Some Power Users Are Unhappy With Lost Features in the New iWork

[klaxamazoo]

A lot of the time, people are essentially saying that they want to work in the way they did in 1998, and stressing that they find it difficult to cope with change. Luddites.

The world changes. Embrace it and find new ways to work. Or choose to stay in the past and become increasingly irrelevant.

So many people seem to think they are "professional" because they use Word or Excel. Good grief, Word and Excel are far from professional tools. Boasting about using Word and Excel stresses the fact that you're an amateur stuck in the last millennium.

The future isn't yours. It isn't Word's. Excel's. Or Microsoft's. The future is racing ahead of you. Learn to embrace change and to master new software. Don't whine about change. Whining will do you no good at all.

Pages is not the future of word processing, so I don't understand why you are trying belittle people complaining about loss of the few features it actually had. Pages is no where near a full featured word processing solution, so it isn't like someone is stuck in 1998 by using Word instead of Pages. Even after almost nine years Pages doesn't even have the ability to do cross references, automated caption numbering, etc. There are a lot of standard word processing features that Pages never had and now it has even fewer.

Pages is fine for really simple things. Flyers for bake sales.
Microsoft Word is good for more advanced uses. Simple dynamic documents, short books.
LaTeX is good for advanced layout and cross reference heavy documents. Large books, dissertations, etc.

There are levels of word processing. Pages is near the bottom and, apparently, will remain there.

 

[ghostface147]

iWork is a power user suite? Please. No one I know uses it who has a Mac. It's all Office.

 

[SoldOnApple]

Now I regret praying to the ghost of Steve Jobs to make the iOS version and the Mac version sync perfectly. But I'm not a power user anyway, so I'm happy with the changes.

 

[TrashCanBin]

Pages is not the future of word processing, so I don't understand why you are trying belittle people complaining about loss of the few features it actually had. Pages is no where near a full featured word processing solution, so it isn't like someone is stuck in 1998 by using Word instead of Pages. Even after almost nine years Pages doesn't even have the ability to do cross references, automated caption numbering, etc. There are a lot of standard word processing features that Pages never had and now it has even fewer.

Pages is fine for really simple things. Flyers for bake sales.
Microsoft Word is good for more advanced uses. Simple dynamic documents, short books.
LaTeX is good for advanced layout and cross reference heavy documents. Large books, dissertations, etc.

There are levels of word processing. Pages is near the bottom and, apparently, will remain there.

Well going from not much to begin with to even less is nothing to be happy about. That's the whole issue here.

 

[Wanted797]

By putting the old version in a folder in the Applications folder updates continue to show up in the App store after you have already downloaded them.

Took me awhile to noticed what was going on. Deleting them fixes the problem.

I'm not too fussed on the missing features I don't use 90% of them anyway. However the annoying format bar that pushes the windows off centre drives me crazy, and the fact you can't have a discrete word count at the bottom of the page.

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iWork is a power user suite? Please. No one I know uses it who has a Mac. It's all Office.

Out of habit and frustration with Office on Mac (after being on windows) I started using Pages.

Office is much more convenient when having to send to other people. Dammit everyone should just use a mac!

 

[Dorje Sylas]

And the reasons for me to move off 10.6 continue to shrink. Apple really isn't going to shake us "laggards" off anytime soon with moves like this.

If your past software is superior to current software your doing something wrong.

The answer is simple. Put in a blood Compatibilty mode. If people know they're going to working mainly through iPads and iCloud let them flip the switch on the Mac version that says "make me compatible and only let use the options that will work cross-platform". Likely most folks won't ever flip that switch.

 

[CaptainPrice01]

Y'all miss ClarisWorks yet?

HAHA! Good one! I loved Claris back in the day. I miss the paint and draw apps.

 

[Night Spring]

Thank you, yes I reverted, but my parents wouldn't be able to deal with this stuff if I forgot or was in a hurry.

Can't you change the default app to open pages docs to Pages '09? For instance, I downloaded a video app from the App Store, then changed things so all videos now open with this app instead of with QuickTime. I forget the exact steps to do it, but I know it can be done.

