Poll: iWork ’09 vs iWork 2013-15

[jblagden]

Do you prefer iWork ’09, at least in terms of functionality or do you prefer the new look of iWork 2013-15?

I personally prefer iWork ’09 in terms of functionality, but I’d like to see what you think.

If you’d like to read more about my opinion on the old and new versions of iWork, you can take a look at this article: http://jbmachelp.x10host.com/mac/mac-index/software/declining-apple-software-by.html

 

[chscag]

Do you prefer iWork ’09, at least in terms of functionality or do you prefer the new look of iWork 2013-15?

There's no doubt that Apple has "dumbed down" the iWork 09 apps with their latest versions, especially Pages which is the most popular of the three. Perhaps that's why they now give away the suite with a new Mac or iOS device. I need to use Office because of compatibility issues but did like to use Pages for other things, however, now I don't use it at all.

 

[sracer]

I'm a huge fan of iWork '09. I have documents with some advanced formatting that are more easily accomplished with Pages 09 than with MS Word or LibreOffice.

For documents that don't require the advance formatting capabilities of Page 09, I use the new Pages since I can work on documents on my various Apple devices.

Overall, I use 4 different productivity suites (in order of preference): iWork 09, LibreOffice, MS Office, iWork 13-15.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

I prefer Numbers and keynote in the 2013 edition, but Pages from '09. Numbers I consider a huge upgrade, since it is so much faster in the new version.

Pages on the other hand, is quite a step back. It looks better, and I like the sidebar instead of the small floating window, but in line image handling is crazy ****ed up at the moment, and not working correctly I believe.

 

[campyguy]

New option, please? I use all three solutions - still have my 5-license iWork Family Pack DVD!

 

[neutrino23]

Agreed. I use the new version of Keynote and Numbers but the `09 version of Pages. It is puzzling that Apple would dumb it down like this. What is really frustrating is that during the intervening years we have made so many good suggestions for improvements and instead it went backwards.

They made the data portable between OS X and iOS, but not the functions. The drawing features on iOS are very primitive.

It is not that iOS can't support these features, just look at Graphic for examples.

Clearly Apple made a conscious decision to do this but has chosen not to share that reasoning with us.

 

[maflynn]

I found iWork 09 to be tolerable, though it had issues with importing Excel, but when they "upgraded" to the new version and gutted all the features I liked I then just gave up and moved on to MS Office.

 

[MLinneer]

iWork 09 was really starting to get there and was a good feature update from the previous versions. Easier to use than Office with comparable features, I preferred iWork to any other suite out there. I even bought the family pack license CD. Then the ’14 rewrite came and… well, that’s been covered. With the feature I liked being killed, the file format mess, the problems with iCloud corrupting or even loosing files, I’ve moved all my important stuff to Office and just use iWork to play with. I find Pages still very good for certain desktop publishing tasks, but Numbers is very weak compared to Excel. The separate table scheme could be a killer feature but the implementation is geared more towards publishing than number crunching.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Apple could solve this whole "problem" by adding an extra iWork program for OS X-only called "Apple Publisher" or "iWork Publisher". Basically resurrect the old Pages '09 as this "Publisher" app and stick it with the new Pages (which is now pretty much a MS Word (very) Lite). Or maybe drop the Word Processor functions in Pages '09 and have this new "Publisher" piece of iWork be the desktop publishing side of Pages '09 only (what they refer to as the "Page Layout" section).

That would make everybody happy, keep the unity between Macs and iDevices for the "Big 3" programs while covering the gripes of many of us that think Pages '09 is an EXCELLENT (simple) DTP software program too. It apparently mostly still works that way with El Capitan (other than the crayon color picker pane- at least that's all I've heard that doesn't work right so far).

The iDevice crowd probably shouldn't expect a DTP-level application for iDevices too. So this would be just an extra program only for OS X (Macs), comparable to how MS paired "MS Publisher" with Word, Excel and Power Point on Windows machines. Seems like a good way to kill about 3 birds with one stone.

