Pages or Word?

[knitchick07]

I'm about to purchase a Macbook. I've been a pc user all my life, but with all the problems I've had due to viruses, and how irritating Vista is, I'm ready for a change. The only real concern I have about switching is having a decent word processor. I just started college and will need to start writing papers soon. I also use Word a lot for my own personal writing. I have done some research on both iWork and Office 2008 for Mac, and am leaning towards iWork based on reviews for both products and price. But, is Pages sufficient for writing long papers with formatting (MLA in particular, for anyone in college who knows what that is)? Or should I get Office for Word? And does Pages have a good spell checker (something I absolutely need)?

 

[Dysfunction]

word may well be easier for citing, but my wife still writes her papers in pages. Then again, when I was in college I used *gasp* a typewriter and occasionally word perfect (when I was lucky enough)

 

[louishen]

This has kinda been covered in this thread

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=121606&highlight=pages+word

I would basically say give the free 30 day trial a go, if you like iWork after that then go with it

 

[KeithTeeple]

If you're a college student then I would highly recommend iWork. For one, Pages has over 150 built in templates - almost everyone you can imagine. The only downside to iWork is that PC users can't read or open your files if emailed or transferred to their computer. So if you need to do cross conferencing with people who have PC's, you might want Office 08. But in the end, for creativity, I would highly recommend using iWork, it's also great for Numbers and Keynote.

 

[louishen]

PCs cannot read or open your files?

That is bit misleading all iwork apps can save to Office formats to exchange files with PC users

 

[knitchick07]

Thanks, I think I'll give iWork a try! I'm always battling with Word anyway. And Keynote sounds especially awesome.

 

[DoneDeal]

Pages has the best templates ever, no more suffering with Adobe to make a simple brochure for school. I have it and love it. Tested it with Office files and all opened fine.