 

[baryon]

I'm glad my Uni years are done, so I don't need to write complicated documents. I used Pages 09 for everything in the past years, and while it was fine, I found many things to be ridiculously frustrating, like adding images to text (inline) and masking/cropping those images. It's just glitchy, buggy, horrible and slow as hell.

It was still easier to use than MS Office though, but still not great. I think both suck. I've never seen a text editor that doesn't suck.

I don't know what the new iWork is like, but to be honest I think that there's no way to make a good text editor. It will just always suck. If that wasn't true, surely we'd be overwhelmed by awesome text editors by now.

 

[bob_hearn]

Y'know, I do. That was great stuff.

Thanks.

 

[coolfactor]

I used Pages primarily to create a multiple-page weekly newsletter with a very specific layout. We used paragraph styles, which are now buried beneath a dropdown menu and the vertical rule, which seems to be completely absent from the application now. Bizarre! Furthermore, there's some incompatibilities with documents created with the previous version. Disappointed.

 

[CrickettGrrrl]

Can't you change the default app to open pages docs to Pages '09? For instance, I downloaded a video app from the App Store, then changed things so all videos now open with this app instead of with QuickTime. I forget the exact steps to do it, but I know it can be done.

Thank you for the suggestion but I simply deleted the new iWorks and will wait before updating again.

There are other things I have in Pages '09 like clients' books, I'm not eager to test if the new formatting messes up work projects. Will just wait.

 

[melendezest]

Pages is not the future of word processing, so I don't understand why you are trying belittle people complaining about loss of the few features it actually had. Pages is no where near a full featured word processing solution, so it isn't like someone is stuck in 1998 by using Word instead of Pages. Even after almost nine years Pages doesn't even have the ability to do cross references, automated caption numbering, etc. There are a lot of standard word processing features that Pages never had and now it has even fewer.

Pages is fine for really simple things. Flyers for bake sales.
Microsoft Word is good for more advanced uses. Simple dynamic documents, short books.
LaTeX is good for advanced layout and cross reference heavy documents. Large books, dissertations, etc.

There are levels of word processing. Pages is near the bottom and, apparently, will remain there.

Agreed. Why is it that every time someone doesn't like something Apple does someone attributes it to the reason that they can't adapt to change? What BS.

The proof is in what I can or cannot get accomplished. I can do things with Word that I cannot do with Pages. Period. Therefore, given my needs, Pages is inferior. This is simple, rational logic. It's not arbitrary whining. When you take features away from software, features people came to rely on, you made your software inferior to the previous version. Why is that hard to understand for some?

I can see why Apple is giving away all this software for free. I'd be pissed if I had to pay. It's not goodwill, it's not (purely) a marketing move, they're not being nice. They knew it would create a "Maps-style" backlash if they charged us for it. And they have no one to fire now (they will not let go of Ive).

I am just not happy with them as a company, specifically their decision-making lately. I mean, I LOVED Apple. But like a couple that drifts apart, we may be headed for a divorce. She found a younger, trendier, more affluent lover and is expecting me to swing. There's no one like her, and she'll always be in my heart, but maybe it's time to start looking for a new girlfriend. I'll keep the door open for a late-night call though..

 

[scrmtrey]

I did use Numbers app today to create some table and basic calculation in cell. The first thing i notice is how simple it is to create something, much better than previous version and also faster.

I am glad and very happy for free update. The UI looks nicer and more clean.

Definitely not step backward.

I think that they will add feature by feature into iWork since now they are exactly the same on iOS and OSX, so they can add feature to both apps and still remain compatible.

 

[melendezest]

Out of habit and frustration with Office on Mac (after being on windows) I started using Pages.

Office is much more convenient when having to send to other people. Dammit everyone should just use a mac!

Hahaha, yes. I simply have a VM with Windows on it for that. I struggled with Pages and Office for Mac during college. People want Word docs, so I just decided to use the real thing. Problem solved.

