware rather than just bloating it like MS tend to do.
 
subsonix said:
Final documents always gets sent as pdf here, to me that's like "printing" in the digital world.
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Same here. It's pretty much the only way to guarantee your layout remains intact across the board. Even with Microsoft Office you have no guarantee others are using the same version and have all the same fonts installed.
 
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