Tiger Upgrade (not loaded) on new Mac and AppleWorks ... advice?

[patrickq]

My first post and so I'm hoping this is the best forum for my questions ... let me know if it should be in another section.

I've just bought a 15" Powerbook, waited until Tiger was out, but when I got it back home found it was loaded with Panther and a Tiger upgrade DVD enclosed for me to update with.

Now, I'm not sure if it is better this way ... gives me Panther and Tiger ... or am I better off with Tiger loaded and full Tiger DVD. What will be the differences if any?

I was previously running older version of OS9 and so it is something of a quantum leap to Tiger, can't really see any reason for me to backstep to Panther at any point. Apple have included software update vouchers for Panther and Tiger in box.

Impressed with Tiger so far, particularly the ease of getting online, no messing around trying to fill in internet connection info ... it just connects straight away to broadband and wireless. It will take a while to get used to differences and to transfer all relevant info from my antique G3 powerbook - complete with broken hinge supported by wire frame and no USB!

Another query, I tried an iBook a few months ago (returned it because I couldn't get along with the noisy trackpad button when clicking!), and I think it had a copy of AppleWorks loaded which was similar to ClarisWorks (my current word processing software), this Powerbook appears to have only an option to try MS Word for Mac (masquerading as AppleWorks), which I definitely want to avoid. Was AppleWorks a development from Claris and now changed to MS, or did I just not notice before?

Thanks in advance if anyone can help.

Patrick

 

[anonymous161]

Appleworks is Clarisworks, Apple just changed the name when they bought it (the files even save ".cwk"). However, Appleworks only comes bundled with the consumer desktops and notebooks (iBook, iMac, etc) not the "power" series. You can buy Appleworks from the Apple store, but it is about $60 or so. You can find a copy of Appleworks on eBay as well, if you want. I would really recommend just upgrading to MS Office since it is basically the standard now. You can also try one of the open source office variants, but they don't usually work too well with the OS X interface.

 

[XNine]

My advice: ditch AppleWorks all together. It's slow, it's not intuitive and the results really aren't that great. iWork isn't too bad, and it's a lot cheaper than MS Office. However, no spreadsheet in iWork (yet).

 

[Dr.Gargoyle]

I agree with the previous posts, however I find Ms office buggy to put it mildly. Critical errors occurs quite often. Still, it is the standard, so... But, if you can live without a spreadsheet, I would suggest you buy iWork instead. pages is still a bit rough, but Keynotes 2.0 is soooo nice. My guess is that Apple is keeping iWork just incase MS desides to quit Office for Mac.

 

[Macky-Mac]

if clarisworks worked fine for you, then appleworks will probably be fine too......you'll have to buy it but it isn't expensive

 

[dotdotdot]

openoffice.org

Theres your answer.

 

[MisterMe]

Appleworks is Clarisworks, Apple just changed the name when they bought it (the files even save ".cwk")....

You are correct that AppleWorks is ClarisWorks. However, Apple always owned ClarisWorks. Claris was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Apple Computer. This is to say that Claris owned 100% of ClarisWorks. Apple owned 100% of Claris. Therefore, ....

 

[Plymouthbreezer]

My advice: ditch AppleWorks all together. It's slow, it's not intuitive and the results really aren't that great. iWork isn't too bad, and it's a lot cheaper than MS Office. However, no spreadsheet in iWork (yet).

Pages is terrible as a true word processing app. Stick with AppleWorks until Pages 2.0 next year. I have iWork '05, and Keynote is great, but Pages is just rough and very hard to use.

I find that AppleWorks is maybe one of the most solid apps from Apple. And really, it isn't all that slow. Anyway, why do you need a super, super fast program for this type of task??

 

[patrickq]

Thanks

Thanks for all your advice. My temptation is to go with Appleworks, as I have a lot of documents in that format, first I'll see how I get on with iWorks05. I want to avoid Microsoft if I can, I use Word on my girlfriend's PC (don't worry she'll be getting a Mac soon ) and find overall it is not as good as my old version of ClarisWorks4.

Has anyone any comment regarding whether I should try and get a full version of Tiger loaded on my Powerbook, rather than an upgraded Panther.

Patrick