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iwork, office for mac or open office for mac???

G

Grolsch30

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 25, 2007
90
0
Bergen, Germany
Hi,

Whilst still waiting for the MBP refresh, I would like some advice on which office software you would recommend.

I have decided to convert from being a pc user to have a go with a mac as i have heard so much positive info about its OSX operating system.

I have many word files etc (obviosuly coming from a pc).

What would you recommend,

iwork (£55 pre installed)
office for mac (£?)
open office (free)


Which one if all of these will enable me to just plug in my usb stick and download all my word/ excel files and pictures without any issues and edit/ change/send again without any issues.

Pardon my lack of knoweldge when it comes to macs, I appreciate any positive advice you can give me.

Cheers
 
Office is the best option for you as all your old files will work.

iWork is what I use. It's good but I sometimes have issues with PowerPoint files.

Open office I have always found to be very buggy, but I haven't tried it recently.
 
I use both but for compatbility with office apps then Open Office is your ticket. I've not found the latest release to be buggy but pretty stable
 
Grolsch30 said:
Hi,

Whilst still waiting for the MBP refresh, I would like some advice on which office software you would recommend.

I have decided to convert from being a pc user to have a go with a mac as i have heard so much positive info about its OSX operating system.

I have many word files etc (obviosuly coming from a pc).

What would you recommend,

iwork (£55 pre installed)
office for mac (£?)
open office (free)


Which one if all of these will enable me to just plug in my usb stick and download all my word/ excel files and pictures without any issues and edit/ change/send again without any issues.

Pardon my lack of knoweldge when it comes to macs, I appreciate any positive advice you can give me.

Cheers
Click to expand...

iWork is well integrated in the system and has the native Max OS X feeling to it.
OpenOffice is an all in one window kind of program, which may not be to your liking.

iWork will open office files fine, but not perfect. If you can live with (small) imperfections, go for iWork.
 
Get Microsoft Office. It will eliminate a lot of the mystery and headache. iWork is a good program, but if we're talking compatibility with a lot of Office files, it isn't probably your best choice.
 
In general...

If you need strict compatibility with MS Office for Windows, your best bet is to run Windows and MS Office with Boot Camp or virtualized with Fusion/Parallels/Virtual Box (free)/Crossover. This is the only way to ensure you are completely compatible with Office 2003 or 2007 on Windows. You can convert docs to .pdf, but that isn't always an option if you need collaboration.

If you need mild to good compatibility with MS Office for Windows, you can use Office 2004 or 2008 for the Mac, with the understanding they are not equivalents and there is little VBA support in 2004 and virtually none in 2008. Excel will be the primary difference more so than Word. There are converters for .docx available.

If you want a MS Office-like interface, etc. then Open Office/Neo Office are good choices and they are free. But they will not provide strict compatibility with MS Office. They will however, give you a more Office-like experience. They are robust and complete packages from the Open Source community.

If you want the functionality of MS Office with a Mac experience, then iWork is the best bet. It is a great value for the cost. Pages is a great tool, and Keynote is superior to Powerpoint in my opinion. Numbers is good, but does not provide the power of Excel. You can check out a comparison here: MR Guide - iWork v. MS Office. Nothing compares really to Excel on Windows if you need all of the features.

You can also check out Mariner Write and Mariner Calc. Both are decent alternatives, but are not as widely used.

If you just looking for a nice word processing, then Bean is free.
 
Could I import all my word socuments into iwork and then convert them into iwork/apple file extensions?

Again apologies if its a stupid question but I just don't have much of a clue on Apple related workings.

What I am mainly worried about is I needed to say post say a CV on a internet job site where it has to be in a word or rtf format.
Although I am sure I read somewhere that you can export such files in a word format.

In a normal general everyday life szenario how compatible is iwork, for instance Pages is supposed to be far better than power point, so would i have any issues if i did a Pages presentation and i had to send it to a work colleague or put it on my usb stick and then when i needed to show the presentation i would need an apple pc/laptop no or would i be able to use a pc?

I kinda feel awkqward asking such questions and again thanks for your responses and help.
 
Office is the best solution if you share/send documents, although it is quite glitchy.
Otherwise iWork is superb.

OpenOffice is just bad.
 
With Keynote, you can save as a .ppt file for distribution; I have done so and it works well.

Depending on your needs, you can use a .pdf of the file as well.

Most word processors allow you to save to .rtf format. Keep in mind that even that does not allow 100% compatibility with all, but better than .doc formats. I use Nisus Writer Pro for that, since it saves files natively in .rtf format (but also can save in .doc format).

 
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