I'm thinking about purchasing iWork, but I was just wondering how much everyone (dis)likes it. I do have Office, but with the new updates it looks really tempting.
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Reactions to upgraded iWork?
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CylonGlitch
macrumors 68030
Office on the Mac really sucks. Unless he really needs something from Office, there is no reason to not move to iLife, it's a really good suite, even before the upgrade.
Unhappy with new Keynote
Other than a reworked interface, I'm not sure that Keynote has such wonderful features. I can't find an option to have a curved path for adding motion anymore. I was hoping that Keynote would have an option to define a path for an object to follow at least as good or better than PowerPoint, but no such luck.
Other than a reworked interface, I'm not sure that Keynote has such wonderful features. I can't find an option to have a curved path for adding motion anymore. I was hoping that Keynote would have an option to define a path for an object to follow at least as good or better than PowerPoint, but no such luck.
My impressions so far:
Pages
- I can't seem to be able to use guides anymore. Which is really stupid, judging how Pages is very oriented to making layouts.
- I really like how the page is centered now, instead of aligned to the left.
Keynote
- Same, canvas is centered. Much nicer.
- I completely dislike the new controls to edit things.
Numbers
- I've never liked it. Still don't. Not only does it lack functions, but the way you can have thousands of "tables" flying around is really frustrating.
In review, it certainly seems like they dumbed down iWork. I think I much prefer iWork 09'.🙁
Pages
- I can't seem to be able to use guides anymore. Which is really stupid, judging how Pages is very oriented to making layouts.
- I really like how the page is centered now, instead of aligned to the left.
Keynote
- Same, canvas is centered. Much nicer.
- I completely dislike the new controls to edit things.
Numbers
- I've never liked it. Still don't. Not only does it lack functions, but the way you can have thousands of "tables" flying around is really frustrating.
In review, it certainly seems like they dumbed down iWork. I think I much prefer iWork 09'.🙁
jacg
macrumors 6502a
Key question: are you able to continue using iWork 09 or did the installer overwrite the old apps?
I am too nervous to install the new versions.
jacg
macrumors 6502a
Browsing the official apple discussions site, it sounds like Pages has indeed been crippled with missing features.
But it sounds like the original apps remain untouched, so users wanting power features like viewing facing pages or guides will be able to keep using the four year old versions.
iWork 09 is the new iMovie HD?
I hate to be right about this, but the long wait for new iWork was not for Apple to develop amazing new versions for OS X, it has been for them to whittle them down to work on every device. While this is impressive in some way, it is also a huge step backwards for users on OS X.
But it sounds like the original apps remain untouched, so users wanting power features like viewing facing pages or guides will be able to keep using the four year old versions.
iWork 09 is the new iMovie HD?
I hate to be right about this, but the long wait for new iWork was not for Apple to develop amazing new versions for OS X, it has been for them to whittle them down to work on every device. While this is impressive in some way, it is also a huge step backwards for users on OS X.
Numbers
I have a problem with Numbers 3.0
If you format a cell as a Pop-Up Menu and enter the months of the year as the options it changes Feb to march, April to May etc. The same error causes any formular which uses months as variable to be incorect. I have a whole buch of spreadsheets that use SUMIF with months as the "IF" which are now useless!😡😡😡
I have a problem with Numbers 3.0
If you format a cell as a Pop-Up Menu and enter the months of the year as the options it changes Feb to march, April to May etc. The same error causes any formular which uses months as variable to be incorect. I have a whole buch of spreadsheets that use SUMIF with months as the "IF" which are now useless!😡😡😡
You still cannot span audio over multiple slides in keynote, so that's a big bummer to me. For the rest it looks all the same, only interface has changed :/
Quite disapointed actually
Quite disapointed actually
Yes, after installing iWork '09 becomes a folder in Applications with access to all the old apps.
I use Pages rather basically, so I'm not upset with most of the feature removal. But the new interface is downright baffling:
The nice, compact format bar completely gone. The new version of the formatting palette is way too large. So much wasted whitespace.
The Share menu is gone. I send .doc documents all the time. Before it was a simple menu selection. Now, I have to click on the share button in the toolbar, click word, click next. (Somewhat related: on the site it says you can save files as Word documents, but I don't see this option anywhere.)
I also don't like the way page count is displayed, it's way too invasive. Too large and it doesn't appear at the very bottom, instead it "floats" over your document's content. WTF.
If you zoom your document to 100%, you get grey bars on the side of your screen, but you can't make the window any smaller. WTF.