 

[jblagden]

I think Apple should ditch iWork 13-15 and get back to improving iWork '09. Software uniformity is nice, but it just isn't practical when it comes at the expense of productivity.

 

[maflynn]

and get back to improving iWork '09

They never really improved iWork 09 and we'll never see Apple back track like that as well.

 

[sracer]

Apple could solve this whole "problem" by adding an extra iWork program for OS X-only called "Apple Publisher" or "iWork Publisher". Basically resurrect the old Pages '09 as this "Publisher" app and stick it with the new Pages (which is now pretty much a MS Word (very) Lite). Or maybe drop the Word Processor functions in Pages '09 and have this new "Publisher" piece of iWork be the desktop publishing side of Pages '09 only (what they refer to as the "Page Layout" section).

That would make everybody happy, keep the unity between Macs and iDevices for the "Big 3" programs while covering the gripes of many of us that think Pages '09 is an EXCELLENT (simple) DTP software program too. It apparently mostly still works that way with El Capitan (other than the crayon color picker pane- at least that's all I've heard that doesn't work right so far).

The iDevice crowd probably shouldn't expect a DTP-level application for iDevices too. So this would be just an extra program only for OS X (Macs), comparable to how MS paired "MS Publisher" with Word, Excel and Power Point on Windows machines. Seems like a good way to kill about 3 birds with one stone.

I like that suggestion as a fall-back. I'd still prefer that Apple add back all of the missing functionality... I actually find the layout of the new Pages (with the inspector side-bar) nicer to use on cramped screens like my 11" MBA.

Since we're strolling through Fantasyland, I sorely miss flat-file database programs. The ClarisWorks/AppleWorks database and Bento were terrific. I'd love too see a Bento remix/rewrite added to iWork.

But the days of Apple producing top-quality software are gone. They're a hardware company. They've always been. Developing software was a necessary evil for them because they had to "bootstrap" their hardware solutions with SOMETHING. So they produced software that made their computers fully functional "out of the box". They didn't rely on 3rd party developers. Now, they let 3rd parties do the heavy lifting. As their customer base grew, so did attention from developers.

 

[imanidiot]

Pages is the only iWork app I use, and I use it every day (I'm a writer). I have both the '09 and 2013 editions, and '09 is much better. And not just by a little bit. The 2013 edition, as others have pointed out, is an attempt to dumb it down and and move toward an eventual merge with iOS, and in the process stripped it (Pages) of much of its functionality. Suitable for use on an iOS device perhaps, not not on a Mac, and not for serious work.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

I like that suggestion as a fall-back. I'd still prefer that Apple add back all of the missing functionality... I actually find the layout of the new Pages (with the inspector side-bar) nicer to use on cramped screens like my 11" MBA.

Well I'd love that too but I think that's more of a stretch than my crazy suggestion. To resurrect all of the functionality of Pages '09 in the newer Pages means making all the desktop publishing "Page Layout" functionality work on iDevices versions of Pages too. I just don't see that happening. Page layout on an iPhone screen seems like it would be an undesirable experience. But, that written, I'd certainly be happy if they could go that way too... or any other way to bring back the DTP "Page Layout" mode in full.

 

[Cougarcat]

I just wish they'd fix the share function in Pages '09. I have light Pages needs, but I can't stand the new version's UI. I want the compact formatting bar back.

 

[mikzn]

I liked Pages '09 and used it a lot till it was replaced ( still keep the old version for accessing old documents) - but the new version of pages is pretty much unusable compared to '09 or word - so I have switched back to word.

I like the new keynote and numbers but even they have lost features. It seemed to me that the changes were when apple started implementing iCloud and syncing with iOS versions.

Key note is really an awesome app and I use it almost very day - can't even imagine using power-point anymore. I even use it in "portrait custom settings" to create documents (use it more than pages), especially if there is a need to add images and mark up. Love the sync with iOS with keynote and numbers - always access same version of file from any device - could not live with out that and el cap made that work finally the way it should work.

Hard to compare numbers to excel, excell is so much more robust and everyone uses it - so sharing info and files is easy even across different versions of Mac / Windows.