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Office for Mac ?

R

Reaver

macrumors 6502
Original poster
is there a alternative to MS office for mac I dont really want to be spending 300 or 150 on office if I dont have to.

and does the alternative offer the same benifits as MS or close to the same benifits.
 
Reaver said:
is there a alternative to MS office for mac I dont really want to be spending 300 or 150 on office if I dont have to.

and does the alternative offer the same benifits as MS or close to the same benifits.
Click to expand...

Microsoft word = Writely.com (google just bought it, great online word processor)

Microsoft excel = Google spreadsheets

Microsoft powerpoint= dont know yet..

those were the ones i used the most on office...
 
Nermal, no. I guess it would come down to personal choice. I have never used NeoOffice so I can't comment on that software. I have only used OpenOffice.
 
its unlikely that you'll find a Suite like Office:Mac.
but you can find alternatives to just about all the apps.

did you need to replace all of the apps or just a couple of them? and if so, which ones?
 
the situation is, if you don't use advanced plot function in excel, then OpenOffice or neoOffice is great, and free. but if u need excel 's advanced plot function, then u need to buy MS Office

iWork only has word processing and presentation stuff, like word+powerpoint, and cost $60, use it if u don't need spreadsheet and has $$$.
 
iWork is great.... but it also costs money.

here's a tip you may not have learned in life yet:
**** COSTS MONEY.

everyone is always looking for the next free handout. well, life isnt like that. if you absolutely need something, it WILL cost money.

there's always the other [illegal] option, but that's your decision to make. i am not trying to sound like an ass, but realistically, you get what you pay for. everyone knows that.

PS.. sorry for double post. not on my mac, i am at school.. and of course it got screwed up and posted twice.
 
basically, you are so 1999, there are tons of freeware on the internet now that are superb.
CyberDuck
Virtual Desktop
OpenOffice
NeoOffice
Firefox/Camino/Thunderbird
VLC/MplayerOSX
Opera
Webkit
Linux
...
...
"Good software costs money" now is:
100% untrue @Linux
80% untrue @Windows
70% untrue @mac
 
i have to chime and give my 2c's

i know office is pricey BUT i will tell you that office 2004 is great and the subs wont give you all the bells and whistles. I REALLY enjoy it and could never imagine being without it. !

good luck
 
capone2 said:
i know office is pricey BUT i will tell you that office 2004 is great and the subs wont give you all the bells and whistles. I REALLY enjoy it and could never imagine being without it. !

good luck
Click to expand...

I would have have to agree aswell, but if you want something else get iWork or NeoOffice, i tryed both and like them both.
 
I was asking this question so that I can advise my cousin on what programs she will be needing for her Macbook. she is going into her second year of nursing school and will be doing alot of powerpoint presentations and alot of word documenting, and I knew there was alternatives out there but being new to Mac myself I didnt think it would hurt to get other opinions.

she was going to get dell which I would have given her a copy of my MS office XP but since my brother just recently turned to Mac and bought a 13" Blackbook, she saw it and was over the other day fooling around with it and asking all kinds of questions about it. so thats 3 poeple I have turned to the Mac world in 3 weeks. since the expo is in two weeks I am getting more itchy for my own MBP.
 
Nermal said:
Is there a reason to use OpenOffice instead of NeoOffice?
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From what I can recall, neo-office is os x native and in aqua and the like whereas open office needs X11 I think. I believe neo office is also about a revision behind the most current version of open office usually due to the porting of open office to mac aka neo office

I could be totally off too lol
 
I'd say NeoOffice if you need anything more than just a word processor, but if all you need is a Word replacement, I'd go with AbiWord.
 
When my office moved over to macs a couple of months ago, all the options were tried and looked at, and it was a staff decision.

The end result is iWork is used now, and NeoOffice (free download) for excel documents.

The Access database problem has not been solved but people are being very creative with Address Book whilst FileMaker is being looked at.

So I'd recommend getting iWork - you can save documents as .doc word or pdf or anything in Pages, and Keynote way outshines Powerpoint and is easier to use.
 
I'll put in my iWork vote.

I use iWork exclusively now here at Bradley University. Office:Mac is not even installed on my PowerBook.

I have yet to need to make graphs complex enough to *require* Excel - Pages and Keynote are fine for my graphs and probably yours too.

If I do need Excel ever, I'll just use some one else's computer.
 
well my cousin will be getting her white macbook 2.0ghz with iwork preinstalled this month. I will upgrade her ram for her when she gets it and then she will be set, shes excited about getting the mac and using OSX.
 
Nermal said:
Is there a reason to use OpenOffice instead of NeoOffice?
Click to expand...

NeoOffice is just a port of openoffice that can run on Mac OS X natively, I personally find it very slow. Open Office at the moment has to be run in X11. the next version of open Office can run natively, not sure if betas have been released. when it is released I believe it will be better than NeoOffice!
 
The reason NeoOffice is slow is because its in Java. Using OpenOffice in X11 is much better because its at least twice as fast. I can't wait for the native version if only for not having to use those ugly grey menus ... oh and the horrible scrolling issue.
 
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