Productivity Suite?

[TheBiggmann]

So I just got my Macbook Pro and need to know what you guys have to say about iWork vs Office for Mac. I don't know which I should go with. I would be going back and forth quite a bit between Windows and OS X, so I don't know if it's a problem using iWork and doing that. I'm assuming it's not a problem with Office tho. Which do you prefer? And what am I going to run into with compatibility issues?

 

[alfa147x]

I use office in windows at school and i use iWork on my hackintosh and my macbook, never missed office
What type of documents will you be moving back in forth with ?

 

[Kaido]

It all depends on what you use. If you need to be compatible with the rest of the world, use Office. If you need to be really compatible, use Office for Windows. I switched over to Crossover for Mac + Office XP, great combo - lets me use my Windows version of Office right in Mac, quicker than VMware or Parallels. And everything is compatible with school, work, etc.

 

[sourceninja]

Personally, I have office 2008, iWork 08 and Open office 3. Open office 3 is has had 0 compatibility problems with office 08 or my co-workers office 2003 and 2007. In fact office people are having more problems sending between 2008, 2007 and 2003 then I am with open office.

In terms of usability, I like iWork better then the other choices. Especially for presentations. I keep MS office 2008 installed just in case I need it, but I do all my real work in open office 3 now. I highly recommend open office 3.

 

[TheBiggmann]

Itd be mainly powerpoint presentations and formatted word documents. Can i open a keynote presentation in powerpoint? I liked what i saw when i was playing around with iwork before i bought my mbp, i just dont wanna have to fight with compatability/crossover issues

 

[sourceninja]

You can save keynote and impress (the open office version of that application) in powerpoint format. Personally, I prefer to give my presentations with keynote. I think it is a cut above powerpoint. But if you have to use powerpoint, both can save as powerpoint. So far I have not had any compatibility problems.

 

[xanis]

OpenOffice. I've used it and it's great.

 

[Parasitic]

I have both iWork and Office 2008, but have chosen to use Office 2008 exclusively. The iWork suite is excellent though, but the spreadsheet program is missing some crucial stuff functions that I can't live without, so I just went ahead and stayed with Office.

 

[dmw16]

I use Office on my Mac. I know iWork is good, but using Office I know I'll be able to transfer docs between mac and pc.

 

[sourceninja]

Don't be so sure. I've had a few files I saved in office 2008 that would not open in office 2003.

 

[dmw16]

Originally posted by: sourceninja
Don't be so sure. I've had a few files I saved in office 2008 that would not open in office 2003.

You need to make sure you save as .doc (not the default) instead of .docx (the default). Not saying that was your issue, but just wanted to comment.

 

[sourceninja]

Yea, i always do that. The problem was with very advanced layouts in word documents (I know, why are you doing advanced layouts in word anyways ). I have also had this problem with pdf's made by iWork not working on windows computers with adobe viewer.

That is why I keep a copy of openoffice around. It tends to bail me out of those situations. I've been using open office 3 from the first RC release and I have yet to make a document that doesn't work in office 2003.

We are upgrading to 2007 this summer, so I'm sure that will create a whole new ball of wax.

 

[sourceninja]

So semi related. I just had a conversation today with my boss. We might be moving the whole place to open office 3. That really drills down what we will be using on all of our machines, windows or mac.