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Word Processing?

aimeeinohio

aimeeinohio

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 20, 2010
216
2
OK I am looking at word processing programs...I was looking at the Pages app ($20.00 in the app store). Anyone here use it? Can you save your files at .doc ? I really, really, really do not want to have to buy Office, cause I don't need all of the extra crap. Or is there something better than pages? I tried downloading Open Office (which I really am not a fan of), and I *think* it downloaded but I can't find it. LOL
 
You can save your files as .doc with pages, however you have to be careful with formatting, as it will sometimes not translate well to machines running Office.
 
aimeeinohio said:
OK I am looking at word processing programs...I was looking at the Pages app ($20.00 in the app store). Anyone here use it? Can you save your files at .doc ? I really, really, really do not want to have to buy Office, cause I don't need all of the extra crap. Or is there something better than pages? I tried downloading Open Office (which I really am not a fan of), and I *think* it downloaded but I can't find it. LOL
Click to expand...
Yes, you can save files as .doc files. There are other alternatives, as well, such as NeoOffice, OpenOffice, Google Docs, etc.

http://www.apple.com/iwork/pages/
http://www.apple.com/iwork/pages/#share
 
aimeeinohio said:
OK I am looking at word processing programs...I was looking at the Pages app ($20.00 in the app store). Anyone here use it? Can you save your files at .doc ? I really, really, really do not want to have to buy Office, cause I don't need all of the extra crap. Or is there something better than pages? I tried downloading Open Office (which I really am not a fan of), and I *think* it downloaded but I can't find it. LOL
Click to expand...

Pages is top notch, It can save/open .doc easy enough but if you're not careful the formatting can suffer. I've hardly looked back, If work would let me use pages for their controlled documents I'd never touch word again.
 
While documents saved from Pages can have difficulties in Word due to odd formatting issues, even different versions of Word have trouble with documents from other versions of Word as well.

When I was working they insisted everyone have exactly the same version of Word and when there was an upgrade everyone had to upgrade.
 
May favorite word processor is the built-in TextEdit app. It's super clean super fast, yet actually surprisingly powerful. And yup, it can save as .doc files.
 
I always use Pages when I don't have to be Office compatible, but always use Office when I must be. There are two many ways formatting can get messed up.
 
old-wiz said:
While documents saved from Pages can have difficulties in Word due to odd formatting issues, even different versions of Word have trouble with documents from other versions of Word as well.
Click to expand...

A fair point that man, I've had just as much bother with customers trying to open word documents in older versions of office than I have with doc versions of pages stuff.

The majority of the pages experience is so much nicer than word, at least in my experience that I don't mind jumping the odd hoop for stuff that needs to end up in .doc
 
I think the free OpenOffice can satisfy all needs of the casual and semi-professional in terms of MS Office compatibility. MS Office will have an even better compatibility, but you should stay within the same Office
"area" (i.e. before and after MS Office 2010).

But in all cases, you will find some examples of incompatibility or formatting errors. Just give it a try and run some tests if you can work with it for your required level of complexity.

I guess Pages is nice as long as you stay in the Mac-only environment and only exchange documents via PDF with non-Pages users.

The build-in TextEdit app is a fast and lightweight alternative for simple and short documents, but I would not recommend it for anything comprehensive, such as a manual or thesis.
 
keaide said:
I think the free OpenOffice can satisfy all needs of the casual and semi-professional in terms of MS Office compatibility. MS Office will have an even better compatibility, but you should stay within the same Office
"area" (i.e. before and after MS Office 2010).

But in all cases, you will find some examples of incompatibility or formatting errors. Just give it a try and run some tests if you can work with it for your required level of complexity.

I guess Pages is nice as long as you stay in the Mac-only environment and only exchange documents via PDF with non-Pages users.

