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Microsoft Bashes Apple's iWork Software, New iPads

knewsom said:
You guys are so blinded by your own emotional attachment to Apple and its products that you have completely lost the ability to actually look at things and use your brains to come to a logical conclusion. The fanboyism on this site has gotten so bad I hardly ever even post anymore.

The new surface is awesome. There. I said it. Good battery life, gorgeous design, the keyboard smart-cover (BACKLIT!) is fantastic, it's got a full feature set, and it's not terribly expensive for what it does.

Now I'm not saying that the iPad is a piece of crap, not by a long shot. They're EXCELLENT toys, and pretty useful tools. The difference is that the Surface is a great tool, and a pretty cool toy. The focus of the device is different, that's all... and in the focus being different, they've solved practically every gripe I have about the iPad. USB drives? Check. Memory cards? Check. File management? Check. These are extremely basic things that a great many users need as a TOOL that most Apple customers don't need because for them the iPad is a TOY.

It's OK to have toys. I have plenty of them. Fun is important. ...but I never bought an iPad because I just couldn't think of any real reason to have one - I have other toys that fill its shoes adequately, and it didn't bring much of anything to the tool department that I needed and a Laptop couldn't fill. ...but the surface? I'm actually thinking about getting one of those.
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I agree on many counts. I think Microsoft is getting there with Surface; it checks all the right boxes. And the OS is innovative: it looks NOTHING like iOS. I think, at the very least, it is worth a look to see if it's for me. However, the 16:9 screen may be a deal breaker, as I prefer the iPad's 4:3 setup. And the iPad's app ecosystem just cannot be underestimated.

If I get one, it'd really be for me and me only, where the iPad would be more of a family device (missing user accounts be damned). So Microsoft is trying to reach a different kind of user: power/ semi advanced users that want that one device to rule them all. I'll be checking it out more closely, now that I'm somewhat disillusioned with iOS new stylistic direction (aesthetics are #1 for me).
 
s2mikey said:
Im wondering if its really the Apple ecosystem thats the true attraction to iPads and Apple mobile devices versus the physical devices themselves?
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Absolutely the hardware is gorgeous. I love the all-in-one design of the iMac. The things look like props off a Star Trek set except that they work! The iPad mini is a dead ringer for a PADD except it has a fuller screen face. But as much as a I love the hardware, it was my iPod Nano 4th Gen that locked me into the Apple path that I travel.

I initially tried a cheaper Samsung MP3 player before the nano and found the Samsung just too clunky in its user interface. Also, I loved how iTunes made it easy to organize my growing music/video library into playlists. I found it much easier to figure out than Windows Media Player. My love affair with Apple just snowballed from there.

Apple continues to impress me with its customer service. I've had an imperfect experience with all of my devices. I suspect I either have very high expectations or else I'm the unlucky outlier in the statistics: I've had my iPod Nano replaced under warranty for charger-dock issues, my iPhone 4S replaced twice(!) for charger-dock and screen issues, and my Late 2009 21.5" iMac has been worked on no less than 5 times in its 4 years for hard drive and screen issues. Now its screen is flickering and occassionally goes black requiring a restart. Go figure.

Apple gets a pass on all this because 1) I probably am an unusual case, 2) they have been wonderful at helping me fix things every time. 3) The usability of the Apple OS remains outstanding. 4) The creativity suites and 3rd party software are highly capable. 5) Did I mention the products look awesome?

:apple:
 
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slash7844 said:
Well, good luck to your son when he joins the workforce and puts proficiency in iWork in his resume with no knowledge in Excel and Word.
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Anyone having to tout which office automation programs they are proficient in on their resume is already screwed.
 
Yay I'm #1,000! Do I get a prize????

tumblr_mbcfjxBqQo1qd7gwho5_250.gif

Awwww...too late! :(
 
sbarton said:
Anyone having to tout which office automation programs they are proficient in on their resume is already screwed.
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What I was thinking as well.

"Well Mr. Smith, your resume is impeccable. I see you have a Phd in Science, as well as being considered for the Nobel Peace Prize. But Joe over here is proficient in both Word AND Excel..so we're going with him..."
 
nefan65 said:
What I was thinking as well.

"Well Mr. Smith, your resume is impeccable. I see you have a Phd in Science, as well as being considered for the Nobel Peace Prize. But Joe over here is proficient in both Word AND Excel..so we're going with him..."
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That's what I'd do. They give out Nobel Peace Prizes all time, but finding someone who's good with Word and Excel both? That's rare.

nefan65 said:
Yay I'm #1,000! Do I get a prize????
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Your coupon for a free burrito from Taco Bell is in the mail, courtesy of the fine moderators and staff here at Macrumors.

By the way, I should add that I am in no way directly affiliated with Macrumors. I dunno if they're even sending you a coupon at all. But we all know that's what they should do. :mad:
 
slash7844 said:
Well, good luck to your son when he joins the workforce and puts proficiency in iWork in his resume with no knowledge in Excel and Word.
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I doubt his son would put any of that on his resume. Not once in 25 years has anyone asked me about my proficiency in MS Office or other tools. They just say: "Go build me a powerpoint presentation" and, well, you just go figure it out if you don't know it. It's not hard. Or Keynote, or choose your poison. It's just a tool. And if iWork lets his son accomplish a given task, fantastic! And if it's on an iPad, more power to him The great thing is that there are a lot of tools to accomplish tasks these days and my hope is that there will be less reliance on specific hammers.
 