It's great that there's EndNote support, and I love the new Share Link feature. But neither are worth the terrible interface. Back to '09.
The nice, compact format bar completely gone. The new version of the formatting palette is way too large. So much wasted whitespace.
The Share menu is gone. I send .doc documents all the time. Before it was a simple menu selection. Now, I have to click on the share button in the toolbar, click word, click next. (Somewhat related: on the site it says you can save files as Word documents, but I don't see this option anywhere.)
I also don't like the way page count is displayed, it's way too invasive. Too large and it doesn't appear at the very bottom, instead it "floats" over your document's content. WTF.
If you zoom your document to 100%, you get grey bars on the side of your screen, but you can't make the window any smaller. WTF.
It's great that there's EndNote support, and I love the new Share Link feature. But neither are worth the terrible interface. Back to '09.
jbg232
macrumors 65816
If you are suggesting that office for mac "sucks" and that iLife can offer a feature set as rich as office for mac, you must not be using office applications for anything complex because I cannot believe a claim like that would be made by someone who needs office for work (legal documents, medical research, research databases, complex spreadsheets, etc. They are just NOT comparable in terms of productivity abilities, nor in terms of professional computing requirements and compatibility.
...Sorry, that's not an opinion, that's a fact.
firedept
macrumors 603
I will be using the previous versions of iWorks or Office for Mac.
The new iWorks versions have been to dumbed down for what I do with them. It really seems to have taken a step backwards. I am hoping in the future that Apple brings some feature back to it. Guess I will have to wait and see.
There seems to be a lot of displeasure with the new version here and on the Apple boards. Hopefully they are listening at Apple.
The new iWorks versions have been to dumbed down for what I do with them. It really seems to have taken a step backwards. I am hoping in the future that Apple brings some feature back to it. Guess I will have to wait and see.
There seems to be a lot of displeasure with the new version here and on the Apple boards. Hopefully they are listening at Apple.
CylonGlitch
macrumors 68030
I didn't say that. I said that Office for the Mac sucks. It does, especially with big and complex files. I used it daily to generate thousands of pages of documents; and it bogs down, crashes, picture placement, table manipulation, and is a huge memory hog. It gets to where doing just about anything in it is painful. Excel isn't much better, although more stable.
iWork is an excellent package; but it is not as complex as Office, that's for sure. But then again, 90% of the people don't need 90% of the features in Office and for those people, yes, iWork could be a great replacement.
Work in finance and so use MS Word & advanced Excel (VBA/Macros) on a PC on a daily basis and they are unsurpassed. Excellent at what they do.
However, I don't need that level of sophistication in my home life to produce the odd letter, invite/poster or quick loan calc spreadsheet or holiday expense tracking, etc. I much more value easy of use and think WYSIWYG-style easy layout is WAY more important to me in a home environment, than advanced features.
Cutting to the chase, I have word & excel for mac (office 2011) installed in case need to open a document from the office (viewing is all its really good for!). I have word & excel 2013 installed in a Windows 7 VM, if I need to do anything serious from home - but 90-95% of the time I use Pages and Numbers and think they're great. Used the latest version for last 24 hours and like all the changes so far.
Only one man's opinions though - each to their own.
EDIT: Agree with CylonGlitch on this.
However, I don't need that level of sophistication in my home life to produce the odd letter, invite/poster or quick loan calc spreadsheet or holiday expense tracking, etc. I much more value easy of use and think WYSIWYG-style easy layout is WAY more important to me in a home environment, than advanced features.
Cutting to the chase, I have word & excel for mac (office 2011) installed in case need to open a document from the office (viewing is all its really good for!). I have word & excel 2013 installed in a Windows 7 VM, if I need to do anything serious from home - but 90-95% of the time I use Pages and Numbers and think they're great. Used the latest version for last 24 hours and like all the changes so far.
Only one man's opinions though - each to their own.
EDIT: Agree with CylonGlitch on this.
definitive
macrumors 68020
CrickettGrrrl
macrumors 6502a
I upgraded but deleted the new iWork versions and am sticking with iWork '09.
Yesterday I ran into conflicts with a Numbers work project & transferring stuff from Bento, I read how a lot of the '09 features are missing in the new versions. The killer was after updating my little dog's insulin chart in Pages using the new Pages version --it wasn't backwards compatible. I keep this document in DropBox and couldn't open it anymore after I'd deleted the new Pages. My parents need to be able to access this chart, same for when I'm working in my SL partition --so good bye iWork '13! --Looking at all the new updates with a vastly more critical eye in consequence. I'm also wondering, what office software do the Apple execs use to do their work? If this new version isn't sufficient for them, it's not good enough for any of us.
