Hi all I'm a Mac newb, having just bought a blackbook in December. I installed MS Office for Mac 04 but I don't like it as much as Office '07 on PC's. How much better is iWorks? What about this NeoOffice I hear about? Thanks for the help!
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iWorks question
- Thread starter Natman
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NeoOffice: Ugly, but gets the job done.
Numbers: Less powerful than Excel (no pivot tables or advanced scientific functions), but much more flexible creative options.
Pages: Less powerful than Word as a pure word processor, but easy to use, integrates with OS X nicely, and does everything most people do.
Keynote: Kicks the crap out of Powerpoint.
If you do a lot of document collaboration with Windows/Office users, stick with MS Office or NeoOffice. If you just need to share with Windows users, consider using iWork and sending the Windows users PDF files.
Numbers: Less powerful than Excel (no pivot tables or advanced scientific functions), but much more flexible creative options.
Pages: Less powerful than Word as a pure word processor, but easy to use, integrates with OS X nicely, and does everything most people do.
Keynote: Kicks the crap out of Powerpoint.
If you do a lot of document collaboration with Windows/Office users, stick with MS Office or NeoOffice. If you just need to share with Windows users, consider using iWork and sending the Windows users PDF files.
If you do a lot of document collaboration with Windows/Office users, stick with MS Office or NeoOffice. If you just need to share with Windows users, consider using iWork and sending the Windows users PDF files.
I'm in the same boat here. I'll be sending basic spread sheets and word documents back and forth from my Macbook to my work's PC that's running Microsoft Office. Are you saying that iWork is not really compatible with Microsoft Office documents?
Thanks
Mick
I'm in the same boat here. I'll be sending basic spread sheets and word documents back and forth from my Macbook to my work's PC that's running Microsoft Office. Are you saying that iWork is not really compatible with Microsoft Office documents?
Thanks
Mick
If they're basic spreadsheets and word documents, you'll be fine. You just need to "Export as..." a Word or Excel document instead of saving as one. If you need advanced features, they may not come out perfectly, though.
Italchef,
I'm saying it's not as compatible. Sometimes simple little things like double borders don't make their way to Numbers.
The biggest pain with working between the two (Office and iWork) is that iWork can export to Office format, but it can't work in Office format. In other words, you can't work on a Word document. You can open the Word document and do stuff to it, but you have to export each time you want to send it back to the Windows machine.
I love creating in iWork. Nothing out there quite like it. But true collaborating with Windows users in iWork is a pain.
NeoOffice will work in native Office formats. Obviously MS Office will as well.
I'm saying it's not as compatible. Sometimes simple little things like double borders don't make their way to Numbers.
The biggest pain with working between the two (Office and iWork) is that iWork can export to Office format, but it can't work in Office format. In other words, you can't work on a Word document. You can open the Word document and do stuff to it, but you have to export each time you want to send it back to the Windows machine.
I love creating in iWork. Nothing out there quite like it. But true collaborating with Windows users in iWork is a pain.
NeoOffice will work in native Office formats. Obviously MS Office will as well.
Italchef,
I'm saying it's not as compatible. Sometimes simple little things like double borders don't make their way to Numbers.
The biggest pain with working between the two (Office and iWork) is that iWork can export to Office format, but it can't work in Office format. In other words, you can't work on a Word document. You can open the Word document and do stuff to it, but you have to export each time you want to send it back to the Windows machine.
I love creating in iWork. Nothing out there quite like it. But true collaborating with Windows users in iWork is a pain.
NeoOffice will work in native Office formats. Obviously MS Office will as well.
Thanks for the replies;
I honestly don't do too much in the way word processing or spreadsheets. Simple stuff for schedules and calculating food cost etc. I think that for my needs iWork would be suitable, I would just have to remember to export it every time I needed to send it to my work pc. There isn't really too much collaborating going on either. My only concern is that my colleague isn't that computer savvy and too much messing around will drive his monkey crazy. I'll see what he says about it. If I can get away with saving a few quid buying iWork, then I'll let him splurge for Office if he sees fit.
Thanks for your time,
Mick
Neo Office.
You should at least try Neo Office.
I think it will be sufficient for your needs and won't cost you a dime.
http://www.neooffice.org/neojava/en/index.php
You should at least try Neo Office.
I think it will be sufficient for your needs and won't cost you a dime.
http://www.neooffice.org/neojava/en/index.php
You should at least try Neo Office.
I think it will be sufficient for your needs and won't cost you a dime.
http://www.neooffice.org/neojava/en/index.php
I concur with this. If you have yet to purchase either one and looking to save some money, look into NeoOffice. it's free and open-source, so the only investment is the download time. It has its own versions of Word, Excel, and Powerpoint, and is completely and natively compatible with MS Office formats. Unless you're a power user of such applications and really need any high-end features from them, then NeoOffice is plenty for most people's needs. I've used it since I first got my Mac and it's plenty powerful for me, as a college student. I haven't even used all its features yet. Someone needing all the power of MS Office may find it lacking, but anyone who just needs a good office suite, NeoOffice is really great.
Pages - Section breaks and changing page set up
Hi all, I am new to this forum and to iWorks but not to macs. I am trying to recreate a word document in Pages (gave up on bringing it across from word). My current problem is that I need a section break to enable a change of page set up. I need to change to landscape without changing the previous section. Every time I put in a section break and then change the page set up it changes the previous section. Does anyone know how to do this successfully in Pages - or is this something that it just won't do? It will be a real problem for me as I use this function often.
Hi all, I am new to this forum and to iWorks but not to macs. I am trying to recreate a word document in Pages (gave up on bringing it across from word). My current problem is that I need a section break to enable a change of page set up. I need to change to landscape without changing the previous section. Every time I put in a section break and then change the page set up it changes the previous section. Does anyone know how to do this successfully in Pages - or is this something that it just won't do? It will be a real problem for me as I use this function often.
Hi all, I am new to this forum and to iWorks but not to macs. I am trying to recreate a word document in Pages (gave up on bringing it across from word). My current problem is that I need a section break to enable a change of page set up. I need to change to landscape without changing the previous section. Every time I put in a section break and then change the page set up it changes the previous section. Does anyone know how to do this successfully in Pages - or is this something that it just won't do? It will be a real problem for me as I use this function often.
You can only have one page orientation per document. For that one page you could use text boxes & rotate them 90 degrees.
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