WithiWork ’ 08 , the latest generation of its office suite , Apple has given Mac users a hefty alternative to Microsoft ’s Office for Mac . This newfangled edition finally bid an choice to Excel call off Numbers , a spreadsheet shaft unlike any that has come before it . It also adds some corking new features to iWork ’s other two applications — the presentation program Keynote and the word processor Pages — including a few that many users felt were lacking in previous passing .
For deterrent example , all the iWork app now present a contextual Format Bar that display only the control or command relevant to a selected item . This makes it easier to situate specific persona effect , text styles or even spreadsheet functions base on what you are working with . In many casing , the Format Bar bring up program line that were always ordinarily ask but used to be buried somewhere in one of the tabs of the Inspector palette .
Sharing and quislingism seems to be an overall key focus in iWork ’ 08 . Page , Keynote and Numbers all offer a variety of export and sharing options that range from integration with Apple ’s iWeb to , in the casing of Keynote , publish straight to YouTube .
And coaction is n’t restrict to just invest your fabric out there . All three applications have fantabulous comment and markup support , allowing multiple user to easily make suggestions , explain changes , and bring home the bacon information about whole sections or single items in a document .
They also offer the ability to open documents saved in the aboriginal Open XML format used by Office 2007 for Windows ( though exporting file cabinet to Office still place them in Office 2003 data format ) . This is a major accomplishment for anyone who needs to commute files with Office 2007 users , since it means that you do n’t postulate to make peculiar requests if you ’re the only iWork substance abuser on a project . It also makes iWork a more reasonable choice in a wide-eyed range of environments .
observable across the board is Apple ’s proceed commitment to providing user with high - end templates to use as a start pointedness for projects . The design tone and visual impact of the template in all of the iWork apps is brilliant , and unlike the templates in most office suites , these actually include sample mental object ( and , in the example of Numbers , part and chemical formula ) so you truly see how to use the purpose . This is particularly helpful in Numbers , which includes template for thing that you might never believe about using a spreadsheet for , such as be after a dinner party , a holiday travel guidebook or a home improvement undertaking .
As helpful as this can be for new users , however , the sample distribution capacity can become annoying after a while when you already have a clear idea of where you want to go with a new document . you’re able to create your own blank templates by edit the sample material and saving the empty pages as a new template ; and many of the templates in iWork ’ 08 have the welcome power to tot a novel vacuous page , in addition to the capacity - filled pages that were always there . Still , I would have preferred to see Apple include some layout - only , contentless templates for Numbers and Pages .
Pages
When call for about how previous version of varlet compare with Word , I would often say that it was more like a compounding of Word and Publisher — a intercrossed word CPU and layout pecker . This was one of the things that you either loved or hated about the programme . One of the best things Apple did with this new going ( read Macworld ’s Pages review ) was to give Sir Frederick Handley Page two trenchant mode : one for word processing and one for layout , with separate template for each mode .
Page Layout mode in fact gives consumers much of the capacity of professional tools like Adobe InDesign and QuarkXPress at a fraction of their cost . It does n’t proffer the final printing and prepress option or the typographic control of a pro tool , but those are n’t things need by nursing home users or even many pocket-sized businesses . And for those who do or will need professional tools , Pages makes a good stepping - Lucy Stone because it relies on the same basic method as the more expensive applications . The young interpretation does n’t have more layout feature than Pages ’ 06 had , but some have been made wanton to use , and separating them from the bare penning tools arrive at them seem more decided and professional .
The only problem with this detachment of workings method is that you’re able to not change over between them . If you create a watchword processing document because you need to focus on text subject but later decide you want to lay it out as a brochure , you ca n’t only switch way to get full entree to the Page Layout fashion ’s features . Instead , you want to create a new Page Layout document and then copy and paste your subject matter into text boxes and rearrange or link them to flux your text . Choosing which way to practice could also be confusing to raw exploiter .
Beyond the new separation of chore , Pages has gotten a few other useful new features . One of the ones I found the most exciting ( mostly because I use the equivalent in Word almost constantly ) is a Track Changes option . Anyone who collaborates using Word has probably used this characteristic even if they have n’t always loved Microsoft ’s implementation of it .
Pages implements tracking changes well than Word because it bid a form of agency to display changes , include a browser app venire that is considerably easier to use than the view included with Word . Anyone who has examine to decipher a Word text file in which more than two people have made changes will immediately notice less eyestrain and confusion when using this feature in Pages .
Even better , Pages can not only track changes in its own documents but seamlessly dog changes in and export variety to Word documents as well — properly place the author(s ) of the changes , too . In fact , Pages ’ 08 does a great job of sour with Word , both when opening highly formatted Word document and exporting them back Word . Even Page Layout modality documents filled with style and format alternative retain almost all , if not all , of their smell after export .
As powerful as Pages is , longtime and heavy users of Word may find some features still not quite up to par . Word is more flexible at creating mail merges , for example : Pages can do ring mail merges but trust on contacts stored in the Mac OS X Address Book program or as vCard files . While page can create table , it ca n’t exchange be text edition to a board . And Pages can initialise text to reckon like an schema , but it ca n’t make a functional collapsable outline the way Word can . If your work depends on any of those features ( or similar specialised tools ) , you ’ll have to find workarounds or keep Word around .
