iWORK '09 or Office 2011 for MAC???

Alright guys... so I've decided to make the 'ultimate upgrade' ! I am going to start work on my Phd next february, and decided to get myself a new and more portable notebook ( my old xps 1647 is not exactly portable). I've settled on the mbp 13" core i5 model. It will be primarily used for academic purposes, and other stuff people usually do in grad school like movies, music, browsing, occasional WOW etc. With that as the background, here's what I'm hung up on:

Do I get the Microsoft Office 2011 for mac or the iWORK 09? I know this has been discussed a lot of times , but most of the threads I looked at were not being specific at all, with random people swearing by one suite or the other. I will be primarily using word/pages and ppt/keynote. Now Keynote seems like the clear winner, and I will probably get it from the MAS... but what about the Pages vs Word debate? Is Pages capable enough to handle diagrams, graphs and such stuff? Also a lot of people seem to be wary of Pages' ability to save documents in the word format, and its compatibility with Office.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks people...


p.s.- Any word on iWORK '11/'12, or any subsequent updates of iWORK? Apple seems to have forgotten they have iWORK at all!!

 

The route I recommend is buying Office 2011 and then buying Keynote separately from the Mac App Store. I feel that Keynote is above and beyond what PowerPoint can do. It has a higher learning curve but, once you get the hang of things, it offers a lot more. It also helps when using Keynote to deliver presentations in class simply because most people will stick to PowerPoint meaning that there will be some presentations that use the same template (i.e. look the same). Using something different will make your presentation stick out.

I feel that Office 2011 is better when it comes to Excel and Word. I don't think there is really anything in Word that I use which also isn't found in Pages but Word has that "universal" compatibility. It can work with old Word documents and new ones. It can save in the old file format or the new one. I have experienced issues when opening both old and new Word documents in Pages. I have also come across formatting issues when opening Word documents saved by Pages in Office 2007/2010.

So that is why I recommend going with Office 2011 for those two aspects and then just paying $20 to download Keynote for presentations (or get it from wherever). Lastly, at least with Office 2011, you will be able to open PowerPoint presentation files without formatting issues. Both Pages and Keynote are fine programs (I hate Numbers) but Office is still the de-facto standard when it comes to office productivity programs and, until something changes, you will pretty much need Office if you want to get through a degree program.

Lucky for me, my University sells Office 2010 for $10, Office 2011 for $5, and iWork '09 for $10 so I was able to get all three for a ridiculously low price.

 

Pages is really good in terms of crafting a good looking document. The problem is that it has low compatibility with word documents, just like everything except Microsoft Word.

If you don't need to collaborate on your written work, you can use pages and export your documents as PDFs for submission. Maintain the pages native format version for yourself.

Keynote is awesome.

If you have trouble reading incoming word documents with pages, try google docs (just to convert word documents to a readable format online, or to download as a converted PDF)

Numbers isn't really worth anything, but you don't need to buy it.

 

Right! I had a somewhat similar plan. Keynote is obviously superior, and feels like something Steve would have designed and used. I was afraid, however, that it would come down to MS Office for the document stuff. Office seems like one thing Microsoft has got right over the years. I knew I would be able to save in .doc from Pages, but the real bottleneck was whether the formatting will get screwed when the document is opened and viewed in Word, which now I'm sure it will. I am a generative linguistics person, and my theses will have a lot of tree-diagrams and IPA symbols, and I don't want them to get screwed. Pdf is not a very viable option either, incase the prof wants to make some changes. I guess for now, I'm stuck with MS . I hope Apple gets iWORK sorted out soon. My University sells MS 2011: MAC, professional edition for 50 bucks, which while obviously more than price you mentioned, is still a hell lot cheaper than the retail price for the professional edition. We get iWORK '09 for $10 though... the entire suite. But it doesn't seem like a very ideal choice right now...

 

I love the pages layout too! Apple obviously gets aesthetics right. Problem is, I might have to collaborate with a prof or two, since my supervisors might want to make some changes, and that won't be possible in pdf format. I don't want them to open my document and find all my diagrams and IPA symbols messed up. I would have really liked to go all-Apple with the mbp 13, but it seems like I'll need MS anyway... for now at least

 

You can save yoir pages doc for windows format.. ive never had a problem.

 

I know! But I'm worried about my diagrams and IPA transcriptions getting messed up when the thing is opened and viewed in Word. Like I said, I would love nothing more than to go all-Apple, but it doesn't seem like a very viable option as of now. Also I'm not sure Pages allows you to save in .docx?

 

Well, given that your university sells both copies for still relatively low prices, you should just pick up both and then choose which programs you want from each package. Your MBP is going to have more than enough hard drive space to completely install everything. My 120GB SSD even has more than enough space to handle a full installation of both iWork '09 and Office 2011. Go with Word and Excel for better document compatibility and a much better spreadsheet program and then use Keynote for presentations. A $10 increase in price really isn't all that bad just to throw in iWork '09, that is still 50% less than what you would spend on Keynote alone in the Mac App Store.

