I am going to purchase the next Intel iBook (MacBook) when released which will hopefully be soon! I am going to college in September and wonder whether I should purchase either iWork or Microsoft Office 2004? I am aware that Office 2004 is not Universal and that iWork is but will it better for compatibility reasons to purchase Office 2004? My thanks in advance.
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iWork or Microsoft Office 2004?
- Thread starter Ollie89
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It's been noted that Office even when not Universal still runs great, no noticeable slow downs.
I'd get Office.
I'd get Office.
It really depends on your major, and your college. Most students will probably have MS office, so for doing collaborative work, this might be your best option. You can save iWork files in MS office format, but it's better if everyone has the same software. At this point, it's still probably better just to use MS office. Plus, with Office, you get Excel, for which there's still no comparable Apple software.
You'll get lots of opinions, but a new Mac should come with preview versions of both, so you should take advantage of that and make up your own mind.
Also, research the board for previous threads on this subject. It comes up about once a month.
Also, research the board for previous threads on this subject. It comes up about once a month.
Sorry is I have posted an already discussed topic
. If my new Mac comes with a preview of each I will see which one I prefer and choose accordingly. It seems like Office 2004 is the way to go. Is it also worth getting iWorks if it is better than Office 2004? Sorry again for posting a already discussed topic.
. If my new Mac comes with a preview of each I will see which one I prefer and choose accordingly. It seems like Office 2004 is the way to go. Is it also worth getting iWorks if it is better than Office 2004? Sorry again for posting a already discussed topic.iWork does NOT come with a spreadsheet program comparable to Excel. As a word processor, Word is more functional than Pages (although Pages does page layouts for things like newsletters a lot better). Keynote is much much better than PowerPoint (animations, themes, overall "slick" look - the things you want for presentations).
Ollie89 said:Sorry is I have posted an already discussed topic
If you will need to email documents, etc.. I'd reccomend Office... but I dont need to do that stuff and am a high school student and I LOVE Pages in iwork '06.
iWork is my favorite program ever! I use it for everything. Affordable, easy, simple.
You can collaborate in iWork '06, but I've never tried it with Office.
You can collaborate in iWork '06, but I've never tried it with Office.
Thanks for all of your comments and I starting to think I may get both and use iWork for more general use and Word when needed. Is there a news on an update to Office as the MacBook does not seem to be arriving this week (no news on an event) as it would be better to wait and get the Intel version. Many thanks everyone.
lilstewart92 said:
The bigger arogument against office 2004 is that office 2007 is right around the corner (of course, that could mean 2009, given MS's current timelines). I forget how generous their upgrade programs are. probably not very.
Matt Phoenix said:
I'd second that. Use iWork when you're turning in assignments and neooffice or openoffice if you need the compatibility.
However, you should wait till you find if your school has a license agreement with Microsoft. You may be able to purchase office for MUCH cheaper than the general student/teacher version.
discoforce said:
Neither NeoOffice or OpenOffice are any more compatible with MS Word than Pages.
Speaking as a college professor, you ought to buy Office. If you will be writing academic papers, you will get more done with the advanced features of Office. I couldn't have written my dissertation without it, and my dissertation was just prose (no equations or anything like that).
Office 2004 really is a first class piece of software. I have never had any trouble with it (or the three previous versions). I dislike a lot about Microsoft, but as a Mac developer they do pretty good work. I have owned the last three versions of Office and I have been more than pleased with all of them.
If you are going to be giving presentations, then Keynote is clearly superior to Powerpoint. It's pathetically easy to get really great results in Keynote, whereas with Powerpoint, you really need to work at it. If you like Jobs' Macworld presentations, then Keynote will let you do exactly the same thing with minimal effort.
So if you are going to do presentations, then it would be worth buying iWork as a supplement to Office. You will get sizeable discounts on both as you are a student.
Office 2004 really is a first class piece of software. I have never had any trouble with it (or the three previous versions). I dislike a lot about Microsoft, but as a Mac developer they do pretty good work. I have owned the last three versions of Office and I have been more than pleased with all of them.
If you are going to be giving presentations, then Keynote is clearly superior to Powerpoint. It's pathetically easy to get really great results in Keynote, whereas with Powerpoint, you really need to work at it. If you like Jobs' Macworld presentations, then Keynote will let you do exactly the same thing with minimal effort.
So if you are going to do presentations, then it would be worth buying iWork as a supplement to Office. You will get sizeable discounts on both as you are a student.
I swear by iWork. Im actually an Office fan but I have *never* used it since getting iWork. Spreadsheets are not needed on my course, just need a decent mail client, word processor, presentation software etc. And the combination of iWork + Apple Mail, Address Book and iCal has kept me on top of my work. They all are interoperable too.
If you ever need to do charts and graphs, Pages (iWork '06) can handle formulas. That might be something to keep in mind.
I think you need to remember you will be a College student. Most of your classmates will be PC users, and for compatibility issues, Office is necesary. And like everyone said, a lot of times you can get it for pretty cheap for your college. iwork is good, but you don't want to have problems sharing and collaborating with your classmates.