iWork vs. Office

[iAFC]

Hello folks,

Which one is better to use? Are Keynote 2 presentations compatible with my school PC's equipped with PowerPoint 2000? What's better in iWork than in Office? (I already know Keynote 2 has better effects).

Thank you!

 

[wako]

For me personally I went with Office because I already knew how to use the software effectively when doing work. If you know how to use Office, then by all means get office. There is no need to learn how to use a new software when you already know how to use another IMO.

If you never used either of them I say flip a coin

 

[OnceUGoMac]

I wouldn't even bother with iWork. Office is much more thorough of a suite.

 

[FFTT]

Ms Office for Mac is great, but I can totally live without
Entourage.

The primary benefit to having iWork is Keynote.

If you are used to MS Project or Access, then take a look at FileMaker Pro 8.

 

[ddrueckhammer]

I would wait until MacWorld to find out what new features iWork '06 offers. If past developments are any precedent, I would expect Keynote to reach parity or surpass Powerpoint for presentation software, Pages will still be sub-par to Word in its capabilities but will be usable and even preferable for some applications. If there is a new spreadsheet application added as many have predicted, then I would expect it to be rudimentary in this installment and not become full featured until ver 3-5. As stated earlier by FFTT, Filemaker Pro 8 is a great full featured database application and should be a good solution if you need its capabilities. Finally, Mail is very elegant in its design and I'm still not sure why some use Entourage other than being used to it. If you find it too basic you can right or control click on its toolbar, go to "customize toolbar" and add more icons to it. This works in Finder and Safari as well.

 

[neocell]

Hello folks,

Which one is better to use? Are Keynote 2 presentations compatible with my school PC's equipped with PowerPoint 2000? What's better in iWork than in Office? (I already know Keynote 2 has better effects).

Thank you!

Yes Keynote 2 presentations are compatible as you can export them to a .ppt file (Pages files can also be export as .doc). I prefer keynote 2 to powerpoint. I switch back and forth between word and pages, depending on what I want to do, but if I had to choose one, I'd reluctantly choose word. Plus with office you get excel, which I use a lot, so I'd go with office, but it all depends on what you want. I'm very happy that I have both

iWork = Pages & Keynote 2
Office = Word + Powerpoint + Excel + Entourage + pain in the ass

 

[IJ Reilly]

Ah, here we go again.

Personally, I wouldn't come any closer to Office than I had to, and I use iWork (Keynote and Pages) every day. Keynote already blows away PowerPoint and Pages is an entirely useable word processor as it stands today. It's got a number of very nice features, and a few peculiarities that need to be worked out, which I suspect will happen in v2.

But you don't need to believe what anybody tells you, especially about iWork, because you can try the free demo and find out for yourself.

 

[Veritas&Equitas]

I've used both. Personally, I think that Office blows iWorks out of the water no question (the only place iWorks stands a chance is Keynote, but that's only one part of the whole suite) Even some of the most rabid Apple fans I've talked to frown upon iWorks. As a whole suite, Office is much better. My $.02

 

[MRU]

Depends how much money you want to spend. iWork is far far cheaper and yes it shows, but you pays your money and takes your choice.

Keynote is a good app, Pages is ok, but not a match for word.

If your getting a student discount, may as well go for Office.

 

[kiwi-in-uk]

Horses for courses.

In my opinion ...

Keynote is better for presentations on a screen, incorporating photos & videos, and for flexibility of templates; Powerpoint is better for paper based presentations and diagrams.

Word is ultimately more flexible than Pages, but Pages is much much easier to use.

Pages and Keynote are better integrated than Word and Powerpoint.

I, too, am looking forward to a spreadsheet and improvement of all the iWork programs.

 

[ejb190]

Interesting debate. Let break it down...