 

[840quadra]

Well at least Google Docs is able to open certain work documents I have that make Pages and OpenOffice choke. But I will never ever use a product I can use online only. Or a product from a company that makes collecting my data their sole businessmodel. Using gmail for personal mail is one thing, using Google Docs for sensitive business documents is a whole different thing altogether.

Microsoft Office actually works, contrary to what the fanboys say, and can do complicated things the others can only dream of. And that it is the de-facto standard all over the world doesn't hurt either.

What dreamy features am I missing out on?

Not a power user feature? Wouldn't power users be more likely to have a cross platform requirement?

Submitting an invoice to a client, and having them not be able to open it. Don't have to be a power user to receive a file you can't open.

 

[Banyan Bruce]

Power users of Numbers ????

Really ?

Keynote yes, Pages, Yes, but Numbers ? I find the concept of a power user of numbers difficult to imagine.

Anyhow, I hope Apple haven't, snatch defeat from the jaws of victory with this update.

MS on the ropes with Windows 8 and iWorks being seriously considered as an alternative to MS Office and then they go and do this. Free maybe, but the real cost is charged in loss of functionality. Hopefully they'll do a Final Cut X type revival with the next update.

 

[vjl323]

They messed up Garageband too. You can't even export MP3 anymore or set the parameters you want.

Funny what they call an upgrade. Making the desktop less powerful to be parity with a weaker (IOS) platform is a mistake. Lowest common denominator.

Does Apple keep the prior version of GarageBand [and other iLife apps] on a Mac that had them, like they do for iWork '09 users? I don't use GarageBand, but I have a friend that does, and missing MP3 export would be pretty big for them. I would guess that if the new version of GarageBand saves its native files in a format the prior version uses, that one could open the prior one to export to MP3. But that would only be possible if Apple doesn't overwrite one's current version of GarageBand.

 

[aced411]

A power user using iWork? That's like an architect using an Etch A Sketch
Put the crayons down and get some real work done.

 

[milo]

Numbers lost the ability to have page headers and footers.

 

[driveparty]

Of course, the new release is a free update to a consumer-focused software product where many of the missing features were likely never used by the majority of Apple's customers

What are these delirious words about? About having no CSV import or having no RTF export? Is it serious? Is it about *POWER* usage?! Is the person, raving this lacking medical care…?

 

[50548]

A lot of hip-shooting going on here, but if half of what's been said to be deleted from Page is actually is gone, then it's a non-starter for me. Like, no linking of text boxes? If that's true all by itself, I simply will not use the new version of Pages. Waiting for the dust to settle.

There's at least one major feature loss that I've confirmed: selection of non-contiguous text.

Edit: And these STUPID, DISHONEST AND MISLEADING inline sponsored ads are still around. TURN THAT **** OFF!

 

[driveparty]

I did use Numbers app today to create some table and basic calculation in cell. The first thing i notice is how simple it is to create something, much better than previous version and also faster.

Well, i tend to believe, modern software isn't made for "modern" junior people only, having those habits like inability of in-the-mind calculations and so on...

 

[halhiker]

Applications Folder

I still have iWork 09 in my applications folder. I opened Pages and it's still version 4.3. It asked me if I wanted to update and I clicked NO and Don't ask me again. It seems to work fine. I'm no power user so I'll try the new one but the other one works just in case.

 

[217833]

I still have iWork '09 installed in its own folder and I also have Office for Mac, on top of the new iWork. So I just don't care, I use what works for me.

And lately, I was mainly using iWork more because it's good for what I needed and I don't care about what Word can do that Pages can't, as long as I can do everything I need with Pages. Now, I'm even more happy that it could be used cross-platform with iWork in iCloud and sharing (as well as collaboration, which is great for me), and I haven't see it what I really missing on the new versions.

The only wish I'd love for Numbers is the "Orientation Text" for each cell. That actually is a real PITA and one of the reason I could still use Excel over Numbers for some work. But that's pretty much it...

But, to each his own... some surely have some needs that I don't have.