iWork versus MS Office

[Forkjulle]

I've just ordered my rMBP (first-time Mac buyer) and use Gdocs a lot of the time. Is iWork or MS Office worth buying (for basic to medium usage)?

If so, then which is better (in your experience) between iWork and Office? Are there pros and cons? Or is it just a personal preference?

 

[GGJstudios]

I prefer MS Office for Mac, for maximum compatibility with Windows users. If you don't want MS Office for some reason, there are many alternatives, such as iWork, NeoOffice, LibreOffice, OpenOffice, Google Docs, etc. Searching the forum will reveal dozens of threads discussing these various alternatives and the pros and cons of each, such as this small sampling:

MS Office 2011 and Retina Display
Microsoft Office 2011 on Retina Macbook Pro
Microsoft office on retinaMountain Lion & MS Office 2011
Microsoft Confirms Office 2011 and 2008 Compatibility with OS X Mountain Lion
Microsoft office 2011 compatable with mountain lion?
Poll: iWork vs Office vs something else
Office or iWorks?
iWork (09?) VS Office 2011 for Mac
Office 2011 Mac vs iWorks?
iWork 09 vs Office 2011 on MBA
Poll: MS Office for Mac 2011 vs iWork
Poll: Office or iWork?
iWork vs MS Office 2011 for the basic user​

 

[Sital]

I've found the main issue with iWork is compatibility with Office. If you need to share documents with Office users you may find that formatting in the iWork document doesn't convert over, or in extreme cases the file doesn't even open.

Also, if you work in a group setting with multiple people editing documents, Office is the way to go for tracking those changes (or, of course, use Google Docs).

I've also run into compatibility problems transferring Keynote presentations to PowerPoint.

If none of the above apply to you, iWork could be sufficient for your needs.