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| Apple iWork '08 | 
 enlarge | From: Apple
Category: Software
List Price: $74.00
Buy New: $59.95
You Save: $14.05 (19%)
New (15) Used (5) from $53.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  114 reviews
Sales Rank: 32
Format: Dvd-rom
Platform: Mac Os X
Media: DVD-ROM
Edition: Standard
Shipping Weight (lbs): 4.8
Dimensions (in): 5.4 x 5.3 x 0.8
MPN: MB624Z/A
Model: MB624Z/A
UPC: 885909244300
EAN: 0885909244300
ASIN: B000BQXTSS
Release Date: August 11, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Alternate to MS Office August 14, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Apple software for word, spreadsheets, and presentation programs. Not as extensive as MS Office but usable for common tasks. Good for younger users to learn basics before using other programs. Economical for word processing, spread sheets in a non commercial setting.
 Not for users of Office August 11, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
We purchased this product after buying a Mac. We have been pc/office users for years and we love our new mac. We needed some basic word processing and spreadsheet software for home use, so we bought this based on its reviews. I have been disappointed with it so far. It's missing some of the basic options that are available in Microsoft Office.
My biggest gripes have been when trying to work with documents that either were created in Office or need to be sent to someone with Office. I tried to help out a niece with her resume, and I found it was missing a lot of the formatting found in Word (ie- the ability to set printing area wider than the pre-set margins, creating bullet characters that weren't dots). When I exported the file into a .doc for her, formatting was lost. I also tried to edit a Word file for someone using pages, and when the program converted the file back to .doc, some of the original formatting was lost (my 2 page document became a 4 page document!).
Numbers works ok, but it's not as easy to use as Excel. I may not be using all of the software functionality, but it seems that simple tasks aren't easy. When I try to sum a series of cells, I have to use the drop-down menu instead of the numerous ways that office allows you to sum things.
I'm sure that I haven't explored the full capacity of these programs, but for someone who needs light duty tools and is used to microsoft, I'd recommend staying with what you know. This is definitely not a program to use if you need to work with microsoft files.
 I really wanted to work for me, but if you are an experienced Ms Word user, you will find missing functionality in iWork. August 8, 2008
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
I use both Mac and PC. I am not biased at all. I really wanted IWork to "work" for me for word processing. I was persistent, I beat the learning curve, I used the word processor for about 3 days. I have to say that Ms Word is winner. Microsoft has tons of experience under its belt in this category and it shows clearly.
If you are not an experienced Word user, and only need to type simple stuff you may not see the difference, but I am familiar with most features of Word and they help me with my productivity. Apple's word processor is not World class yet. It does what it supposed to do, but it lacks features that Word gives you for customization and productivity.
Not too expensive but enough functionality for most. July 31, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Some users might need the additional stuff that comes with Office, but the price tag is ludicrous for ordinary users who just need basic, functional software. For most people, myself included, all of the extra features included with Office are just bloat which never sees any use at all. iWork is a nice, simple productivity pack that provides a happy medium between basic built-ins and high-end packages like Office. It does everything it needs to without a price tag that makes you cringe. Great for home or student use.
iWork Lite: Not What I Expected July 19, 2008
19 out of 19 found this review helpful
If Apple took its cues from Microsoft, we wouldn't have merely one version of iWork. iWork 2008, in Microsoft parlance, could more aptly be described as "iWork Lite". Alternately, this version might best be billed as iWork Home. What about iWork Office and iWork School? Or iWork Superior to include all of the above? Don't count on it, at least not from iWork '08.
If the other reviews on Amazon and Apple are any indication, the only application in this trio that truly rises to the Microsoft Office challenge is Keynote. My beef with this suite pertains to my primary reason for purchasing iWork: word processing. Microsoft Office 2008 amounted to a series of alarming 1-star reviews at the time I purchased iWork 2008, and aside from that is enormously overpriced. More importantly, however, I wanted to reward any developer who dares compete with the Goliath that is MS Office by casting a vote with my pocketbook in favor of their product. Apple, after all, has been updating iWork long enough to give it time to mature. Or so I thought.
While I appreciate the beautiful templates and intuitive interface that iWork offers, what remains when all the pretties are stripped away? iWork Lite: The version you weren't bargaining on but should have expected for a mere $79.99 (MSRP).
My hope was that Pages would reference Webster's New World Dictionary, which is regarded as a superior reference in hard copy form for capitalization and proper hyphenation. While Pages approaches this level of accuracy, it doesn't quite make the grade. This calls into question its usefulness for English majors, journalists and writers of all stripes. Worse, Pages proofreader is a poor substitute for MS Word's grammar checker. As a result, Pages is also a questionable choice for teachers, students and professionals.
Other purported iWork limitations include:
* Few keyboard shortcuts (native Mac users once prided themselves on the ease with which they could zip through tasks with minimal mouse clicks);
* Cannot change the "save as" to default to an export file type;
* No auto-save/recovery;
* No auto-correct;
* Pages lacks an outline function;
* Weak on functionality: Does not support right-to-left language types. Cross references and the automatic numbering of legends, equations, references are missing. Limitations using the chart editor. "Start count at" and indentation level controls frustrate some users. No HTML import/export;
* iWork Server/Client works on an intranet using Rendezvous, but does not support Internet networking;
* Pages supports only basic citation and footnoting. Cannot use footnotes and endnotes simultaneously. Can accept Grapher/LaTeXiT services but does not support bibliographies (fails to interface with EndNote, for example);
* Opens Appleworks files only via the "import" command;
* Cannot add images -- such as company logo -- to Pages headers or footers;
* Numbers will not satisfy technical users, nor those who wish to include some of the following in a Keynote presentation: It does not support pivot tables. Cannot plot a graph with two y-axes. Will not graph error bars. Does not support Visual Basic macros. Cannot perform trendline analysis or basic statistics (t-test). Does not permit users to freeze/unfreeze panes;
* Apple reports: "Your ability to open a large Numbers file or import a large Microsoft Excel file into Numbers '08 may be constrained by the amount of memory installed on your computer. This constraint adjusts with the addition and removal of memory from the computer."
* Users porting complex Excel documents to Numbers report the need to perform numerous corrections;
* Does not include a database application. Lacks SQL database integration, among others;
* Does not support envelope printing within Pages (envelope printing is left up to Mac Address Book);
* Does not support mail merge (except from Mac Address Book);
* Cannot email a page from within an iWorks application;
* Does not include a standalone email application (relies instead on the integrated email application in OS X);
* Apparently, native iWork files are actually packages, which many web-based email servers do not support. To overcome this limitation, iWork files must be exported and/or saved and subsequently attached to outgoing web-based email messages as archives (zipped files);
*iWorks users who are borderline on system compatibility or whose machines place them at the lower end of iWork's system requirements may encounter sluggish performance (I encountered a number of pauses during which the rainbow colored beach ball appeared while working in Pages).
Do I recommend iWork? That depends on who, what, where and why you wish to use it. From my vantage point, iWork is not a Microsoft Office competitor but an entry-level trio of applications that are big on potential but small on delivery. Nevertheless, there are some users -- primarily those who require strong visuals and a template-based approach to productivity -- who may benefit from iWork 2008.
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