iWork is a suite of applications created by Apple Computer, containing a word processing and layout application (Pages), and a presentation package (Keynote). Although iWork was originally rumored to be an update or replacement for Apple's entry-level application suite AppleWorks, Apple is currently billing it as "building a successor to AppleWorks", but it does not replicate the functionality of AppleWorks' spreadsheet, database, and drawing tools. Likewise, it does not compete directly with the Mac version of Microsoft Office, but instead offers tools with a different focus (presentation, rather than analysis) at a lower price. It is designed to integrate with existing applications from Apple's iLife Suite. Although iLife comes free on every Mac, iWork is to be bought separately. There is a free 30 day trial for iWork on every Mac, and also if customers chose to upgrade to a newer version of iLife, a free trial of the newest iWork comes free as well.
It is Apple's first consumer product to require a serial number in order to run. AppleCare states that there is no master key , and that they cannot help users with serial number problems beyond the typical data entry tips, such as avoiding substitution errors.
Pages is a word processing application with an emphasis on presentation. It is useful for many projects beyond that of the standard word-processing application. Pages comes loaded with a set of Apple-designed templates for presentations including:
Pages, in addition to Keynote (its iWork counterpart), is closely integrated with the iLife suite. It includes a media browser for inserting pictures, music, and video from iPhoto, iTunes, and iMovie. Pages allows the user to save or export in formats including:
The lack of the spreadsheet application could be considered intentional—in iWork '06, both Keynote 3 and Pages 2 allow one to create tables with automatically updating fields, thus reducing the necessity to have a distinct application devoted entirely to the spreadsheet capability. However, interchange with other programs would be difficult.
iWork has also been criticized due to lack of support of the OpenDocument format.
Mac OS-only software made by Apple Computer | Office suites
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