Apple has a series of FREE online seminars, including one on using iWork '08 in a business environment. Presented together with Rebecca Breitenkamp, the CFO of a biotech company that uses iWork internally, the half-hour video goes over some of the basic ways that Pages, Numbers, and Keynote can be used in a corporate setting.

After you have signed up for these free seminars, you can either view the videos on-line, or download them play back on your iPod.

Source: TUAW

Tags: iWork '08

With the beta release of OpenOffice 3, I decided to download and try out this free fully fledged office suite. After playing the this version for a short while I decided to write a brief overview of this and the other office suites that I have used, and that are available to us Mac users. Currently there are 3 main office suite contenders, and depending on your requirements will depend on which products is best for you. I have not included NeoOffice in this overview, as whilst I have used it, and it is a very good free application, it is based on OpenOffice version 2.

OpenOffice 3 Beta First Impressions

I was pleasantly surprised at how much this Mac version had moved on from version 2, which is now completely native, and does not require X11. When you launch the OpenOffice you are presented with a splash screen where you select to open a document, or choose which application you want to start. Everything seemed to run smoothly, although the first time I ran OpenOffice it did stop responding, and I had to do a force quit, but from then on everything worked smoothly. The interface in version 3 is a clean as on previous versions, and I do like this cleanness , something that Microsoft should bare in mind. OpenOffice reminds me of an early version of Microsoft Works, back when I used Windows 95!! and it's this basic look and feel that will appeal to many.

I receive quite a few MS Office files from different people and these all opened with no major issues (providing the original file has been created properly). A spreadsheet originally created in Office 2003 for Windows, and then migrated to Office 2004 for Mac opened with no problems. This was only a basic spreadsheet, but contains a large number of user software license keys. A test on a MS Word document did show up a problem with OpenOffice, where the 1 page document rolled over to a second page, but this could have been due to a poorly created and formated document. Changing the header and footer margins easily fixed this problem, however would cause major formating problems if a multipage document.

I do not use PowerPoint presentations, so was unable to test compatibility of these files.

iWork '08

iWork '08 is Apple's office suite offering, which I have had installed for sometime now, but very rarely use. Whilst iWork looks smooth, and is ideal if you have used previous versions, or only need an office product for personal use, it is let down by its inability to support MS Office documents 100%. iWork had the same issue with the test Word document, as OpenOffice did, and did not like the spreadsheet at all.

Microsoft Office 2008

I have only just installed Office 2008, and as you would expect this is a true Microsoft product, that like all previous Windows versions has grown bigger and better (or so Microsoft would have us believe), and has adopted a similar look and feel of Office 2007 for Windows. The test Word document open with no problems and was formated as the sender had intended. The spreadsheet on the other hand opened reporting an error with the file and warning that data may be lost. Initially I could not find any missing data, so I Googled the error, and to my surprise (not) this was a known Microsoft issue. It turns out that Microsoft does not support hypertext links with in spreadsheets, and removes all hypertext links. For me this was not a problem, as the links were not essential, but if you have a spreadsheet with lots of links that are needed (i.e. hypertext links to other documents), then this will cause you a major headache.

As I said earlier I do not have a requirement for PowerPoint presentations, so I have not tried or tested this part of the suite. I have looked at but not yet migrated my email to Entourage (Outlook), but intend to do so when I have found a suitable way of migrating all my emails from ThunderBird.

Which Office suite?

I have only had MS Office 2008 and OpenOffice 3 Beta for a few days, but even though still in beta, for me OpenOffice gets my vote, as it costs absolutely nothing £0!! and is a great office suite. If however you need to exchange files regularly with users of MS Office, then I would suggest using Office 2008 as this will offer better compatibility and supportability, however if you just need a good general use office suite, then the free OpenOffice suite is the best bet. For me iWork '08 falls short with its compatibility issues, and with only a small price difference between MS Office 2008 and iWork '08, I'm afraid I would leave iWork '08 on the shelf (sorry Apple).

Tags: OpenOffice 3 Beta, iWork '08, Office 2008