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: - Not too expensive but enough functionality for most.
Some users might need the additional stuff that comes with Office, but the price tag is ludicrous for ordinary users who just need basic, functional software. For most people, myself included, all of the extra features included with Office are just bloat which never sees any use at all. iWork is a nice, simple productivity pack that provides a happy medium between basic built-ins and high-end packages like Office. It does everything it needs to without a price tag that makes you cringe. Great for home or student use.
Rating: - iWork Lite: Not What I Expected
If Apple took its cues from Microsoft, we wouldn't have merely one version of iWork. iWork 2008, in Microsoft parlance, could more aptly be described as "iWork Lite". Alternately, this version might best be billed as iWork Home. What about iWork Office and iWork School? Or iWork Superior to include all of the above? Don't count on it, at least not from iWork '08.
If the other reviews on Amazon and Apple are any indication, the only application in this trio that truly rises to the Microsoft Office challenge is Keynote. My beef with this suite pertains to my primary reason for purchasing iWork: word processing. Microsoft Office 2008 amounted to a series of alarming 1-star reviews at the time I purchased iWork 2008, and aside from that is enormously overpriced. More importantly, however, I wanted to reward any developer who dares compete with the Goliath that is MS Office by casting a vote with my pocketbook in favor of their product. Apple, after all, has been updating iWork long enough to give it time to mature. Or so I thought.
While I appreciate the beautiful templates and intuitive interface that iWork offers, what remains when all the pretties are stripped away? iWork Lite: The version you weren't bargaining on but should have expected for a mere $79.99 (MSRP).
My hope was that Pages would reference Webster's New World Dictionary, which is regarded as a superior reference in hard copy form for capitalization and proper hyphenation. While Pages approaches this level of accuracy, it doesn't quite make the grade. This calls into question its usefulness for English majors, journalists and writers of all stripes. Worse, Pages proofreader is a poor substitute for MS Word's grammar checker. As a result, Pages is also a questionable choice for teachers, students and professionals.
Other purported iWork limitations include:
* Few keyboard shortcuts (native Mac users once prided themselves on the ease with which they could zip through tasks with minimal mouse clicks);
* Cannot change the "save as" to default to an export file type;
* No auto-save/recovery;
* No auto-correct;
* Pages lacks an outline function;
* Weak on functionality: Does not support right-to-left language types. Cross references and the automatic numbering of legends, equations, references are missing. Limitations using the chart editor. "Start count at" and indentation level controls frustrate some users. No HTML import/export;
* iWork Server/Client works on an intranet using Rendezvous, but does not support Internet networking;
* Pages supports only basic citation and footnoting. Cannot use footnotes and endnotes simultaneously. Can accept Grapher/LaTeXiT services but does not support bibliographies (fails to interface with EndNote, for example);
* Opens Appleworks files only via the "import" command;
* Cannot add images -- such as company logo -- to Pages headers or footers;
* Numbers will not satisfy technical users, nor those who wish to include some of the following in a Keynote presentation: It does not support pivot tables. Cannot plot a graph with two y-axes. Will not graph error bars. Does not support Visual Basic macros. Cannot perform trendline analysis or basic statistics (t-test). Does not permit users to freeze/unfreeze panes;
* Apple reports: "Your ability to open a large Numbers file or import a large Microsoft Excel file into Numbers '08 may be constrained by the amount of memory installed on your computer. This constraint adjusts with the addition and removal of memory from the computer."
* Users porting complex Excel documents to Numbers report the need to perform numerous corrections;
* Does not include a database application. Lacks SQL database integration, among others;
* Does not support envelope printing within Pages (envelope printing is left up to Mac Address Book);
* Does not support mail merge (except from Mac Address Book);
* Cannot email a page from within an iWorks application;
* Does not include a standalone email application (relies instead on the integrated email application in OS X);
* Apparently, native iWork files are actually packages, which many web-based email servers do not support. To overcome this limitation, iWork files must be exported and/or saved and subsequently attached to outgoing web-based email messages as archives (zipped files);
*iWorks users who are borderline on system compatibility or whose machines place them at the lower end of iWork's system requirements may encounter sluggish performance (I encountered a number of pauses during which the rainbow colored beach ball appeared while working in Pages).
Do I recommend iWork? That depends on who, what, where and why you wish to use it. From my vantage point, iWork is not a Microsoft Office competitor but an entry-level trio of applications that are big on potential but small on delivery. Nevertheless, there are some users -- primarily those who require strong visuals and a template-based approach to productivity -- who may benefit from iWork 2008.
Rating: - iWork
The new iWork program is a great software package that is extremely easy to use. iWorks has three applications (Pages '08; Keynote '08; & Numbers '08) with common operating features. The iWork program allows me to quickly create everything from a news letter to business documents.
I previously used MS Works and MS Office on my old PC and was proficient with their uses. After two week's use of iWork, I am creating better quality documents in less time. I see the potential through the use of iWork for me to becoming a creative pro.
This is an excellent product that will not disappoint. I am a very satisfied user and highly recommend this software suite of programs.
Rating: - Good Apple program for the average person
I bought my macbook for grad school and wanted to get as far away from Microsoft as possible, so It made most sense to buy Iwork 08 pre-installed. After one semester of use, as well as using the page layout portion of Pages, I am extremely happy with my decision. While word has more features, most of which I never used, Pages has the features and tools I need. Where Pages fall short is in its editing tools. Pages lacks a good spell and grammar check. Which could be a good thing because I often rely too much on a spell checker and do not manually check my writing myself. The page layout part of Pages is amazing for its price. While it's not InDesign, for a1/5th the price, its good. From what I've read, many reviewers are annoyed with the import function. Personally I do not find importing to be annoying or burdensome. To import to word or powerpoint, it takes two seconds.
I have not worked with numbers, and have limited experience with keynote. But from what I've tried and messed around with in Keynote, I can tell it is a great program.
So, overall this office suite is worth the low price and I do not miss Microsoft Office.
![Apple iWork '08 [OLD VERSION]](http://g-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/software/new-item-1.gif)
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