The build-in TextEdit app is a fast and lightweight alternative for simple and short documents, but I would not recommend it for anything comprehensive, such as a manual or thesis.
Click to expand...
I completely disagree with your first sentence. OpenOffice.org does a very good job of opening .doc files. I have a mission-critical instance when Oo_O's Java-based sibling NeoOffice opened a Windows-created file that no version of Word:mac could handle. However, even a glancing inspection of .doc files opened in Oo_O/NO will have embedded graphics somewhat askew.

I do agree that Pages is an excellent application, but it is not a substitute for Word. Page's ability to open Word files is a very nice convenience. However, it is not the application's purpose. Under no circumstances should a user send a Word document converted from a Pages document to someone else without first test flying in Word.

Having said all that, we must never forget that Word-compatibility is a cruel joke, particularly on the Windows side. To ensure the greatest chance of opening Word documents, I keep Word 2004, 2008, and 2011 along with Oo_O/NO and Pages. My Windows-using colleagues worship me as a god.
 
Speaking of Word compatibility being a cruel joke, I found that Word for Windows documents I had with embedded figures using WMF (Windows Meta-File) format would not render in Word for Mac but would look just fine when opened with Open Office! Also documents with equations created in Word for Windows 2007 would not render when opened in Word for Mac 2008. Even more irritating, the default fonts used in Word for Windows 2007 and later aren't available on a Mac unless you either install Word for Mac 2008 or 2011 or purchase the fonts from Microsoft for more than the cost of a copy of Office!

Combine that with the horror of Visio (no Mac version!) and your best bet is running a copy of Windows in a virtual machine if you need absolute compatibility. :(
 
Bean is free, powerful (i.e. lots of tools), and lightweight.

It can save as .doc, RTF, RTFD, .xml, .txt, .odt, and .docx. It can also export to many other formats.
 
old-wiz said:
While documents saved from Pages can have difficulties in Word due to odd formatting issues, even different versions of Word have trouble with documents from other versions of Word as well.

When I was working they insisted everyone have exactly the same version of Word and when there was an upgrade everyone had to upgrade.
Click to expand...

YMMV - I've been using Word since version 2.0 for Windows, and I haven't encountered any issues.
 
Pages is a great app but i find using office is the best option since it basically a requirement in the corporate world and just about teacher uses it when you email papers.
 
I was a Pages user until I upgraded my Mac and lost my license.

So I am now using Office, and I don't think I'll be turning back.

The only problem is I now have to convert all of my .pages files into .doc files, without a Pages license.
 
If there are no requirements whatsoever to exchange editable documents with non iWork users and all your contacts are computer literate enough to send you PDFs for reading, then iWork is a pretty nice suite and I'd take it.

I think that regarding compatibility, most people will have one or the other story of incompatibility of some sort, while others have never experienced any problems in that area.

OpenOffice can do a decent job for light to medium professional use (there's always the one function that does not work). But if you can shell out the money without pain, just get a copy of MS Office. If you need to exchange editable documents with other pre-2010 users, avoid using the new features and save in compatibility mode (at least for the next year or two). That's it.
 
MacbookSwitcher said:
I was a Pages user until I upgraded my Mac and lost my license.

...
Click to expand...
Nonsense. If your Mac shipped with Pages preinstalled, then the media were included in the box. If you purchased Pages after you purchased your Mac, then the Pages media shipped in its own box. Upgrading your Mac had absolutely nothing to do with the availability of Pages on your new computer.
 
MisterMe said:
Nonsense. If your Mac shipped with Pages preinstalled, then the media were included in the box. If you purchased Pages after you purchased your Mac, then the Pages media shipped in its own box. Upgrading your Mac had absolutely nothing to do with the availability of Pages on your new computer.
Click to expand...

I purchased Pages, but when I moved to a different country, I did not bring the box nor the license key with me. But when I upgraded my Mac, Pages recognized that it was running on a new machine, and since each license is good for one machine, it is asking me for my key in order to run on the new machine. But I don't have it..
 
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