what program to replace powerpoint:mac + iwork 2008

1) All of a sudden I can't view anything on powerpoint anymore. As soon as I open a .pps file, it shows the 1st slide, sometimes the 2nd one, and then it gets stuck, and the only way to exit is to force quit the application. Now my question is, why do you think it's doing this, and what other programs are out there for mac than can read a .pps file?

2) As a result of the problem in #1, i'm thinking of switching to iwork 2008, but I need to know how it compares to microsoft office. I don't use office that extensively. Excel for basic data management and statistical analysis and calculations, powerpoint for my presentations and to open all the junk mail my friends sends me everyday!, and MOST IMPORTANT of all, word to write my thesis. So my emphasis is on having something to write and format my thesis with. For ex., on mic word you can define your page #s, margins, cover, reference your chapters to an index so it automatically changes teh index #s as you edit your paper, etc. DOes iLife have all that?

 

I believe neoffice has powerpoint support.

 

you're right, i just tried it. But the support is very minimal. It just brings up the slides individually, and i have to browse through them manually. And the music doesn't play either.

 

Well, it actually depends on what your thesis's subject is, but I can't imagine writing anything even close to scientific without TeX/LaTeX. Mostly because I'm maths major, for sure, but still...

Btw, what's the best implementation of TeX for Mac OS?

 

I'm not sure but a good search came up with a lot of results. I'm sure you can find out.

The thesis is actually for political science. It involves some quantitative analysis but not much, and that's not my concern. My concern is really to have a thesis-format wizard. Like I said, on MSWord, i can set my paper in a way that the pages automatically correspond to the index. So if chapter 2 starts at page 16, and i have in the index at the beginning, then later on if I do some editing and chapter 2 ends up starting at page 14 (and likewise the rest of the chapters' page number change as well), then MSWord will automatically update my index page. That's just one function which I like. Makes life easier, especially during these <hard> times.

 

To the OP, may I ask why do you feel the need to replace your current MS Office suite? Why not just remove and reinstall it if you are having issues with Powerpoint. I'm asking because you spent good money on Office and you have specific needs that Office does.

 

well i guess i can reinstall it. I'll give it a try. If it doesn't work, then...
I also thought of replacing it cuz MSOffice seems very out of place in os x. Dunno, kinda like firefox. Just doesn't "feel" right.

 

Well, TeX is almost a typesetting standard so it does have this feature, but yes, for political science, learning TeX isn't really worthwhile enough. Just take a look at it when you have some free time, you can end up liking it