-Word vs. Pages
-Excel vs. Numbers (rumored)
-Powerpoint vs. Keynote 2
-Entourage (Outlook) vs. Mail
-Access vs. nothing (FileMaker Pro)
-Publisher vs. Word for Mac or Pages

I use Ppt a lot, but Keynote is my secret weapon when I want to blow the doors off the place (and don't want to share with others...). My Powerbook is my home system and I had a PC at work. Most of the time the compatability issues just aren't worth messing with. Even within Ppt, when bouncing between Mac and PC, the formattiing would need adjusting, which was just annoying, espically when I took the time to get it right before I switched systems. And the little transfering between Keynote and Ppt I have done has been a total pain in the... But I am still using Keynote 1.1.

 

[rjphoto]

And the little transfering between Keynote and Ppt I have done has been a total pain in the... But I am still using Keynote 1.1.

That was my question. I haven't used ver.2 yet. Transferring from PPT to Keynote in Ver. 1 was a pain. The text would come over but if there were several bullet points you would end up adjusting the text box and font size to make everything fit. I hope that has been fixed. (Anyone know for sure?)

As for the tricks that Keynote can do, they are awsome. I set up for a presentation and the speaker comes in with a 12"PB. He was a Flight Surgeon in the military and currently is an Emergency Room doctor. His presentation in Keynote knock my socks off.

After it was over one of the know-it-all Windows users ask how he did all of those cool transitions? He'd didn't know PowerPoint could do that. (He couldn't see the PB on the podium.) The speaker looks at me (we had talked before hand and he knew I was a Mac guy, too) and back at the other doc and says, "It's a Mac thing." and left it at that...

 

[IJ Reilly]

Like any other software purchase, what you buy should depend entirely on what you need. If you need a spreadsheet, at this point Office is really your only choice (though this is expected to change). If you need an easy-to-use word processor with modest page layout capabilities, Pages is the clear choice. If you want a word processor that includes every feature known to man plus a few that aren't, buy Office. As for presentations, I've yet to hear anyone tout PowerPoint as the winner in a shoot-out over Keynote. I just know what my audiences tell me about Keynote -- which is "oooh-ahhh." Literally.

 

[rjphoto]

Like any other software purchase, what you buy should depend entirely on what you need. If you need a spreadsheet, at this point Office is really your only choice (though this is expected to change). If you need an easy-to-use word processor with modest page layout capabilities, Pages is the clear choice. If you want a word processor that includes every feature known to man plus a few that aren't, buy Office. As for presentations, I've yet to hear anyone tout PowerPoint as the winner in a shoot-out over Keynote. I just know what my audiences tell me about Keynote -- which is "oooh-ahhh." Literally.

Agreed.

Back to the OP's question, can he jump back to PPT2000 with out any problems?

 

[IJ Reilly]

That was my question. I haven't used ver.2 yet. Transferring from PPT to Keynote in Ver. 1 was a pain. The text would come over but if there were several bullet points you would end up adjusting the text box and font size to make everything fit. I hope that has been fixed. (Anyone know for sure?)

As for the tricks that Keynote can do, they are awsome. I set up for a presentation and the speaker comes in with a 12"PB. He was a Flight Surgeon in the military and currently is an Emergency Room doctor. His presentation in Keynote knock my socks off.

After it was over one of the know-it-all Windows users ask how he did all of those cool transitions? He'd didn't know PowerPoint could do that. (He couldn't see the PB on the podium.) The speaker looks at me (we had talked before hand and he knew I was a Mac guy, too) and back at the other doc and says, "It's a Mac thing." and left it at that...

Right-o. But it isn't just the transitions that make Keynote a winner (I tend to keep fancy transitions to a minimum). The secret weapon is Quartz (for anti-aliasing, fonts, shadows, etc). This looks so much better on the screen than PowerPoint, that somebody in your audience is almost bound to mention it.

 

[FFTT]

OSX comes with free demos of MS Office and iWork, so you'll be able to
see for yourself.
You also have Omnigraffle and Text Edit free with OSX.

Most of the AppleStores give free classes covering any Apple application.

It would serve you well to attend the Keynote class.

Usually each store has a class schedule on their web site.

I have the old MS Office X Pro version on my G3 and the Office 2004 education version on my G5 and can't justify needing more than the education version.

File Maker Pro 8 is still definitely worth a look.

Another good project management suite is Merlin

You can try the free demo and see what you think.
http://www.projectwizards.net/merlin