Pages is the worst Application known to man

[ignatius345]

I could absolutely see Modern Apple nuking the whole iWork thing.

They did add iWork through the iCloud.com interface over the past few years, though. It's nowhere near as robust as Google Docs, but it seems to me they're at least paying attention to it and keeping it up to date.

You can also collaborate live in the native iOS/iPadOS/MacOS versions, which is fairly new.

I think it's seen as an amenity to the whole ecosystem -- if you buy an Apple device, you have a basic office productivity suite available right away for free. (And actually in the case of Keynote, it's better than PowerPoint).

 

[tpfang56]

I’m coming into this blind but to me using pages, numbers, google docs, is like cutting a normal steak with a fork. Why? The whole-ish universe uses a knife, or in this case Office. I’m all for using the best solutions. To me Macs are great and MacOS is still pretty great but that doesn’t mean everything is great because it’s apple. Productivity/business titles…..Microsoft all day everyday.

I’ve never liked Pages, but Google Docs is all I need to complete my assignments and write basic docs. Being able to convert to .docx or PDF (usually one of the two is required for submission) is super convenient. Being able to access it on any computer is the real boon in case of emergencies.

I’d loathe to actually pay for Word 😂. My school even offers the Microsoft Suite for free, but I think I’d rather write in markdown than mess around with Word. Excel is a different story, though granted, I haven’t really needed it yet and don’t know how to use it. I’ve only heard that neither Numbers nor Sheets can compensate all of Excel’s advanced features.

 

[chscag]

I’d loathe to actually pay for Word 😂. My school even offers the Microsoft Suite for free, but I think I’d rather write in markdown than mess around with Word.

You'll probably regret that when you get out into the real world after graduation and find out that Word is the de facto standard. Take the free offer of MS Office and learn how to use it. Might help you to get a better job offer. 😉

 

[tpfang56]

You'll probably regret that when you get out into the real world after graduation and find out that Word is the de facto standard. Take the free offer of MS Office and learn how to use it. Might help you to get a better job offer. 😉

I hope I’ll be writing code instead of typing documents, heh. Still, knowing the MS Suite is considered a valuable skill in general. I’m curious whether developers need to use Word specifically for in-house documentation or whether it doesn’t matter. Considering the use of code blocks n stuff, a markdown editor of some kind seems better? But I don’t really know.

Either way, I won’t be using Pages. Sorry, Apple.

 

[EdwardC]

I’ve worked as a sales engineer out of my home as a remote employee for the last 30 years. I have been on a Mac for the last 27 of those. Claris Works then the whole iWork thing. iWork Has always done the job for me. I submit all my quotes or related docs either as a PDF or a DWG (CAD) file. Never a problem.

 

[iHorseHead]

If Pages is the worst app known to man then you clearly haven't used any of my apps.

 

[rovostrov]

I switched from Word to Pages in 2017. It took a while to get used to but haven't
regreted makin the move. Pages does everything I need and I like not having to
purchase a new version of office every few years

 

[oakrrl]

Why can't Apple just make a normal program with normal functions?

Pages is a diabolical and unproductive dogs breakfast. It's a total mess and failure. It's ridiculously painful to use.

My current annoyance is that almost every program known to man has a "Save As" function. Oh, not at Apple, we're so cool and different and special. We have the Duplicate function, the most annoying convoluted junk UI ever where you have to then navigate several drop down menus and then select a file, and then move the file. But if you do this AFTER you've used your previous document as a template and close it down before you realise, you lose all your work on that previous document entirely!

I just lost a days worth of work because of this utter crap and I can't get it back. I just deleted it and purchased Word.

Go and learn some remedial software design for F sake!

I agree the "Duplicate" instead of "Save As" is poor UI, but I've gotten used to it. I often duplicate a file and name it "version 2" before working on it. When I forget, I sometimes past the current material into a blank document, then use Page's ability to revert to last-saved version (before edits). Anyway, Apple long ago left UI consistency behind.

That being said, Pages is one of my favorite software programs ever, in 36 years of using PCs and Macs. It's got just the right blend of easy-of-use features without over-bloating; it's my go-to for writing, for a quick line drawing, for cropping and insta-alphaing a photo, for rough page layout. I've recently been forced to go back to MS Word in order to deal with a publisher's edits, and yes it's more powerful but it's such a kludge, SLOW (on a 4.2 GHz iMac with 32 GB RAM) takes three or four steps to accomplish what I can do with a simple keystroke in Pages, and freezes at least once a day.

 

[sracer]

I’m coming into this blind but to me using pages, numbers, google docs, is like cutting a normal steak with a fork. Why? The whole-ish universe uses a knife, or in this case Office. I’m all for using the best solutions. To me Macs are great and MacOS is still pretty great but that doesn’t mean everything is great because it’s apple. Productivity/business titles…..Microsoft all day everyday.

"I'm coming into this blind...." explains the rest of your post and ignores the nearly 100 posts that preceded yours.

I'm interested to see how your opinion will differ (if it does) after you've read those posts.

 

[smetvid]

Pages is actually a very well put together application. Yeah it does a few things differently but many of us actually prefer that. You clearly are used to how Microsoft does things and thats fine but that doesn't mean Pages is bad. It just means you are not used to it. I can create rather impressive graphical page layouts within minutes and much faster than I ever could in Word.

 

[newyorknight]

Pages is actually a TOTAL **** PROGRAM. I can't even set tabs in this stupid thing!! 1/10th the control of Word!
Enough said!

 

[Madhatter32]

Pages is actually a TOTAL **** PROGRAM. I can't even set tabs in this stupid thing!! 1/10th the control of Word!
Enough said!

