iWorks or another word processor?

[r-sparks]

I work as a full-time writer and am in the process of switching to Mac.

I'm looking for a half-decent word processor. I've investigated NeoOffice but it's just too much for what I need. Microsoft Office is out because it's made by Microsoft (I'm switching to get away from MS!).

I was hoping for an iWorks 07 announcement in the keynote, but nothing came about. iWorks is perhaps my best bet but its concentration on page layout is a little grating. I just want something to enter words. I've also investigated using TextEdit, but that's a little TOO simple.

Any recommendations are welcome. I'm guess what I really want is a text editor with ambitions of being a word processor, but which isn't complicated. I'm prepared to pay for software.

 

[bozigle]

Well i do have iWork and OO,
I consider page more like a very light version of Quark Xpress (Edition)
and OO as a way to write my document very much like MS-Office.
As a professional writer you'll probably better off with OO.

bozigle

 

[amiga]

I guess well have to wait and see how soon iWork 07 will be released, I'm hoping that it will mature enough in this revision for me to retire Office: Mac X so I can also get away from MS

 

[elppa]

Your a writer…

Maybe you need The Writer's Word Processor

You can download a 30 day trial to see if it for you.

Feature Tour »

 

[Father Jack]

Appleworks has a nice word processor. Unfortunately Apple no longer support it but you can probably pick up a copy on eBay.

FJ

 

[DStaal]

Depending on what you want, there are a couple of products that are designed especially for that market. Nisus Writer has been mentioned, but Jer's Novel Writer is probably also worth a look.

A little more on the 'Text Editor' side is TextWrangler or it's big brother BBEdit. Both have a fairly simple interface, if you just ignore what you'll never need. (And I find writing in HTML works well, but that's me.) They can also handle raw LaTeX editing, which might work for you as well.

Of course, there are easier LaTeX editors as well. TeXShop turned up with a quick Google search, but there might be better ones out there...

 

[kastorff]

How about Scrivener? Best of the "writer's" tools IMO.
http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.html

 

[r-sparks]

Your a writer…

Maybe you need The Writer's Word Processor

You can download a 30 day trial to see if it for you.

Feature Tour »

OK, thanks for the suggestions. Nisus Writer Express looks ideal and is only $40 to boot.

I also looked at Mariner Write but rejected it because the font rendering was a little odd. One thing that attracted me to OS X was the good font rendering (better than Windows or Linux, anyway), but why is it that some apps just can't get it right? Even iWork 05, that came with my notebook, gets some fonts a bit wrong at smaller point sizes -- parts of some letters are cropped off etc.

 

[twoodcc]

Of course, there are easier LaTeX editors as well. TeXShop turned up with a quick Google search, but there might be better ones out there...

i was told that TeXShop is very good for writing big documents....so you might want to look at it

 

[gauchogolfer]

i was told that TeXShop is very good for writing big documents....so you might want to look at it

I'm not a professional writer, but I did use TeXShop for my dissertation (150+ pages) and it worked like a charm. It's not exactly a word processor, though, and you may not want to learn LaTeX. It's up to you. I do like Pages, and it's what I use for most of my scientific writing these days, when LaTeX is overkill.

 

[PeggyD]

Appleworks has a nice word processor. Unfortunately Apple no longer support it but you can probably pick up a copy on eBay.

FJ

AppleWorks' word processor has a lot more features that it's ever been given credit for. Even though I love Pages, there are quite a few things that have always been easier to do in AppleWorks or ClarisWorks. I can do what I need to in Pages, but a new version of iWork is the only thing I was really looking forward to from Macworld.

But if you're looking for good font rendering, stay away from AppleWorks. Even though AppleWorks has run in OS X since 2001, it really is an OS 8/9 application & does not take advantage of most of the "bells & whistles" of OS X.

 

[IJ Reilly]

OK, thanks for the suggestions. Nisus Writer Express looks ideal and is only $40 to boot.

I also looked at Mariner Write but rejected it because the font rendering was a little odd. One thing that attracted me to OS X was the good font rendering (better than Windows or Linux, anyway), but why is it that some apps just can't get it right? Even iWork 05, that came with my notebook, gets some fonts a bit wrong at smaller point sizes -- parts of some letters are cropped off etc.

If you've only seen iWork '05 you might want to try the current version -- it took care of some of the font issues you describe.

For many projects, I use TextEdit for mass writing (it's fast and stays out of the way), and Pages for the finished product. Another option to consider.