Whoever predicted that Apple would introduce iWork ‘09 today gets a gold star. Keynote, Pages and Numbers all received what I would consider minor updates; no need to run around all willy nilly for these, methinks.
First shown was Keynote, which Phil Schiller, ever the showman, noted was used to make the very presentation so many of us were looking for to. Nothing crazy, really: a few new transitions, some slide-object-rearranger thing, etc. There is a new application for the iPhone (and iPod touch) that lets you control Keynote. Imagine, being able to hit “next” on your slide for only 99 cents. Eh, sorta neat. Should be free.
Next was Pages, the application that doesn’t know if it’s a word processor or a page layout toolset. Not a whole lot here, either: a new full-screen view mode, dynamic page outlines that automatically appear (to give you a better sense of when the page ends, I guess), and some feature that merges data from Numbers with Pages. Seems like that should have been there from Day One.
Lastly, Numbers, Apple’s impression of Excel, has all new stuff that will not appeal to any of you unless you work for H&R Block. New mathematical functions, charts, etc. White shirt, pencil-thin tie sort of stuff.
Apple has also added the ability to share documents over the Internet at iWork.com, which surely must give Google Docs a run for its money. Oh, wait, Google Docs is free and Apple wants money for this ground-breaking feature.
Needless to say, short of actually using iWork for some time, it looks like a rather benign update. Apple wants $99 for a family license. Or, becuase the new iWork requires Leopard, you can grab the Leopard+iWork combo starting at the end of the month for $169.
Proper photos & the like when Apple decides to upload ‘em.
$0.99 for a Keynote remote control iPhone app!? Sounds like it is the apple tax.
wow… what a crappy review. Could TC send someone to the next Apple event who actually gives a damn and is not so pessimistic?? The author if this peace sounds like some jaded guy whose girlfriend left him or something.
Horrible.
If you’re going to be yet another snarky tech writer, you’d better be good. This article is neither informative nor entertaining.
I like the honestly. I was very upset about the release because I bought my laptop and iwork 08 software a week ago. This actually brings me some relief.
Let’s face it: it’s a simple update. But you have to pay for it…
An update? Numbers 09 alone adds Table Categories (similar to Pivot Tables) and dozens of functions that are used in every area of science and engineering – and perhaps at H&R Block.
Also, charts in Pages or Keynote can now be dynamically linked from data in Numbers.
Finally, Numbers ‘09 is AppleScript-able – something which should have been the case from the start.
Any half-serious spreadsheet user (engineers, scientific researchers, students) would happily pay iWork’s price for the statistical functions alone!
Requires Leopard? What gives you that idea? Certainly not Apple’s system requirements page: http://www.apple.com/iwork/systemrequirements.html
“Mac OS X v10.4.11 or Mac OS X v10.5.6 or later”
I’m pretty I rate about this. I bought a iwork 08 (and a Macbook) at end of October and specifically asked the guy if he knew if an update was coming out. They should upgrade this for free if you purchased in the last 6 months. Apple is so unfair sometimes…definitely takes a notch off my satisfaction with them, in fact I’m going to stop recommending the company, this is the straw that broke the camel’s back. (Also paid for the customer support plan…I know more than they do!! and I just bought the dang thing!)
Um… I just checked iWork ‘09 Requires Mac OS X Tiger 10.4.11