Word too is a TOTAL **** PROGRAM. The file size limit and corruption issues are ridiculous -- and you are charged to use it! Just yelling at the iClouds ....

 

[M4th]

I'm amazed that Nisus is still around. I remember it being bundled with ClarisWorks on my old PowerComputing clone.

 

[960design]

Pages is actually a TOTAL **** PROGRAM. I can't even set tabs in this stupid thing!! 1/10th the control of Word!
Enough said!

What part of Layout > Tabs is causing you trouble?

 

[dburkhanaev]

I've grow to love both Pages and especially Numbers. For years I was an MS Office user and to a lessor extent Libre Office. At first I was frustrated with the Apple products, until I realized the standard Office product usage paradigm changes with Apple. Apple has reimagined and improved workflow, IMO. It just takes becoming familiar with it.

What it took for me was a bit of time to watch some videos and play with various aspects of the programs to gain a feel for how Apple does it. I'm glad I did that, as I now have tools that I greatly prefer. As an added bonus, the macOS and iOS integration is stellar. The iOS version of Numbers in particular is light years better than Excel, IMO. BTW, I have an Office 365 subscription that I don't use, and will discontinue at the end of the year paid period.
[doublepost=1558443043][/doublepost]

Was it removed or just renamed? I just did a quick test and it appears that "Duplicate" and "Save As" accomplishes the same thing.

This happened about the time that Pages became a web first application and moved away from the desktop first paradigm. I don't know what is the fascination with editing documents and spreadsheets in a browser.

 

[trash eighty]

Pages isn't that bad, i'm an author and i've used it for the three books i've had published to date.

Now at my (day job) work i have to use Word and that truly is the spawn of Satan.

 

[maxoakland]

Why can't Apple just make a normal program with normal functions?

Pages is a diabolical and unproductive dogs breakfast. It's a total mess and failure. It's ridiculously painful to use.

My current annoyance is that almost every program known to man has a "Save As" function. Oh, not at Apple, we're so cool and different and special. We have the Duplicate function, the most annoying convoluted junk UI ever where you have to then navigate several drop down menus and then select a file, and then move the file. But if you do this AFTER you've used your previous document as a template and close it down before you realise, you lose all your work on that previous document entirely!

I just lost a days worth of work because of this utter crap and I can't get it back. I just deleted it and purchased Word.

Go and learn some remedial software design for F sake!

Hold option and duplicate turns to save as

 

[maxoakland]

Pages ‘09 was one of Apple’s best applications that I used to write my thesis. The new Pages is still a shadow of that program, but there is a lot of functionality hidden in obscure crevices. It takes time to learn, but I still prefer it to Word.

What did they change/remove?

 

[ChrisA]

I just lost a days worth of work because of this utter crap and I can't get it back. I just deleted it and purchased Word.

You waited all gay to save your work and then found out you did not know how?

Creating a new file by saving the work is one of the first things I always do. After you do this, the app will save snapshots, and every hour Time Machine will copy the file to the TM drive. Why would anyone wait all day to get this process started?

 

[ProTruckDriver]

I would take Apples iWork over anything Microsoft. Still have Microsoft leftover files on my 10 year old iMac after uninstall. I had problems sometimes with Microsofts monthly (Patch Tuesday) updates.

 

[Traverse]

What did they change/remove?

Well, in the context of my original post in 2019 it was stripped of many of the page layout functionality it had, I believe the table of contents functionally was either removed or limited, and a few others that I will be honest I don't recall.

In the 7 years since that post they've added back enough for my liking, but I personally don't like the sidebar U.I. I miss the very tight toolbar at the top and floating inspector panels, but that's purely preference.

 

[dburkhanaev]

Well, in the context of my original post in 2019 it was stripped of many of the page layout functionality it had, I believe the table of contents functionally was either removed or limited, and a few others that I will be honest I don't recall.

In the 7 years since that post they've added back enough for my liking, but I personally don't like the sidebar U.I. I miss the very tight toolbar at the top and floating inspector panels, but that's purely preference.

I'd say it's more than preference, it's actually better design. Pages 2009 was axed so that Apple could mimic Microsoft, Google, etc. and create a suite of tools based on the web browser first. They started with the iCloud code and used that as the basis for the desktop application. Now you have the so called, 'contextually aware' menus, which are far worse. It's been like fourteen years since Pages '09 was replaced and we still don't have 100% feature parity, and likely never will or it will be a premium add on that we will have to pay $130/year to gain access to. We will have to pay that whether or not we need video and editing software or not.

 

[Varmann]

Wow, Pages?
If that is your honest opinion you certainly not have been around much!
It is certainly not the best program, but if it suits your needs it is pretty nifty.

If you really want to see bad software, take a look at the wonderful world of bespoke corporate software! The combination of extremely expensive, buggy as hell, what would have been a bad DOS user interface from the early 90s and lacking/misleading documentation is not uncommon. Of course it does not solve the problem it was set out to do, only show more convoluted ways to mishandle it.

I have seen my share of those, it is not pretty. They are too expensive for the company to throw out, due to the ridiculous amount already invested.

What about an accounting program (for Mac, early 90s) that is a maze to navigate and where every wrong keystroke (like hitting Enter, when you have made a new addition) crashes the program and leaves a zombie process on the server, which has to be rebooted daily?

 

[maxoakland]

Well, in the context of my original post in 2019 it was stripped of many of the page layout functionality it had, I believe the table of contents functionally was either removed or limited, and a few others that I will be honest I don't recall.

In the 7 years since that post they've added back enough for my liking, but I personally don't like the sidebar U.I. I miss the very tight toolbar at the top and floating inspector panels, but that's purely preference.

I do think floating inspector panels are nice. It's best when you can detach and attach them. Best of both worlds