Keynote
Keynote has always been a expectant presentation tool . Its array of sensational template and conversion , gentle access to content via the iLife media web web browser , and the range of mountains of optic personal effects and 3 - five hundred chart have always made it an attractive alternative to PowerPoint . In iWork ’ 08 , Apple institute some great new feature to add together to Keynote ’s already impressive repertoire ( read Macworld ’s Keynote recap ) .
The first new feature film is easy slide - show animations call Smart Builds . At first , I did n’t see the full point to these since Keynote can already cause token to appear on a slide in chronological succession , with great transitions . But what Smart Builds let you do is create an animated slide show within a slide . Simply choose an vitality — such as Spinning Cube or Turntable — omit the pictures you want to practice into the Drop Zone ( which look very like to a Drop Zone in iDVD ) , and you have a heavy 3 - D vivification in which one persona is interchange by the next , running within a slide while the rest of the microscope slide ’s subject matter stay visible . With a proficiency name to as A - to - atomic number 5 invigoration , sophisticated users can even pull wires exactly how aliveness and related core display and set option for specific images .
Another feature that ratchet up the already impressive graphics financial backing is something called Instant Alpha ( available in Pages and Numbers as well ) . Instant Alpha allows you to choose and mask out backgrounds in any image in a coast . The cognitive process is similar to using the “ sorcerous wand ” selection tool in Adobe Photoshop and similar graphics applications , although the operation is much more fluid and nonrational . The power of Instant Alpha is n’t that it offers something young ( using a graphics app , you could get the same effect , after all ) . The deviation is that now you do n’t need to go to a graphics coating to get it . you could do it right in Keynote with a very gentle - to - use interface and without modifying the original look-alike file . Note : This feature does n’t work on image let in in a Smart Build .
The new tools for make slides , however , are n’t what yarn-dye me the most about Keynote ’ 08 . That would have to be the ability to memorialise a voice racecourse for a demonstration . This is a feature that admit Keynote from being useful for giving lectures in person to a putz for recording and presenting them to anyone , anywhere .
Many lecturers give transcript of their chute ( either as Keynote or PowerPoint files or as PDFs ) to people who ca n’t assist a presentation or for reference to attendant . Being able to give someone a copy of the full presentation , include the story , is a immense step beyond that . And the ability to essentially give the presentation remotely by redact it on the WWW or by send someone the file makes Keynote a phenomenal education and training tool .
Keynote takes this lineament and run with it , giving you a wide range of video data formatting to export a presentation with voice - over . Like the young variant of iMovie , it even includes direct publication to YouTube . Or , if you want do more with your intro , Keynote allows you to send it straight off to almost all of the iLife software for further editing or distribution . ( Ironically , iMovie is the only one not included , though you may export a intro as a QuickTime movie that can be imported into iMovie . ) Particularly deserving noting is consolidation with GarageBand , which allow for you to turn a presentation into a video podcast with very little effort .
Numbers
Pages and Keynote both receive noteworthy feature article upgrade in iWork ’ 08 , but it is the accession of Numbers ( record Macworld ’s numbers racket limited review ) that has gotten the most attention , and with good intellect . telephone number is unlike any other spreadsheet putz I ’ve ever get wind . The first clip I used it , my first thought was , “ This is so cool , ” stick to by amazement that I ’d actually thought of a spreadsheet app program as “ nerveless . ” But that is what makes Numbers defy any prejudices one has about spreadsheet . It is visceral and easy to apply and , more authoritative , give users a chance for creative expression that is completely unexpected when work with a spreadsheet .
Numbers does this by moving beyond simply being a generic grid of blank cell on a worksheet . In fact , it does n’t use worksheets in the traditional good sense at all . It ’s based on a concept of Sheets and Tables in which bed sheet are pages that check Tables , which in good turn are essentially ego - carry spreadsheet ( complete with a storage-battery grid that is only fully displayed when the Table is selected ) . Each Sheet can contain one or more Tables as well as text , art and charts , turning a Sheet into a complete information package .
The conception of multiple Sheets and Tables is as ingenious as it is attractive . A document for plan an event , for case , can contain freestanding Tables covering attendees , tasks to accomplish , a schedule for event activities , contacts for service seller , and cost analytic thinking . Each of these can be localise on a exclusive Sheet , and you may drag mesa around on the Sheet ( or even from one Sheet to another in the same data file ) to organize and document the information .
The Event Planner is just one example of the wide range of a function of templates that Number includes , from tier books for teachers to house improvement projects ; they really help you commence to see everyday uses that you might never have believe of using a spreadsheet for . ( There are templates for the less surprising budgets and expense report as well . )
Adding text edition boxes or graphic to a Sheet is as easy as adding them to a microscope slide in Keynote or a document in Pages . plainly click a button to get a new schoolbook box seat , pure with all the text formatting putz you ’ll ever involve . For word picture , bestow them in from the iLife media browser app or via puff and knock off from the Finder , and get the same 3 - 500 effects , masks and resizing option discover throughout iWork ’ 08 .
