Apple debuts iWork '08

According to good-old Steve Jobs, speaking at Apple's summer press conference, the company's productivity powerhouse iWork '08 is on the way, and it will feature a ton of enhancements for Keynote and Pages, plus it introduces a new app to the mix: Numbers. The new component will apparently be giving Excel a run for its money, with a slew of new data-handling functions and spreadsheet-ing capabilities. Jobs calls the new edition -- which imports / exports in Excel format -- a "spreadsheet for the rest of us," and touts all sorts of easy to access features like intelligent tables, readable formulas, the use of multiple formats on single page, and the ability to make what Jobsy calls "gorgeous looking spreadsheets very quickly." Additionally, Keynote and Pages have received some updating, with new text effects and transitions for Apple's Power Point competitor, as well as "Smart Builds," new themes, and easier to access animation tools. Pages gets re-upped with a contextual format bar, built-in change tracking, further compatibility with Word, and 140 Apple-designed templates for documents. The whole shebang is available right now from Apple for $79 (or $99 for the family pack).

[Mikey P @ Aug 7th 2007 2:35PM]

Welcome to the '80's Apple! :)

At least now iWork can start being taken seriously...

[fischju @ Aug 7th 2007 2:41PM]

All iWork and no iPlay makes Stevey a dull boy

[fischju @ Aug 7th 2007 2:42PM]

All iWork and no iPlay makes Stevey a dull boy

[mitch @ Aug 7th 2007 3:22PM]

So now Apple is copying windows...

[Geoffrey Sperl @ Aug 7th 2007 4:22PM]

No, Apple is copying Office.

It's funnier when you get the joke RIGHT.

[Ryan Karolak @ Aug 7th 2007 11:44PM]

Apple has had Appleworks for some time now. Word-processing is not really new to Apple.

[christapher @ Aug 9th 2007 11:21AM]

not to mention how apple had the [publishing rights to the] very first spreadsheet app ever

[Chicksta @ Aug 7th 2007 3:26PM]

I hope you all are kidding and do realize that Apple, Claris, Lotus, Microsoft, etc. have all made spreadsheet software for Macs for decades - as in 'longer than for Windows'. AppleWorks (which is what ClarisWorks became) still has that spreadsheet as well as database software, too. I'm always surprised at how many people don't even know FileMaker is owned by Apple.

[Geoffrey Sperl @ Aug 7th 2007 4:24PM]

I would like to see a FM "Lite" thrown into iWork... that would make it a nice suite for office work at home.

Hell, at least with Numbers I might be able to get my mother to by a Mac when she gets a new machine (I am so sick and tired of supported her POS Windows XP box).

[waLLy @ Aug 7th 2007 3:32PM]

For what MS charges for even the most basic Office packages, this might not be that bad of a deal. I still refuse to pay a premium for a Mac, but this suite definitely has my interests piqued. I just really want to know exactly how friendly Numbers is with Excel.

[GregA @ Aug 7th 2007 6:53PM]

Microsoft charges $40 for their most basic office packages.

[scott @ Aug 7th 2007 3:34PM]

Actually, Apple is copying a company called DeltaPoint. For those of us with long enough memories remember a superb little spreadsheet app called Trapeze from the '80s that works exactly the way that Numbers does.

Don't get me wrong, I loved Trapeze back then and lamented it's demise. I'm actually excited to see it brought up to date (and will be buying a copy Thursday when I'm in the city). But let's give credit where it's due (and hope Apple paid the current owners of Trapeze for their intellectual property).

[Jim @ Aug 8th 2007 8:38AM]

Make that Data Tailor, the original developer of Trapeze.

[mrhammerstein @ Aug 7th 2007 3:44PM]

"The new component will apparently be giving Excel a run for its money"

really? i don't ever forsee any company going out and buying iWork over MS Office. I think you meant to say, "The new component will apparently be 'the Mac version of' Excel a run for its money. nice try though.

[Geoffrey Sperl @ Aug 7th 2007 4:27PM]

No, it will give Excel a run for its money... but in the home, which is where iWork is focused. iWork is not seen as an "office" solution.

