iWork vs Office vs something else (merged)

[Dark Dragoon]

So can I convert iWork docs to PDF format?

Yes you can export as a PDF.

For completeness here are the export windows from each of the applications, so you can see what formats they can export as.
Note that various parts of the document (mainly formatting) can be lost depending on the format you are exporting as.

 

[oblomow]

Have you also looked at libreoffice ? I use it to write and view documents, spreadsheets and presentations at home on my MBP. At work I have to work with Windows7/Office2010. No compatibility problems when I do standard stuff.

 

[Sarmiento]

So can I convert iWork docs to PDF format?

Pretty much any document that you can print can be converted to PDF. When you hit the print command you will get a pop-up window that allows you to convert it to a PDF instead. (The drop-down menu is on the bottom left).

 

[CylonGlitch]

Even better today!

 

[talmy]

Even better today!

Only if you buy a new computer today!

 

[CylonGlitch]

Only if you buy a new computer today!

Or if you buy one before you need iWork. I am considering buying a new computer today.

The idea though is eventually everyone will get it for free unless you only buy used computers. I do wish Apple would have just made them free to everyone.

 

[talmy]

The idea though is eventually everyone will get it for free unless you only buy used computers. I do wish Apple would have just made them free to everyone.

Yep. As it is, with no new computer planned, I'll probably spring for the new Pages, since I use that frequently and can see that the new context sensitive menus will increase productivity. My use of Numbers and Keynote are pretty basic (although I do use Keynote a couple times a week to create title slides for videos) and I can see no compelling reason to upgrade since they will continue to work under Mavericks.

 

[steve am]

Microsoft office mac 2011 H&S or Pages?

Evening all. when a bought my mac i managed to bargain in office mac 2011 (home & student) plus a couple of other things.

im in two minds to install it or not.

do you guys have preference between office mac & pages?


Steve.






















7

 

[talmy]

Evening all. when a bought my mac i managed to bargain in office mac 2011 (home & student) plus a couple of other things.

im in two minds to install it or not.

do you guys have preference between office mac & pages?

Install both. Use Office when you need it for compatibility or perhaps it's "power" (though I'd just call it "bloat"). Use iWork the rest of the time.

Now since my post is just above yours (and was 6 months ago) I should point out that I did NOT go to the new iWork apps but still use the older versions. I generally do not like the new versions, nor the fact that it keeps on pushing the "upgrade". But I'd say the new version is still better than no iWork at all.

 

[skaertus]

Install both. Use Office when you need it for compatibility or perhaps it's "power" (though I'd just call it "bloat"). Use iWork the rest of the time.

Now since my post is just above yours (and was 6 months ago) I should point out that I did NOT go to the new iWork apps but still use the older versions. I generally do not like the new versions, nor the fact that it keeps on pushing the "upgrade". But I'd say the new version is still better than no iWork at all.

Well, if you call "bloat" the features of Microsoft Office, then it's probably because you never had to use cross-references on Word. Office is a much more capable office suite than iWork, which is seriously underpowered. You may be happy with iWork, but you may also have simple requirements. If you ever need any of the features of Office, because such feature will make your life easier, and find out that such feature is not implemented in iWork, then you will stop calling it bloat.

Said that, Office for Mac is indeed heavy on resources. But it's not because it's packed with features. Office for Windows has even more features and is fast and light. The conclusion I am led to is that Office for Mac is a memory hog because of bad programming and not because of its features.

 

[talmy]

Well, if you call "bloat" the features of Microsoft Office, then it's probably because you never had to use cross-references on Word. Office is a much more capable office suite than iWork, which is seriously underpowered. You may be happy with iWork, but you may also have simple requirements. If you ever need any of the features of Office, because such feature will make your life easier, and find out that such feature is not implemented in iWork, then you will stop calling it bloat.

I use Word on Windows as well as the Mac. Frankly, my favorite in my Windows days was WordPerfect. I did cross references, table of contents, table of figures, indices, subdocuments. I probably used it in about a half dozen 500+ page technical documents. Compared to that, Word was a real slug, and versions since (this was about 15 years ago) have added features that I don't use and have gotten harder to get around in.

