Pages Alternative (That isn't Office)

[padams35]

Backstory: Apple doesn't let you download Pages for a new Apple ID on Monterey or older. They will let you upgrade from an even older version if you have one or reinstall if the app was deleted... but new users are limited to the current version only for new installs which no longer supports Monterey or older. This is a problem when I wiped my old 2015 MBA and gave it to a family member.

I've already tried installing LibreOffice, but despite being a simple joy on linux virtual machines it is aggravatingly slow, clunky, and glichy on the Macbook Air.

What pages/word alternatives (without an annual subscription) are other people using on their 2012-2015 13" laptops?

 

[johannnn]

Google Docs online (free) and Microsoft 365 Word online (online version is free).

Why do I recommend two online solutions? Because most apps are not supported on Monterey. So by using either of these two online solutions, you get the most recent version that they put out, and the speed is quite ok. Just use e.g. Firefox or Chrome so you have the most recent web experience (i.e. dont use Safari, which is not being updated anymore for Monterey)

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

I believe- but don't recall for sure that- Pages 09 will still run on that generation of Macs. iWork 09 discs are readily available for sale on Ebay for about $8.

If you do want to come around on Microsoft Office, MS Office '19 and '21 are commonly available online for under $50.

Others that may still have versions available for that generation:

• Scrivener
• Ulysses
• Nisus
• iA Writer
• WPS Office
• Author
• Swift Publisher

Crack open the Mac App Store, punch Word Processor for Mac into search and it will present about a dozen choices. Visit the developer website of any that you like and see if they offer a version that works with Monterey. And those are probably NOT all of them, so do a google search for Mac Word Processor and then check out the matches that you don't find in the App Store. Contact them to see if they have a version for Monterey.

If you don't want to spend any money and LibreWriter is not doing it: Google Documents? Open Office Writer? TextEdit (free on Mac)?

10 year old Macs are left behind by Apple... so its only a matter of time now even if it is perfectly functional. The best path to making it a more up-to-date computer might be to use bootcamp to switch it to Windows and have access to dozens (probably more like hundreds) of free/shareware/etc Word Processors... and Windows Word, etc. Microsoft tends to be much slower at abandoning older hardware than Apple.

If you really want Pages, maybe try Pages in iCloud. This is the web-based version of Pages.

 

[gregmac19]

I run Monterey, and rarely come across an app that don’t have a supported version for it.

I don’t understand why Apple doesn’t allow you to download Pages, as it runs fine on my 2015 iMac.


In addition to HobeSoundDarryl’s helpful list:

ONLYOFFICE: https://www.onlyoffice.com

Bean: https://bean-osx.com/Bean.html

 

[padams35]

I still have my copy of iWork09 from the SnowLeopard days, but it doesn't work on Monterey. As much as I think Pages09 was THE best edition of pages, having a modern mainstream web browser is a higher priority.

Google Docs is a great short-term fix idea, but I'm going to need something installed locally for offline work too since laptops are intended to be mobile and the person I've gifted the Air to doesn't have a cell plan with hotspot data.


Again, I'm not asking for a search results or the top-10 productivity software list. If I have to I'll throw darts, try something, and report back. I'm just trying to skip the trial-error and find out if anyone here has a personal recommendation that they use as a Pages/Word alternative to open/export .docx files.

 

[gregmac19]

Without knowing the complexity of the documents that the person you are gifting the Air to is going to create, it is hard to make a recommendation.

I enjoyed using Bean for years before choosing iA Writer for my usual needs. Bean is good for importing and exporting .docx files provided you are not working with images (Please see: https://bean-osx.com/fileformats.html) Bean opens quickly, is logically laid out, and easy to use. It is extensively customizable, and I appreciate that it can set up to have a minimalistic look. Surprisingly it is free and without any ads.

If I were going to create more complex documents than what Bean can handle, and didn’t have access to Pages, I would use one of the Nisus programs (Nisus Writer Express or Nisus Writer Pro), or ONLYOFFICE.

I haven’t used Nisus a lot, but it has been around a long time and is solid. Compared to Pages, I find the interface distracting.

ONLYOFFICE touts their compatibility with Microsoft Office (Ref: https://www.onlyoffice.com/best-microsoft-office-alternative.aspx), and I don’t doubt that it is good. However, surprisingly to me, I had better experiences importing Word files into Pages.

iA Writer wouldn’t work for you, because although it can export to Word, it cannot import Word documents. However, I mention iA Writer because I think it is excellent! I loved using it during free trial so much, I paid $50 to get a copy of it when the trial was over. It is great for composing your thoughts, but would likely not be the sole tool needed for putting together a complex document.

I have barely touched Scrivener, but it looks like a great tool for creating complex documents like books. However, I doubt it is the right program for you.

 

[Adora]

I enjoyed using Bean for years before choosing iA Writer for my usual needs. Bean is good for importing and exporting .docx files provided you are not working with images (Please see: https://bean-osx.com/fileformats.html) Bean opens quickly, is logically laid out, and easy to use. It is extensively customizable, and I appreciate that it can set up to have a minimalistic look. Surprisingly it is free and without any ads.

Thanks for remembering. 💖 I used that as an alternative for Abiword.

I forgot the name and never found it again.

There had been also another lightweight word processor from a developer that produced about four free apps, what I all liked very much. But I just don't find those anymore.

 

[arinamichel911]

NeoOffice and Mellel

 

[rjljp]

Mellel

 

[MacGizmo]

Good grief, there are so many alternatives in this "office" genre that it's difficult to cover them all. I've tried them all, but to be honest, I always end up coming back to MS Office and/or Apple's iWork apps. They're just in a class by themselves. There are alternative apps that do this or that better, but none are as "all-around" good as the two big boys in the space.

That being said, Google Docs if you're a Google product user, pretty much anything else if you're not tied to Google.

 

[Eric Best]

Another app that's been around forever and still has active support is Papyrus Author. By reputation, very robust.

 

[bogdanw]

NeoOffice and Mellel

"The NeoOffice project is no longer active
As a replacement, you may want to try LibreOffice"
https://www.neooffice.org/