Office vs. iWork

[MacJet]

I've already decided to change my logbook from Logbook pro to Log Ten Pro and am looking to run Mac friendly programs for me other needs. I do not want Windows or related software on my Mac.

So, do I buy Office for Mac or buy iWork and XXX for .xls. Next, what is XXX for a Mac to replace Excel?

I have never had a need for Power Point or Outlook. So missing these would not be missing those.

Macjet

 

[eric]

you should also check out neooffice.

free open source alternative. good program, not a 'junky' alternative.

 

[Dex]

in all honesty, i would just use office. it keeps things much simpler. student edition is stupid cheap and has all the basic stuff you need.

plus backup copies are readily available ;-)

 

[hotskate]

Agreeed Office is used more then anything else in corporate and educationally stick with certain programs but stay with a MAC

 

[MacJet]

What about Office:Mac not being universal? I am thinking about loading NeoOffice and waiting until Office07:Mac comes out. I here it is supposed to be universal. My need for an Office type suite is not daily nor core to my job. I do require the use of a word processor and a spreadsheet, but not to the extent of someone working in a traditional office.

 

[RoosterTeacher]

I use both iWork and Office. There are a few things that pages does that cannot be done easily in Word though I've used Word for so long that I'm having trouble switching completely. I've found Keynote far superior to PowerPoint thus far and use it for all presentations. I use a laptop so I always have my Mac to make presentations.

I use Excel on rare occassions. If you don't need Excel and you are willing to adjust to iWork then I think the iWork package is a better deal. First, it's cheaper than even the student edition of Office. Second, it can export anything you create in a format that is universal (I always save my Pages files as PDFs when I intend to share them).

I do keep Office for Excel but I probably won't upgrade until a universal version comes out and I buy a new Mac (my Ti G4 still works fine).

 

[ToddG]

Might not affect most people, but neither Pages nor Neooffice can handle password-protected Office files or revision marking for Office files.

If you regularly have to interact with Office-using offices, get Office.

 

[brianj08]

yea i would go with office. it is a much sleeker looking application, and you will be able to recognize most functions in it.

 

[Zoolook]

I bought Mac Office 2004 without even thinking and I am fine with it. It's not too bad, although it is occasionally slow on Intel Macs (especially Entourage for some reason).

The compatibility is great. I even used to have issues with PowerPoints from work on my Windows Office Suite... but this one is really good at keeping all those fonts, bullets and spacing exactly right.

 

[Kash]

I was thinking about buying Office:Mac, but then I decided to go with Parallels instead and use Office with that. Office actually loads faster on Windows running via Parallels than it does in Mac OS X.

I've decided to wait for Office 2007:Mac (or will it be Office 2008?) since it will definitely load faster and because I'm looking forward to what Microsoft plans on doing with the Ribbon it has for Office 2007 (which I really like btw).

 

[MacJet]

I just loaded NeoOffice. My requirements are to open a few .doc a week and an occasional .xls. This is mostly information dissemination from the company.

I have very little need to generate documents and those that I need to it looks like NeoOffice can handle.

Plus, the price was right!

I'll be happy to report any bugs.

 

[eric]

woo-hoo!