Yesterday I ran into conflicts with a Numbers work project & transferring stuff from Bento, I read how a lot of the '09 features are missing in the new versions. The killer was after updating my little dog's insulin chart in Pages using the new Pages version --it wasn't backwards compatible. I keep this document in DropBox and couldn't open it anymore after I'd deleted the new Pages. My parents need to be able to access this chart, same for when I'm working in my SL partition --so good bye iWork '13! --Looking at all the new updates with a vastly more critical eye in consequence. I'm also wondering, what office software do the Apple execs use to do their work? If this new version isn't sufficient for them, it's not good enough for any of us.
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Having spent a little bit time with all of them now, I haven't noticed a single new feature that actually makes usability better. So far it just seems like features have been dumbed down or (more commonly) removed altogether. Has anyone ever used iWork on a tablet? Like honestly? I used it as a gimmick a few times, but I have no idea why Apple would think this is the way to go with iWork development.
Also Numbers is still a terrible program, missing many core features of Excel. It's good for like, making your family budget, but useless for anything else. I imagine the new Numbers also still has the 65'554 row limit and 256 column limit that crippled Excel prior to 2008 (and Prism prior to v6), although I haven't checked.
Pages is an acceptable Word replacement, but if you save in .pages formats, it basically means you can't collaborate with anyone else on a document you're writing. Also, EndNote is supported in Pages '09 (and probably even older versions).
I love Keynote but the new version removes basically all of the functionalities that made it better than Powerpoint for me (namely: ability to retain original vector graphics in a saved .keynote document... also capability to make animations < 0.2 seconds long, don't know why PPT has such a long hardcoded limit).
E: Also warning, if you open an old document in iWork '13, it seems to convert your document to the new format, then overwrite your old version, then auto-save. So, copy anything important before opening it.
Also Numbers is still a terrible program, missing many core features of Excel. It's good for like, making your family budget, but useless for anything else. I imagine the new Numbers also still has the 65'554 row limit and 256 column limit that crippled Excel prior to 2008 (and Prism prior to v6), although I haven't checked.
Pages is an acceptable Word replacement, but if you save in .pages formats, it basically means you can't collaborate with anyone else on a document you're writing. Also, EndNote is supported in Pages '09 (and probably even older versions).
I love Keynote but the new version removes basically all of the functionalities that made it better than Powerpoint for me (namely: ability to retain original vector graphics in a saved .keynote document... also capability to make animations < 0.2 seconds long, don't know why PPT has such a long hardcoded limit).
E: Also warning, if you open an old document in iWork '13, it seems to convert your document to the new format, then overwrite your old version, then auto-save. So, copy anything important before opening it.
Grogfoot
macrumors member
So disappointing
I'd have to agree with most people here that the updates are just plain terrible.
I didn't even give it a 24 period to try them out because they hose my existing files. Keynote 6 wants to "convert" any and all embedded videos to some other format. The result is downsampled, crappier videos, and that's when its able to do it. Otherwise it will return an error and a movie you've been using in Keynote for years is suddenly useless.
Sigh... I've always been excited about iWork updates. This is such a setback. Fortunately it didn't write over my '09 applications.
I'd have to agree with most people here that the updates are just plain terrible.
I didn't even give it a 24 period to try them out because they hose my existing files. Keynote 6 wants to "convert" any and all embedded videos to some other format. The result is downsampled, crappier videos, and that's when its able to do it. Otherwise it will return an error and a movie you've been using in Keynote for years is suddenly useless.
Sigh... I've always been excited about iWork updates. This is such a setback. Fortunately it didn't write over my '09 applications.
powers74
macrumors 68000
Oh man....
I had pretty high hopes for the new iWork. Not even spectacularly high hopes. Just a little high*. But this is not looking good, no sir. I mean wow. Hopefully this is like FCPX where they do some fast updates that add back core features. God I hope so. I was just about to start using Pages more too.
*Towlie voice
I had pretty high hopes for the new iWork. Not even spectacularly high hopes. Just a little high*. But this is not looking good, no sir. I mean wow. Hopefully this is like FCPX where they do some fast updates that add back core features. God I hope so. I was just about to start using Pages more too.
*Towlie voice