Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac vs. iWork '09?

I normally do most of my presentation, spreadsheet and word processor work on my Windows PCs, but I'm starting to feel the need to do this sort of work on my MacBook as well.

From what I've heard, it's: Excel >>> Numbers, Pages > Word and Keynote >>> Powerpoint. Now, I'm not planning on buying both office suites, until if sometime in the future I feel the need to. I want something that'll be generally compatible with Windows, that'll run smoothly and that'll be rich in features.

I have both Office 2008 and iWork. I actually like both applications but lean to using Word for documents and Pages for layout work. But that is not what you really need to hear...

Why not download and install the free Open Office from Sun? It has very good compatibility with Office - opens and saves Office documents, easy to use, and it's free. Download from here.

Regards.

Just a note that a lot of people find Keynote much nicer for presentations than PowerPoint. It's a very nice application for that usage.

More food for thought: You can get Office for Mac with more than one license. So if you think you'll end up installing it on more than one Mac, that might be a consideration. (You'll get either 2 or 3, depending on which edition you buy.) You'd have to buy two copies of iWork to legally install it on more than one Mac. (There might be a way around that, if it's never used on two at the same time. ?) So, this is a cost consideration that you might want to compare.

Also, MS is said to be releasing Office 2011 later this year. I don't know if there will be an economical way to upgrade if you buy 2008 now.

ipodmacfan said:

I normally do most of my presentation, spreadsheet and word processor work on my Windows PCs, but I'm starting to feel the need to do this sort of work on my MacBook as well.

Click to expand...

The "as well" part strongly suggests MS Office. While you can import and export Office documents into the iWork applications, it is not always a perfect translation, and it adds an extra step each time.

chscag said:

I have both Office 2008 and iWork. I actually like both applications but lean to using Word for documents and Pages for layout work. But that is not what you really need to hear...

Why not download and install the free Open Office from Sun? It has very good compatibility with Office - opens and saves Office documents, easy to use, and it's free. Download from here.

Regards.

Click to expand...

Awesome link, I didn't know Open Office was on Mac too (I use it on my Linux systems a lot!). Although in my opinion I prefer MS Office by far (I'm talking about the Windows version, not Mac, as I haven't used Mac.)


I read all the responses...
dtravis7: Yeah, I've heard lots of good things about Keynote, that's probably why I'm leaning towards iWork right now.
toMACsh: Hmm...2011 will surely be better than 2008. That's got me thinking...I could get iWork now, and then get MS Office 2011 when that comes out, so I can get the best of both worlds.
Technologist: I won't really be exporting/importing much. I'm planning on just printing most of my work straight from the Mac...

ipodmacfan said:

2011 will surely be better than 2008. ...I could get iWork now, and then get MS Office 2011 when that comes out, so I can get the best of both worlds.

Click to expand...

Sure, if your budget can handle that. But you really don't need both.