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polbit said:
This chart shows Pro 2 at 6.6 hours, not 5. Nice try.
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There is no nice try about it these battery test done under light duty if you start to push that CPU you might get 4 hours if your lucky. Because apparently you guys do real work with your tablet
 
Marc-SP said:
Not sure what you mean (you could try to express a valid idea next time, instead of babbling), but I think you didn't even read my whole comment. I will help you to quote the rest of my post:

"Seriously speaking, I don't think the quality of a product is measured by its commercial succes. So many bad products sold milions and so many good products were forgotten in history."

For your information I will say that "Seriously speaking" implies that what I said before about OSX was a joke, an hyperbole, to make a point.

I hope you understand now. :)
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So, do you need some matches? A candle? We're embarassed for you.
 
osofast240sx said:
There is no nice try about it these battery test done under light duty if you start to push that CPU you might get 4 hours if your lucky. Because apparently you guys do real work with your tablet
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Funny coming from a guy who doesn't own one. I actually do, and have gotten over 8 hours using web, Access, Excel and OneNote. You know, real work. But don't let facts stop you from spreading FUD.
 
Microsoft isn't as wrong as you think. Listen to the actual regular users of the previous generation of iWork:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5468056?tstart=0
 
It is worse than

my wife ranting off against her sister in law... (illogical, silly and plain stupid but you do it anyway)
 
brianvictor7 said:
Thanks for the 1st hand info.

BTW, what do you use your MBP to do?
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Up to this point it was my main PC, but the Surface has muddied the waters :)

I still like to use larger screen for photo and video editing, and I work with R a lot, which feels a bit cramped on a 10.6" screen. I also think that MBPs are the best laptops out there and just enjoy using them - getting the new Haswell MBP in the next week or so...
 
i'm a huge ms hater, but even i have to admit that the new rt tablets are tempting, especially the nokia 2520.
Apple better be quick with a new device(ipad pro) or they're going to start losing marketshare to ms
 
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dysamoria said:
Microsoft isn't as wrong as you think. Listen to the actual regular users of the previous generation of iWork:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5468056?tstart=0
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Thank you for sharing. Very interesting. The list of features they have removed seems to be affecting power users more than the casual user as would be expected. Very annoying of Apple, but here is a post from that forum that helps keep things in perspective:

It seems pretty normal for Apple to include less features when they rewrite software and, in time, add them back in. It also seems pretty normal for people to overreact.


iMovie and FCX come to mind.
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----------
polbit said:
Up to this point it was my main PC, but the Surface has muddied the waters :)

I still like to use larger screen for photo and video editing, and I work with R a lot, which feels a bit cramped on a 10.6" screen. I also think that MBPs are the best laptops out there and just enjoy using them - getting the new Haswell MBP in the next week or so...
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:) Thank you for sharing. The value of screen real-estate is hard to underestimate. Do you feel that the Surface is just easier to carry around and setup? Why have both? (Fishing for rationales).
 
nefan65 said:
What I was thinking as well.

"Well Mr. Smith, your resume is impeccable. I see you have a Phd in Science, as well as being considered for the Nobel Peace Prize. But Joe over here is proficient in both Word AND Excel..so we're going with him..."
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That'd be a bit silly.

But if you have two people side by side and one of the only difference is that one of them is proficient in Office tools (and you use Office at your business), you'd only be smart to accept them first. Otherwise you're going to have to teach somebody how to use a program.
 
nefan65 said:
What I was thinking as well.

"Well Mr. Smith, your resume is impeccable. I see you have a Phd in Science, as well as being considered for the Nobel Peace Prize. But Joe over here is proficient in both Word AND Excel..so we're going with him..."
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LOL... besides, the Scientist is probably on Linux...
 
r.harris1 said:
I doubt his son would put any of that on his resume. Not once in 25 years has anyone asked me about my proficiency in MS Office or other tools. They just say: "Go build me a powerpoint presentation" and, well, you just go figure it out if you don't know it. It's not hard. Or Keynote, or choose your poison. It's just a tool. And if iWork lets his son accomplish a given task, fantastic! And if it's on an iPad, more power to him The great thing is that there are a lot of tools to accomplish tasks these days and my hope is that there will be less reliance on specific hammers.
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I've worked at couple big 4 accounting firms and have dealt with fortune 100 companies. This might surprise you but I have yet to meet a client who uses Numbers. ERPs.. SAP, MAS, Great Plains is another story but Excel is the gold standard spreadsheet. Shocking eh? They may or may not ask your proficiency in Office during interview. Like you said, they will just throw you an Excel file and expect you to know it.
 
$899?! For full windows, without a type cover? I said to myself, "my god, if that isn't the most expensive tablet ever made," and it isn't appealing to either casual or business customers because it doesn't have Office installed, which makes it not a very good productivity machine out of the box.

Amazing how the tables have turned.
 
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