Question about Pages 08

I have a question before i decide to buy iwork 08. Will pages 08 be able to support .doc files, both from the new MS office and older versions? If not is there another office style application that does?

EDIT: One more thing, will MS word support the pages 08 files? For example, if I want to send a document i created in Pages, will my friend who uses Word be able to view it?

Yes, iWork 08 can handle both current and previous versions of Word documents. However, Word does not support documents created by Pages. Fortunately, Pages allows you to export your document to the .doc format, so you shouldn't face any issues when sharing files.

There are some free alternatives that also compatible with Office: OpenOffice and NeoOffice. They both have essentially the same underlying architecture, but NeoOffice is easier to install and looks more like a Mac app than OpenOffice does.

Thanks for answering me questions.
Instead of making another thread I'll just another about a slightly unrelated subject.

I will be getting a macbook soon, and hoping to later upgrade to Leopard. I'm wondering, when I do upgrade, will my data be lost? Will I have to backup everything before I upgrade or will it all work out nicely in the end?

You have two options when it comes to Leopard. Upgrade and clean install. Upgrade, as the name suggests, keeps all of your files and programs intact and simply updates the operating system. The second option wipes your drive before installing the new OS.

It is highly recommended to do the latter as that will ensure the more stable system. Plus, going the upgrade route doesn't necessarily guarantee that your files will remain intact. It's possible that something could go wrong during setup and you could end up formatting the drive anyway. It's best for you to just backup your files and do a fresh install.