Apple's Office -- iWork
The new release of the iWork suite offers a good word processor and spreadsheet program along with its main feature, Keynote. Like iLife, reviewed last week, the new iWork suite seems to use a lot of system resources, but does provide useful software for Mac users.
Pages, the word processing program, is not a replacement for Word. It does allow standard document creation with a few advanced features, but serious users will want more. One feature, standard on most programs, which is lacking across all applications in iWork, is the auto save feature. This can be easily overcome by saving often, but most users would probably assume the feature is included.
Numbers, the spreadsheet program, also suffers from lack of some basic functionality. It is appropriate, however, for the casual user who only uses a spreadsheet from time to time for simple tasks.
Keynote, the presentation software, is better than other similar offerings. Keynote offers features not found on competitors that will make a presentation far more appealing.
Overall, iWork is a reasonably priced entry level productivity suite. Users interested in the Keynote application will find it alone worth the $79 price of iWork. Users looking to replace Office for Mac may be slightly disappointed, especially if they still share files with Office users since the importing and exporting functions leave something to be desired.
Fortunately, Apple offers a 30 day trial of the suite so users who are considering purchasing can try it out to make sure it will meet their needs.