so I'm sure this has already been asked by many but what is the best way to word process on a mac? Should I run the mac version of office? run the windows version through parallels? wait till the UB version third quarter? what do you guys think?
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Word Processing
- Thread starter KAPATACHOWA
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NeoOffice is free and great.
MS Office:Mac costs a lot and is soon to be outdated. It will run quite slowly on your mac as well as it is not yet Universal (read: made specifically for intel). 🙂
I personally use a mixture of NeoOffice and Pages (a trial comes with your mac), as pages is a great note taker in school.
MS Office:Mac costs a lot and is soon to be outdated. It will run quite slowly on your mac as well as it is not yet Universal (read: made specifically for intel). 🙂
I personally use a mixture of NeoOffice and Pages (a trial comes with your mac), as pages is a great note taker in school.
wordmunger
macrumors 603
It really depends on your needs. For absolute compatibility with the rest of the world, you need MS Office. If you only occasionally share a file, then even TextEdit can open many MS Word files.
But MS Office is quite slow on Intel Macs, and due for an upgrade soon, so now might not be the best time to buy.
Pages is a much snappier program than MS Office -- I prefer it for typing documents that need a lot of formatting/illustrations. It can open and export to MS Word, but doesn't work with all files, and lacks some functions such as Track Changes and Mail Merge.
NeoOffice is okay, but just as slow as MS office, and it's still not 100 percent compatible with MS office.
That said, NeoOffice is free, so why not try it first and see if it suits your needs?
But MS Office is quite slow on Intel Macs, and due for an upgrade soon, so now might not be the best time to buy.
Pages is a much snappier program than MS Office -- I prefer it for typing documents that need a lot of formatting/illustrations. It can open and export to MS Word, but doesn't work with all files, and lacks some functions such as Track Changes and Mail Merge.
NeoOffice is okay, but just as slow as MS office, and it's still not 100 percent compatible with MS office.
That said, NeoOffice is free, so why not try it first and see if it suits your needs?
cyclingplatypus
macrumors 65816
No, but as soon as I get my iMac, I'm purchasing CrossOver and using an unused copy of Office XP that I already own. The benefit is that: (1) you don't need to own or install Windows; and (2) you don't run the app in separate virtual machine (memory overhead and separation of user space).
If you have an existing copy then you can get an evaluation copy of CrossOver and try it out before exploring other routes.
http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxmac/
Maybe someone who has actually used it can vouch for it...
Nicolasdec
macrumors 65816
xUKHCx
Administrator emeritus
I just completed my 3rd year design project doing just this. Was a major project totalling 230 odd pages and 29000 words. Worked perfectly fine and absolutely no problems.
Will download the trail of crossover and see how well that works, will report back, although my internet connection is treacle at the moment so might be some time.
Edit:
Finally managed to get Crossover, couldn't install Office 2007. Managed to install Office 2000 which is alright but would rather just use Office 2004 for mac or Office 2007 in parallels.
Platonist
macrumors member
I have been working toward a 'Word Free' environment for a while now. I am currently in a writing intensive PhD program and thus rely heavily on my Mac and its word processor. I have had great success with Mellel. I have to write in both in English and Attic Greek, and Mellel handles everything wonderfully. I haven't run into any compatibility problems yet -- it reads and writes .doc files pretty well in my experience. They have a trial version available at their site. I would encourage anyone wanting a robust word processor that is relatively bloat free to give Mellel a try.
Platonist
Platonist
idea_hamster
macrumors 65816
I too have had a great experience with Mellel. Responsive, small, inexpensive.
In addition to allowing you to mix left-to-right text with right-to-left text better than any other (not a common criterion), Mellel has the outstanding ability to maintain multiple streams of footnotes and endnotes.
For example, you can have your bibliographical references as numbered endnotes and your illuminating comments as lettered or symboled footnotes, all running concurrently through your document. I do not know of any other word processor that can do this.
If you've ever included an extended quotation with its own footnotes and wanted to add a distinct note of your own, you'll recognize the power of this option.
My book is listed here. 🙂
In addition to allowing you to mix left-to-right text with right-to-left text better than any other (not a common criterion), Mellel has the outstanding ability to maintain multiple streams of footnotes and endnotes.
For example, you can have your bibliographical references as numbered endnotes and your illuminating comments as lettered or symboled footnotes, all running concurrently through your document. I do not know of any other word processor that can do this.
If you've ever included an extended quotation with its own footnotes and wanted to add a distinct note of your own, you'll recognize the power of this option.
My book is listed here. 🙂
Mellel
Another happy user of Mellel. I have been msWord free for over two years thanks to Mellel. Mellel + Bookends = a happy scientist (me).
http://www.mellel.com/
http://www.sonnysoftware.com/
Another happy user of Mellel. I have been msWord free for over two years thanks to Mellel. Mellel + Bookends = a happy scientist (me).
http://www.mellel.com/
http://www.sonnysoftware.com/
Trust me, I haven't used MS Office for a while. I only use NeoOffice (well, Pages and Keynote, too, and TextEdit for quick drafts). However, NeoOffice is free, VERY usable as of recently. Also, the "changes" between NeoOffice and MS Office are usually negligible, if there are any at all.
Before spending any money, try NeoOffice. It isn't perfect, of course, but it probably is the best word processor deal for the Mac right now. And if it doesn't suit you, get iWork or MS Office 2008 when they come out.
And here's a negative vote for AbiWord. I used to love it when I had a Windows computer, but the text on the Mac version has artifacts and messes up. Maybe someday....
Before spending any money, try NeoOffice. It isn't perfect, of course, but it probably is the best word processor deal for the Mac right now. And if it doesn't suit you, get iWork or MS Office 2008 when they come out.
And here's a negative vote for AbiWord. I used to love it when I had a Windows computer, but the text on the Mac version has artifacts and messes up. Maybe someday....
Why hasn't anyone recommended AppleWorks already? 🙂
iWork is great, but you can run into a lot of issues if you open a Keynote presentation in PowerPoint. But, if you don't do that a lot, then iWork is a good choice.
iWork is great, but you can run into a lot of issues if you open a Keynote presentation in PowerPoint. But, if you don't do that a lot, then iWork is a good choice.