To add cell and table formatting as well as colors to a tabular array , you could just select from a list of predefined Styles ; you could also change an existing Style and save it for recent usance . Formatting of individual cells is done through the Format Bar or the examiner . You ca n’t save a cell vogue , but you may copy and glue the formatting from one cell to another . Cell options let in conditional formatting that changes the look of the cell if it meets specific measure — you’re able to make a broadside that ’s past due display in red , for example . One of the most fun choice is the power to use image as the background fill for tables . spill about making a spreadsheet look unspoiled .
Setting up chart is beyond simple : Select a mesa and select a chart eccentric . ( And if you choose a chart without select a mesa first , Numbers will create one appropriate to the character of chart . ) Like Tables , you’re able to move a chart anywhere on a sheet or onto a different Sheet from the Table that it is based on . You get an entire range of 3 - D effects as well as predefined colour Seth ( or you may drag color sample to specific piece of a chart if you require to make your own color palette ) . You just click the appropriate tab in the Inspector pallette to change from one chart case to another . Never has give charts and graphs that expect this good been this comfortable .
Doing figuring is just as easy . rough-cut functions are like a shot uncommitted from a menu in the toolbar , and many of them automatically act on the number in the pillar of the cell you assign them to . For example , if you pick out a cell at the bottom of a tower and take Average from the Function menu , the cell will average all the cubicle above it . you could stipulate specific cells to let in in a function as well , and as in Excel , you could do so by just chatter each cell — no need to type the dustup and tower routine . A particularly nice tactile sensation is that the functions are aware of the chromatography column lintel , so that rather than reading “ = AVERAGE(C2 : C9 ) , ” the cell ’s time value will read “ = AVERAGE(Math Test)&38221 ; or whatever .
If you do need more advanced formulas , there are more than 150 functions that you’re able to use , all of them comparable to their Excel counterparts ( which is great if you open an Excel file cabinet or postulate to export for Excel users ) . None of the engineering and database functions available in Excel are duplicated in Numbers , however , and only about half the statistical affair have equivalents . ( For a fuller breakdown , check out the list compiled by blogger Jaime Curmi . ) Furthermore , the pivot table feature of speech is not included in Numbers . As a result , serious number crunchers may feel more than a little hem in , and any longtime Excel exploiter will in all likelihood ask some time to get used to the raw graphical world that number offer .
One well overlooked set of feature article is in the Sort & Filter Panel , which allows you to not only classify data in a tabular array but also separate out the results . In this look , Numbers do almost like a database by letting you see only data that you want ( minutes before a give way appointment , hoi polloi who have confirmed to attend an upshot , bills that are unpaid , account over a certain amount and so on ) . The process of setting filters — basically the familiar Mac approach of prefer hunt criteria from pop - up menu — is much easier and more capable than performing equivalent tasks in Excel .
Speaking of Excel , Numbers can easy open up Excel files . For a number of the Excel documents I ’ve prove , Numbers pay for me to review minor warnings after open them , mostly dealing with format issues and one or two formulas . And in some typeface , lowering calculations in an Excel written document that I open up in number seemed to take longer to process than they did in Excel or in a like written document create from scratch in Numbers , even after the Excel document was saved as Numbers file .
Show Print View is another bang-up feature film it would be easy to pretermit . Not only does it show you how your current sheet will print , but you may directly edit anything while in it . you’re able to resize or filter a board to fit on one while of newspaper publisher , move a graphic or change mode , all on the fly and while seeing how change will dissemble the output . you could even edit out data or formulas .
One final nerveless affair that I have to note is the way Numbers integrates with the Mac ’s Address Book . you’re able to drag single contacts or grouping into a sheet and they mechanically format as a table . Or , you’re able to create a mesa and name the pillar lintel to match specific fields in Address Book ; when you dredge contact to that table , it will replete with only those pieces of contact information . It ’s a perfect way to superintend inter-group communication leaning , Edgar Guest lists , mailing lists and even invoices .
Overall , Numbers can truly be thought of as the spreadsheet for the rest period of us . It may not be perfect for replacing Excel in every situation , especially in corporate environments that rely on specific procedure that are not included in Numbers . But for home exploiter and small business enterprise , it is a peachy and inspiring tool and is alone more than worth iWork ’ 08 ’s $ 79 price tag end .
Final thoughts
exploiter prosperous with Microsoft Office may chance it takes time to get used to iWork . Advanced Word and Excel users , peculiarly those who rely on specialized features and functions , will probably incur Pages and Numbers to be limited . If you do bank on specific functions in Excel or features in any of the Office software that are even slightly outside the more general types of employment , you will probably want to download theiWork ’ 08 30 - day trialto ensure that the tools you need are there before purchasing . And , to be certain , the outgrowth of having to export filing cabinet when interact with Office users could get older quick if you have to do that on a regular basis .
But overall , iWork ’ 08 is beautifully designed — a compelling mathematical product and great value for consumer and modest business concern alike . It brings tons of innovation over former versions of iWork as well as many business office suites on the grocery store . And it turns typical office tasks and document into creative outlets . That it offers all that it does for $ 79 is , honestly , hard to believe .