Wait...so if I want Office on my desktop and laptop, I either have to buy it twice for $150 or subscribe to Office 365? That seems like a huge step backwards versus previous versions of Office. And that doesn't include Outlook?
Fortunately, you don't really need Outlook on a Mac because OS X comes with Mail, Contacts (formerly Address Book) and Calendar (formerly iCal). But it would be nice if Publisher was included. It's not very often that you need Publisher, but it's still a good program to have.
I'm glad they're still doing this. Not everybody wants to pay a subscription. Even though Office 365 is technically excellent value for money.
Yeah, I can't stand the idea of spending $100 on Office when I can just spend $150 once and use that version for several years. The only reason to get Office 365 is to always have the latest version, which is simply unnecessary and trivial from the point of view of pure functionality. Office might get some some new features with each revision, but a new version doesn't necessarily make an older one less useful. You could get by with Office 2007/2008 just fine because there hasn't been a new document format since then.
Some people have no choice. If you joint author documents with people on windows Pages and Numbers are simply not an option. Sure you can save as docx or something but causes problems that take time to fix. Better to just use Word
Exactly! If you're working with someone who is on a Windows PC or if you have to electronically send your work to someone who is using a Windows PC, iWork isn't an option.
Sure, you could change formats repeatedly, from Office to iWork and vice versa many times, but it's just not worth it. Besides, a lot of formatting can be lost the in the iWork to Office conversion. Unfortunately, Microsoft Office is still necessary. You can get by with iWork, but it's not easy, and you risk accidentally sending an iWork document to a Windows user.
Yeah, thanks but no. My Mac is MS free and I'll keep it that way.
Writing with Pages
Spreadsheets with Numbers
Anything they can't handle I go to OpenOffice.
I'll pass.
That was my attitude two years ago back when i bought my MacBook Pro. Now I'm discovering that iWork isn't enough because most of the world uses Microsoft Office. While it's true that iWork documents can be converted to Office formats, there are some downsides to consider:
1. It can be a pain to convert a number of iWork documents to Office format, especially if you're in a rush
2. Most of Keynote's effects don't transfer over to Powerpoint
3. Formatting is often lost in the iWork -> Office transfer
4. It's easy to accidentally send an iWork document to a Windows user.
Also, while OpenOffice is an option, I'm always afraid that it'll quit on me, partially because it's written in Java, but also because it has quit on me once or twice.
I hate to say it, but Microsoft Office is the best option for work and school. For home/personal stuff, iWork is fine, but if you have to work with Windows users, you really should use Microsoft Office.
BUT
Numbers and OpenOffice Calc does everything I need.
Until you have to send your work to a Windows user. Or until you have to work with a Windows user.
...who are you? What are "precious posts"?
I meant that Google Docs is free... and that's about it, in comparison to Office. Google Docs is more in line with the iWork suite, as far as features and functionality.
If I had to choose between Google Docs and iWork, I'd go with iWork because it works offline. I really don't want to have to rely on a server for something important. The stability of an offline-suite is very important when you’re working on something important and I don’t want to risk losing my work or losing productivity due to network issues or server issues.
I like how Microsoft is changing its ways and their products now are better than they were, but we seriously need an Office competitor in this world. If Office and all the alternatives were free, I bet more than 90% will choose Office as their preferred suite.
Those who pick other options are for lower prices, hate for Microsoft, fanboyism of another company, or just a hipster.
I agree, but any competitor will need to be able to produce documents in Microsoft Office formats without losing formatting, which is probably something that Microsoft won't allow.
