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iwork compatibility

  • 24-08-2010 11:45am
    #1
    beer enigma
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,213 ✭✭✭


    Hey guys,

    not a Mac user myself but my niece (god that makes me feel old) asked me a question on iwork so I'm looking for some help.

    She's just got her first choice in the CAO & is heading to UCC for engineering - she's buying a Mac Book Pro & asked whether iwork would be compatible enough for college or if she'd need the dual o/s to run windows ?

    any thoughts

    A


Comments

  • #2
    Sad Professor
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,693 CMod ✭✭✭✭Sad Professor


    It depends on what she would be using it for. If it's just for note taking, essays, reports, etc, then iWork should be fine.


  • #3
    KeithM89_old
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,806 ✭✭✭✭KeithM89_old


    iWork opens most office files except .docx and you can save an iWork file as an office document, but she could just get Office for Mac


  • #4
    Sad Professor
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,693 CMod ✭✭✭✭Sad Professor


    iWork can open .docx files just fine for the most part, but it can't save as .docx, only .doc. It's not a big deal. In college, I'm usually told to not to use .docx to submit assignments anyway.

    When it comes to compatibility, Office for Mac can certainly be a lot less hassle, but it doesn't always play nice with OS X. However, Office 11 - which is supposedly more Mac friendly - is out in October, I think. Might be worth considering.


  • #5
    KeithM89_old
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,806 ✭✭✭✭KeithM89_old


    Sad Professor wrote: »
    iWork can open .docx files just fine for the most part, but it can't save as .docx, only .doc.

    Ah sorry - got mixed up.
    She could just use Google Docs or Office online


  • #6
    Ham'nd'egger
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,025 ✭✭✭Ham'nd'egger


    Sad Professor wrote: »
    iWork can open .docx files just fine for the most part, but it can't save as .docx, only .doc. It's not a big deal. In college, I'm usually told to not to use .docx to submit assignments anyway.

    Beat me to it!!!
    Sad Professor wrote: »
    When it comes to compatibility, Office for Mac can certainly be a lot less hassle, but it doesn't always play nice with OS X. However, Office 11 - which is supposedly more Mac friendly - is out in October, I think. Might be worth considering.

    The other elements to consider are price and ease of use. iWorks is €80 and miles cheaper than Office and as it's native to OS X, it's far less system intensive and bulky on your computer. Mind you on price, Open Office and Neo Office are cheaper again :)

    One other element that goes for iWorks are the various templates it give you for various projects etc and Pages ease of handling photos dropped into reports. I'm using it now since last year and I'm very impressed with it.


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  • #7
    beer enigma
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,213 ✭✭✭beer enigma


    Thanks - as far as I know its basic reporting - the ability to open word .docs.

    How about excel spreadsheets ? any compatibility issues ....


  • #8
    Johnmb
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,150 ✭✭✭Johnmb


    Andip wrote: »
    Thanks - as far as I know its basic reporting - the ability to open word .docs.

    How about excel spreadsheets ? any compatibility issues ....
    Only compatibility issue I've come across is very basic layout. One .xls spreadsheet I use quite frequently between iWork and MS Office tends to open over two pages in iWork. It is very easily fixed, and I've no doubt that if I used it more than once or twice every couple of weeks, I'd have no problem coming up with a permanent fix. iWork (and OpenOffice.org) also have a major advantage over MS Office in that they open pretty much any documents/spreadsheet formats. MS Office couldn't open .odt formats last time I tried (unless they've fixed that by now).


  • #9
    Matt Bauer
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 628 ✭✭✭Matt Bauer


    If she finds that iWork is not sufficient as far as compatibility is concerned, she can buy the Student & Home edition of Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac for about €100 I think it is...

    Anyone buying Office 2008 at the moment will get a free upgrade to Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac when it is released.


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