Apple's productivity suite for the Mac, iWork '08 includes three applications: Pages '08, Numbers '08, and Keynote '08
Powerful word processing and page layout with 140 Apple-designed templates with Pages
Effortlessly create stunning presentations, complete with Apple-designed themes, cinema-quality animations, and voiceover narration with Keynote
Create compelling spreadsheets for everything from family budgets and event planning to invoices and complex financial reports with Numbers
Import and export compatibility with Microsoft Office
Rating: - Never looking back
I finally made the switch to Apple, and I'm never going back to a PC again. I also refuse, if I can help it, to use any microsoft products. After the debacle that was Vista, I'm boycotting everything that they produce.
After being deserted with a $1300 paper weight by Dell, I'm so very happy that I now have a Mac with some amazing Apple software to work with.
I love using iWork! It is extremely intuitive and comfortable. When I have to use Office for school I find it to be clunky and annoying when compared to the ease of use that the Apple programs provide.
So far I've produced a ton of documents in Pages, am working on a Keynote presentation (just can't drag and drop, need to have pics on the hard drive and use insert to have them transfer to Powerpoint for school), and have explored Numbers for a bit. Everything looks great and simply... works! So much better than my waste of cash laptop that would crash with each and every application that I would try and run.
I am, however, thankful. If it wasn't for the useless products currently being produced by the PC world I never would have switched!
Rating: - Buyer beware
I can't speak about the other programs, but "Pages" is a joke. It is a program for amateurs, not professionals. One example of its shortcomings is the following: if you want to cut or copy a body of text, and you have your heart set on the pasted text having the same font /font size / style, you have to pull down a special command called "Paste and match style." This is comical. Why didn't they make the cutting and pasting work properly in the first place? That's like saying "Here is your new dishwasher. It cleans beautifully, But if you want to turn it on, you'll have to push a special button in the back."
Not to mention that if there is an underlined word in the text you cut or copied, the underlining won't come out in the pasted text.
Apple has put professional writers in a bind. The Imac will not support Appleworks, "Pages" is a joke, Microsoft Word is clunky and costs money. I may have to send my Imac back to Amazon, on the grounds that "product does not meet my expectations."
Let the buyer beware.
Rating: - A Solid Office Suite
This would be a great choice for people looking for a low-priced office suite. I have to say that this one is better than Office. Pages is the equivalent of Word and Publisher. Keynote is the equivalent of PowerPoint and Numbers is the equivalent of Excel. Looking at it, the price is cheaper and has more than Office, although Office has Entourage, OS X has Mail already. Keynote is much better than PowerPoint and Pages is getting closer to beating Word. I haven't used Numbers, so I don't know much about it. I would recommend this product to anyone.
Rating: - iWork is Awesome
I used the 30day trial that came with my new Mac and loved it. Pages made it really easy to update and change the layout of my resume. I did not get frustrated like I usually do with Word. I also found a professional invoice template that I used for some contract work I did. It was great and did not take much time.
My first keynote presentation was a great experience. I was able to layout the graphics and text just like I wanted. Building animations was really simple and the whole thing looked very professional.
The defaults for all of iWork apps just looks so good, you often don't have to change much. If you want to customize, that is easy also.
So far I have not had much trouble working with Office docs. The the great user experience of iWork offsets the minor conversion issues.
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