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iWork
Nice to use but it's no PowerPoint substitute
Written by KL from High Wycombe,
25-Jan-2009
I am a relatively heavy professional user of Keynote 08 and (when clients demand it) PowerPoint. Keynote has for me, always been the more intuitive, quicker and enjoyable of the two to use, but PPT 2008 leapt so far ahead in terms of functionality that I have found myself putting-up with its slow, clunky interface to gain the benefits of vastly superior range of objects, shapes and superb fills (the 3D options are phenomenal) which can be created then cut and pasted as pdfs or jpegs to be cropped (yes with a proper crop tool), built-up, the vastly superior reference tools, easy insertion of clip art (yes, I hate it too... but sometimes needs must), the auto save function (which has been a lifesaver many times), the smaller and client-friendlier pptx files, etc. etc. I was keenly looking forward to iWork 09 to see how Apple had responded by, hopefully, leap-frogging its adversary. What a bitter disappointment it has been and a squandered opportunity for Apple to regain the lead over PowerPoint. I don't need gimmicky new templates (professional users have their own templates) or flashy animation, I want features that enable me to make higher-quality, more polished-looking presentations. I thought that was what using a Mac was all about? Looks like I'll using PowerPoint more than I wanted to after all.
42 of 62 people found this useful
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iWork
yes you CAN rotate text....
Written by CC from Portlaoise
24-Jan-2009
wake up bud and learn how to use the thing... simple
20 of 32 people found this useful
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iWork
Pretty Good. Lacks some Office functionality/ease of use
Written by MS from Reading
22-Jan-2009
I'm new to the Mac and consider myself a intermediate/advanced level user of MS Office. iWork 09 is pretty good and seems to handle most of what I want to do, but it isn't as useable as Office it must be said. For example, want to select multiple objects? Word, just select the arrow tool and drag a box around the things you want to select... in Pages you have to hold down shift and click on every item you want one-by-one. Want to have truly floating objects over text, a logo in a header with some text nearby for example, in Pages I can't stop the text being re-arranged as you position the logo, whereas in Word this is easy.
Overall, pretty good, but don't throw away the copy of Office yet!27 of 39 people found this useful
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iWork
Can NOT rotate text!
Written by IM from London
22-Jan-2009
I was disappointed that the previous version lacked the ability to rotate text within a cell. Text boxes don't offer the same functionality. Can not believe that it is STILL not possible. Makes my grade book a waste of space... literally.
Having downloaded the trial will I not be buying it this time.20 of 59 people found this useful
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iWork
Pages still limited
Written by PS from Rangeworthy
19-Jan-2009
Pages still doesn't support multiple tables of contents, for table of tables and tables of figures. Supporting a single bibliography tool is not great especially when that tool is endnote, which costs more than iWork. Other than that it's nearly there.
Disappointing really. Perhaps iWork '10.25 of 30 people found this useful
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iWork
Finally been able to ditch Microsoft Office for Mac
Written by RH from WESTON-SUPER-MARE
19-Jan-2009
Fantastic product! I have now ditched Microsoft Office and enjoy the ability to create exceptionally professional looking documents in no time at all. Keynote and it's amazing slide transitions and object animations (aka Builds) easily made a recent presentation I gave the best looking I'd ever done. Top marks Apple!
14 of 17 people found this useful
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iWork
A mixed bag...
Written by FB from London
12-Jan-2009
Numbers09 finally delivers error bars! Pages09 still doesn't cope with tables very well. You can't get a TOC and TOF in the same document, but EndNote X2 is supported. Keynote 09 fixes an export bug that caused presentations with presentation notes to be unreadable in Powerpoint. C'mon Apple... you're nearly there!
163 of 200 people found this useful
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iWork
Absolutley Fantastic Product! Worth every penny!
Written by MK from Carrickfergus
11-Jan-2009
I have been using Microsoft Office for Mac 2008 up until this point because iWork wasn't stepping up to the mark! With this release of iWork 2009, it not only steps up to the mark, but goes beyond. Welcome additions and easy to use! Love it! Great work apple!
195 of 220 people found this useful
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iWork
Brilliant!
Written by CP from North Shields
10-Jan-2009
The first time I used this app I noticed the great differences form '08. The effects are really good.
30 of 55 people found this useful
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iWork
Great new features but basic flaws remain
Written by AW from Loughton
07-Jan-2009
I love the new outline view on Pages, it will help organise my thoughts as I am writing. Most of the other things seem evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Three things massively disappoint though.
1. STILL no Autosave! Why, o why won't they give us an autosave????
2. STILL no support for footnotes on pasting. If free software such as openoffice can allow you to copy a piece of text and its footnote goes with it, why cant Pages? Would make it work much more nicely with software such as Logos Bible Software.
3. The new iwork on the web is a great idea but crippled by the lack of an ability to edit the actual text on the site and then "track changes" comments are nice, but editting the text would make this a must-have rather than something that has amused me for a few minutes.14 of 17 people found this useful
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iWork
Great Product
Written by DS from Rochdale
06-Jan-2009
Great update to the previous version. Now includes additions such as the ability to undelete actions at last! You can now send documents directly into e-mails as PDF / Word / Excel formats and also publish documents to iWork for others to add notes and also to download. Pages now includes mail merge with numbers, a great full screen view and lots of other additions which makes it more intuitive to use. Numbers at last gives the average user much easy ways of adding formulas and table categories to spreadsheets.
As an average user who uses the software for home and small business, it does everything that i need and now with the easier ways of sharing documents in the mainstream formats i can completely ditch office for mac.280 of 298 people found this useful
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iWork
amazing product
Written by MG from London
06-Jan-2009
well worth it!!
31 of 97 people found this useful
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