I have come across too many formatting issues when it comes to opening and saving Word documents in Pages. Sometimes an extra blank line is inserted in the title page of a document and that can screw everything up, not all of the figures translate well when they are made in Pages and saved to an MS Word document, I have had references inserted with Endnote (which is installed on my Mac, Windows virtual machine, and Windows desktop at work) either disappear or lose their linking abilities, and I can keep going on. I haven't really experienced any problems with basic document formatting/compatibility but things change once documents become more complex. The track changes feature (which many professors like using) in Word has never worked for me in Pages either.

Your university sells both for such a low price so you should just pick up both. There is nothing wrong with not using all Apple programs on a Mac. For example, I use XLD to rip all of my audio CDs and I wouldn't be caught dead using iTunes to do this. I also mainly use VLC for video playback on my Mac as it runs a lot smoother than QuickTime X, many people use either FireFox or Chrome as their internet browser over Safari, and I even have a Windows virtual machine installed so I can run MATLAB (the xlsread and xlswrite commands only work in Windows). The main issue starts whenever you install Windows through bootcamp and use that as the primary OS. However, there is no shame in buying Microsoft Office for Mac and neglecting to use iWork '09. In fact, I wouldn't use iWork if it wasn't for Keynote since I use Word 2011 and Numbers really is a bad spreadsheet program when compared to Excel.

 

Yeah, I would still pick up iwork for $10. Keynote literally makes better powerpoint presentations than powerpoint, in any format: powerpoint or otherwise. That will also give you the freedom to experiment with pages, but you'll still need office for word. No harm having both.

 

I would get both suites. I use both suites. Each of them has a purpose. I use Pages exclusively for when I need to design and create brochures, flyers and professional-looking documents for our office, Word just doesn't come close whether or not it's the Mac version or the Windows one. IMO Pages also has better word processing tools. As others have mentioned Keynote is king when it comes to presentations so I don't even have PPT installed on my Mac.

At times our office has to swap Word docs that require editing updates from each person so in this case we have to use Word. Also the problem in the corporate world is they tend to still use older versions of Office so formatting can get a little funky in a mixed computing environment so Office 2011 for Mac and 2010 for Windows can have formatting issues with older versions of Office.
In the OP's case he may need "more guaranteed" compatibility and might need something that would offer him a powerful tools for page layouts that can be easily converted to PDF so it might best suit him to have both suites.

 

Those are the exact problems, or rather risks, that I would prefer to avoid when it comes to formatting! I guess, I'll take your advice and just pick up both suites. I mean, downloading only Keynote doesn't make sense given that from MAS it'll cost me twice the price of the entire iWORK '09 from the uni bookshop! And I'm pretty sure you can't just buy or download only WORD ! So I guess, I'll just shell out ten extra bucks and pick up both.

Thanks for all the input, guys! Much appreciated.

p.s.- Any idea when to expect the updates to iWORK '09 (?) or iWORK '11/'12, or whatever it is Cook & Co. are calling it... or perhaps this cloud based updates to the current edition people seem to be anticipating?

 

On that road! Thanks guys!

Also, any idea regarding any updates to the iWORK '09??? iWORK '11/'12... or whatever it could be called?? May be Tim Cook has forgotten Apple even has a productivity suite !

 

Nope. Apple hasn't told the public anything regarding an updated version of iWork. However, if their current trend continues, it will likely be a separate Mac App Store release only. In other words, I doubt Apple is going to release a new package but rather updated version of Pages, Numbers, and Keynote as separate $20 downloads in the Mac App Store. That is what they did with iWork '09 (I can't even find it at the Apple Store near me), Lion was a Mac App Store release (though you can spend twice as much and get it on a USB thumb drive), Final Cut Pro was through the Mac App Store, and it appears that they are focusing more on online delivery of their software instead of via physical copies.

So that is about it. Even then the above is just my conjecture as Apple normally doesn't let any information out on their new products until they are either actually released or Apple holds a special keynote. So your guess is as good as anyone's when it comes to the next version of iWork.

 

Right! Was expecting to hear something like that. Lion isn't available on physical media, except the exorbitantly over-priced USB drive pieces, anywhere. Looks like Cook & C0. have made up their mind that the physical media has to die. And if there's one company that can decide so and have their way, it's Apple. I suppose it's only a matter of time before they phase out the optical drive itself from the mbp line-up too!

 

I have to go with HLDAN's recommendation to get both. It really is an excellent idea albeit an expensive one.

