Next Version of iWork?

How do you know next is iWork '12 ?

 

They didn't release a new iWork when Lion came out, but offered a free upgrade that incorporated Lion's features. They might do the same for Mountain Lion.

Also, don't expect it to "just work" since iWork doesn't have feature parity between the platforms.

 

Since Apple has moved away from physical media for software distribution, they aren't going to do an iWork '12. It will probably be an update on the app store. Once you buy the app you should get updates for life (based on what I have understand).

 

They haven't had a for pay upgrade since iWork '09. I don't think we'll ever see one, we're just going to get free updates via the AppStore probably.

 

They dropped the '09 mark on their iWork apps for a reason, there won't be any more major upgrade releases like they did in the past. They'll just keep updating the apps on the App Store, no matter how small or big the updates are.

The only problem is that they haven't been doing any major updates to the apps for a long time (last update was June 2011, just to add Lion's minor features like auto-save/resume and os on). It's not 64-bit optimized (not a big problem), it could be faster, get some graphic refreshes and deeper integration with iCloud.

Also, it's not even Retina-ready. It's blurry on rMBPs.

 

Microsoft Word and Excel is much better than Pages and Numbers. Only keynote is better than Powerpoint which I believe is having some issues in ML.
I'm not generalizing it. Its only my personal choice. .

Then again you are getting Microsoft Outlook and some other tools.

 

I think I remember a leak from someone at Apple that they already have a fully completed new version of iWork, so if they are going to release it, we will probably have to wait until ML ships. I do wonder what is holding them up (if they really have the next iWork version).

 

Maybe it's a surprise inclusion in mountain lion, lol.

 

Well, there are a couple of things here you could think about and maybe you find a good answer to your question:

The Mac AppStore does NOT have an option for paid upgrades. And iWork is the perfect example for the incentive that developers have to upgrade their applications when you cannot charge for upgrades. Right, the answer here is: Developers have ZERO incentive to work for free. And that includes Apple.
The "buy once get all updates for free for life" approach only works for the OWNER of the market, which is Apple. They can still sell Macs and subsidize their software development costs with hardware sales. Unfortunately, that business model only works for them and nobody else.

Just read Wil Shipley's blog about this topic:
http://blog.wilshipley.com/2012/03/mac-app-store-needs-paid-upgrades.html

Then, there is this other curiosity: At least in Germany, you can order a new Mac from Apple's website with Microsoft Office 2011 pre-installed. But you CANNOT order a Mac with iWork pre-installed. What does that tell you?

Just for the record, I own a Microsoft Office license pack and I also own iWork, Scrivener, StoryMill, Montage, Mellel and a couple of other applications in that niche. For creative writing, Scrivener is THE killer application. Nothing beats Scrivener in that niche, end of story. For scientific and technical writing, Mellel is great.

For business purposes, Microsoft Office is AND REMAINS the king of the hill. Nothing beats MS Office in the business world. Also: End of story.

iWork...? I don't know. It looks nice at the first glimpse and it might be good enough for simple home use, but then it runs quickly out of steam.

So would I wait for a new version of iWork? No. Not because iWork is bad, but because I don't have the feeling that Apple will EVER give that software a major upgrade. They will indefinitely keep it in maintenance mode, but I doubt that there will ever come a mind blowing new killer version of the suite. If they were still serious about iWork, they would not bundle Microsoft Office with their Macs, but they would still sell iWork along with them (as they have in the past, by the way).

Maybe you should rather wait for Microsoft's next Service Pack for Office 2011 and the rumored iPad version of Office. Maybe.

The thing for me is: I don't participate in the waiting for an upgrade game. If I --NEED-- some software or hardware today, then I buy what is available today and upgrade later if I NEED the upgrade. If I don't NEED it, then I don't have a reason to buy it today or tomorrow or next year and the whole discussion is moot.

NEED has something today with business requirements and using my machine park as tools to make a living. So my attitude towards shoveling money in the direction of Cupertino certainly is different than the ideas of most other people who hang out here.

 

that would be very nice indeed, but unfortunately very unlikely .

 

That's because it's sold through the App Store. Apple doesn't require an AppleID when you place your order, so they can't tie it to your account. Office is still sold on a disk, so they simply include it.

jW

 

Excel is much better than Numbers. Keynote kills PowerPoint and Word has the edge over Pages but iWork costs almost a third of Office....

 

It will be The new iWork.

 

a version of Office has always been included on Windows phones.

 

Hope it's better with ML than it is with Lion. I noticed Pages since lion has become a very heavy resource hog, especially if a file contains a lot of photos and graphics.

I have a 16gb Mac Pro 2.8 OctoCore and it turns it into a dog since Lion..... With SL it's much smoother experience.

I really hoped for a full on refresh tbh.

 

I'm also waiting for a new release of the iWork apps. Is only for personal use, so I don't need all the expert features of Excel. And the iCloud integration they showed looks really like a convenient feature for home use. Wouldn't put any sensitive documents there,though...