DYK that there's an inexpensive alternative to using Microsoft Office on your Mac? iWork consist of 3 software packages (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote) that run smoothly on a Mac and are much less expensive than Office. iWork offers the ability to save in multiple formats (PDF, Office, Quicktime, JPGs, and others) that could sometimes be appealing.
A recent review in Macworld magazine of iWork 2008 (Pages, Numbers, Keynote) and Office 2008 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) revealed:
| Pages vs Word | Numbers vs Excel | Keynote vs PowerPoint |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Word may well be the standard for business word processing programs, but Apple's Pages '08 presents an excellent alternative. If you find that you're constantly changing the way a document looks, then Word's document themes offer a distinct advantage over Pages. For all other types of documents, however, from basic word processing to sophisticated page layouts, Pages is equal to or better than Word. | In general I found it much simpler to work with Excel in all phases of my sample project. Although Numbers has some stunning templates, it's shortcomings make it more difficult to use when you leave template-land. Those failing include its inability to simply show a formula's variables as you enter it; its lack of custom number and date formats,; and its limited conditional formatting abilities. There's no doubt that I can create a prettier spreadsheet with in Numbers, but Excel offers more formulas, features, and tools to helpwith actually building the spreadsheet. | PowerPoint has caught up to Keynote in many areas and surpassed it in some. But Keynote's workflow and overall feature set remain superior. Practically speaking, your choice of software probably depends more on the hardware you'll be using to deliver your presentation (and the software installed on it) than on the features of your authoring program. For that reason, unless Apple releases a keynote player for Windows, which isn't likely, PowerPoint may be a more sensible choice for speakers/presenters. |
Click the arrow below to download the entire article. The full article also mentions some free alternatives such as google docs that many of you are already using.