But if you have to choose one over the other, then get Word. It's the most widely used wordprocessing software out there. Or I should say its proprietary format is. And it's true that there can be some incompatibilities with older versions, but Microsoft invariably has a tool to address that. Meaning, while the newest version of Word can read and write older formats, the older formats can't read the newer without conversion to the older first. That is to say, if you saved your document in the newer version. However, as was said, there are converters out there that those with the older versions can use.

Best wishes in your choice.

 

I would get Word 2011. With engineering documents there are a lot of tables, formulas etc, which look wrong if not opened in Microsoft Word. If you have the money, both is obviously the best of both worlds.

 

Seems like MS Office 2011 is the primary suite that has to be invested into. I guess I'll just cut short a few drinks and get the iWORK too But I'm thinking I'll wait for some time and see if Apple releases any updates, app store based or otherwise, for the suite.

 

Given that it will set you back by $10, I don't see any reason to hold out on buying iWork '09 now especially when there is no indication that Apple is or isn't going to come out with an updated version. Apple used to have a "trend" of releasing a new version of iWork about once every 2 years but 2011 is coming to a close without anything (unless you count iWork for iOS). Even if iWork gets updated next year, your $10 would be well spent (and an updated version could actually be worse than the older software much like Final Cut Pro X was a downgrade in many ways). That is the cost of a meal at Wendy's, a single album (if you're lucky), a couple of trips to the vending machine, or two beers from a restaurant. It won't be a completely lifestyle change for you to just pick up iWork 09 along with Office 2011.

 

Hit the nail right on the head! Will pick it up afterall... And I'm not teally much for beer. Rum for me

 

In my opinion
Keynote > PowerPoint
Pages > Word
Excel > Numbers

Pick up the office 2011 Student Edition for $80. You can buy Keynote/Pages via the app store.

 

Keynote > Powerpoint .... No arguments there

Pages> Word ... Debatable. There are issues with Pages when you're working with complex documents, especially footnotes and counter-referencing. Also Pages sometimes screw up your formatting when the docs are opened and viewed in word. Lets face it, MS is still the paradigm in productivity suites.

Excel > Numbers ... Again, no arguments.

 

It's not necessarily a bad thing especially since Word 2011 has come a long way and I actually like using it more than Word 2010 on Windows. Microsoft is even supposed to come out with Office 2012 next year for Mac supporting the new features in Lion. Not the quickest Lion compatibility update but it shows that they are somewhat trying whereas before, I always felt that Office for Mac was merely a bad port.

 

True. I've heard similar reports about MS Office 2011 from others as well. I'm hoping that 2012 comes out by early March 2012! That way I can pick that one up, instead of 2011 . It seems like MS is more interested in providing productivity suites to MAC users than Apple itself... at least for the time being. But then, knowing Apple, they might just have something great up their sleeves, as well. For example, all these whispers about 2012 MBP line-up receiving an entire design make-over! I keep wondering what exactly they are going to change, apart from the obvious ivy bridge processors... I'll have to buy in early March. Which is kind of sad, since Apple will probably bring out the new range in April . Guess there's no use wondering when Apple will drop another bomb....

 

Those issues don't make Pages lesser than Word in terms of quality, power and features. You can say the same about Word's formatting not blending well with Pages. In this case it goes both ways. Had Pages been the de-facto standard then people would say that Word is lesser than Pages because it has problems with compatibility with Pages.

 

True! But unfortunately, Pages is not the de-facto standard, is it? I don't mean to vilify iWork in anyway, in fact I would have loved to go all Apple, as I previously mentioned. But most people in the University will still be on Word, and the directionality of the problem of compatibility does not solve the problem, does it? Unless, of course, I was to spend a year or two first trying to convince the rest of the University to switch to Pages.

 

You forgot one:

Mail.app > Crazy Bob's Hello World program that sort of handles POP3 > Outlook for Mac

 

It really doesn't go both ways. People who interact with documents in universities have to expect to at least receive Word formatted documents. What could of been doesn't have any bearing on what is.

 

Right. The onus is on Apple to make their product comply with what is considered the market standard. Just as Word's ability to save in PDF format has to comply with Adobe's PDF standard.

I think HDlan's simple point is you can't judge the quality of Pages based on its word compatibility alone. There are some aspects of Pages that are better than Word as there are aspects of Word that are better than Pages.

Using the right tool for the job is what's important. In the OP's case, Word is the right tool while Pages is not... exactly.

 

Couldn't have put it better, myself. Pages is a great program, but in the end it all comes down to the requirements of your trade.

 

don't count numbers out, its fantastic and i was able to learn spread sheets with in an hour. I LOVE it. you can get iWork's 08 on ebay for $20.00 and office for $80-90

 

But what sense does it make spending $20.00 for an outdated edition of iWORK, namely '08, when even the latest available, iWORK '09, is about to step into its third year since its last upgrade? Even the iWORK '09 has compatibility issues, among others...

 

very true..