I only use Word when I need to, and luckily most of the time Pages is fine.

 

[skaertus]

I use Word on Windows as well as the Mac. Frankly, my favorite in my Windows days was WordPerfect. I did cross references, table of contents, table of figures, indices, subdocuments. I probably used it in about a half dozen 500+ page technical documents. Compared to that, Word was a real slug, and versions since (this was about 15 years ago) have added features that I don't use and have gotten harder to get around in.

I only use Word when I need to, and luckily most of the time Pages is fine.

WordPerfect was fine, although I never used it much. I feel that it was lost in time, as Corel does not update it as it should. However, I like its stream-formatted orientation and I prefer it over the object-oriented approach of Word and most other word processors. Is there any word processor on the Mac that adopts the same approach as WordPerfect?

 

[talmy]

WordPerfect was fine, although I never used it much. I feel that it was lost in time, as Corel does not update it as it should. However, I like its stream-formatted orientation and I prefer it over the object-oriented approach of Word and most other word processors. Is there any word processor on the Mac that adopts the same approach as WordPerfect?

When Corel bought it, that sealed its doom. The last version I used was 8 as later ones wouldn't correctly render my older documents. I certainly liked its stream approach and the reveal codes and haven't seen that in any other word processor. Frankly, though, once I started using styles, the stream orientation of WordPerfect made for kludgey style implementation.

 

[skaertus]

When Corel bought it, that sealed its doom. The last version I used was 8 as later ones wouldn't correctly render my older documents. I certainly liked its stream approach and the reveal codes and haven't seen that in any other word processor. Frankly, though, once I started using styles, the stream orientation of WordPerfect made for kludgey style implementation.

I guess FrameMaker has the stream approach as well, but Adobe does not make a Mac version anymore. Anyway, I tried FrameMaker once and it was not user-friendly and Adobe did not seem to put much effort on it. And it costs a fortune.

 

[grahamperrin]

OpenOffice.org, RedOffice, WPS Office Storm, Kingsoft Office Suite, WPS Office Suite

… If I still wanted to run something like this in a Windows environment, I would be curious about the free version of Kingsoft Office …

From the Microsoft Office 2015 (2016?) topic:

… huge investments in Office for Windows is a requirement given this very attractive market for competitors (such as Kingsoft, for instance).

OK, I never heard of Kingsoft before that post by @skaertus …

http://www.kingsoftstore.co.uk is not responding but there's a copy at http://web.archive.org/web/20141106174234/http://www.kingsoftstore.co.uk/ and the US-oriented site is live: Kingsoft Office Suite: Free Office 2013, Professional Office Suite.

My first recollection, on reading of a free office suite from a Chinese company, was of OpenOffice.org and I found this: RedOffice/OpenOffice in China (2006, PDF).

I wondered whether there was any historic relationship between Kingsoft and OpenOffice.org … yes, around a decade ago: WPS Office Storm.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenOffice.org#Forks_and_derivative_software

Chinese software based on OpenOffice.org

I vaguely recall toying with an installation, years ago, maybe RedOffice, but I can't recall what attracted me (a Mac enthusiast) to toy with something in a language that I didn't understand.

WPS again

Kingsoft Office Change Name to WPS Office (2014-06-06) … WPS Office Suite

 

[xsquid]

I prefer word, office, to anything else out there. I don't even bother to install pages, numbers.

 

[grahamperrin]

I prefer word, office …

I use Microsoft Office 2011 in a shared environment where I should not (or must not) risk losing the fidelity/integrity of what's shared with me.

I use LibreOffice for some of the content that's produced by me.

Just occasionally I use Microsoft Office web apps in SharePoint.

I also have, and occasionally use, OpenOffice and multiple versions of NeoOffice.

My use of iWork apps is rarer now than in the past, but may increase (on OS X Mavericks) if I find a need to produce high quality content; I would aim for Pages.

So … I could not cast a vote in this (single choice) poll …

 

[MLinneer]

I find myself using (and preferring) Pages to Word, even the new Word 2016. My documents seldom exceed 2 pages and I like Pages DP capabilities. Working with graphics, text boxes, lines, or shapes is such a headache in Word.