[Tom Vachon @ Aug 7th 2007 6:01PM]

It isnt an office solution except for Keynote which blows the pants off PPT (well at least until 08 hits the mac in January). However, I see Keynote 3 beating PPT as they have seen "Office 08" becasue its been on Windows for almost a year.

[Henry @ Aug 7th 2007 3:53PM]

Does it let you cut and paste?

[Barry Wiseman @ Aug 7th 2007 4:38PM]

Any word on whether there will be a downloadable demo? I for one would like to play with it a bit and see if it's worth the $79. On first glance, both this and iLife look great!!

[Tom Vachon @ Aug 7th 2007 6:01PM]

not likely, not apple's style

[Barry Wiseman @ Aug 7th 2007 6:15PM]

Actually, they just posted an iwork trial: http://www.apple.com/iwork/

[VayVay @ Aug 7th 2007 6:08PM]

Ask and ye shall receive:

http://www.apple.com/iwork/trial/

[Jean-Michel Decombe @ Aug 7th 2007 6:09PM]

I like the speed and polish of native applications but unless Numbers '08 (and Pages '08, etc.) have some way to let people edit or view the same spreadsheet (at least asynchronously) over the Web no matter what their OS is, just like Google Docs and similar apps, all I can say is: *BIG YAWN*. People want to edit their content directly on context nowadays, ya know... and the context is generally in a Web page.

[DoubtFull @ Aug 7th 2007 7:29PM]

Apple's "Numbers" spreadsheet will not be a serious 'threat' to Excel unless it also has Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) compatibility support. That's not going to exist in the upcoming Office 2008 platform for Mac OS X and because of that Microsoft Office for Mac 2008 will be dead on arrival -- no true compatibility with the Office 2007 version on Windows. This attempt by Apple is probably in response but from a corporate perspective nobody will ever use a Mac again (unless running Windows) to work with financial data -- Excel owns that market and now it will no longer 'work' on Mac machines in a truly compatible mode.

[Bill @ Aug 7th 2007 8:12PM]

There is likely to be a demo with a new computer or upgrade disc, but I have yet to see Apple make iWork trialware. Mac Office for students is not much more expensive and fairly robust, and NeoOffice is free. I still like Mac Office as no one [Windows] has ever had compatibility problems with my documents, but did have some problems with an older version of iWork. I bet that it will be included software with iMacs, but not laptops or Towers. But what do I know?

[Taylor @ Aug 8th 2007 3:29AM]

iWork *is* trialware.

http://www.apple.com/iwork/trial/

Plus, all new Macs shipping after today (even the un-updated models) come with a free 30-day trial.

[Steve Thompson @ Aug 7th 2007 10:27PM]

Just downloaded the trial, opened it up, and what can I say... I love it!!! Pages is better than in '06, same with Keynote. Numbers is so much nicer than Excel.
I'm a high school student, and I can definitely say that I would do so well using this suite. I tried opening up some probability simulations made in Excel for my Data Management class, and they worked perfectly.

[Eddie @ Aug 8th 2007 6:06AM]

I have my doubts that Numbers supports round tripping of the OpenOffice Spreadsheet (ODS) format which is a shame because today's world is about collaboration and as Apple touts itself as a company to Think Different and pushes the envelope, then why not at least support OpenDocument so we can have reasonable document preservation and schema free of tyranny?

[Galley @ Aug 8th 2007 9:52AM]

Numbers is everything I could have hoped for in a spreadsheet app. I (formerly) used Excel to create business forms.

[Brandon @ Aug 8th 2007 1:59PM]

Agreed. Numbers plays extremely nice with Excel documents. I've been opening up the most complex tax and element combination reaction flows I can find and it's working out all the advanced calculations with the ease that so readily defines Apple software. +1, nicely done Steve.

[Bill Hedges @ Aug 9th 2007 4:56AM]

Think you guys are missing the point - when 10.5 comes out, with the update to .Mac to 10Gb, .Mac being able to remote access your machines in 10.5, and the iPhone combined with iWork, iLife, iPod and Apple TV - Hello!!! Home people will be doing what the business people can, but easier and better. Who were the phone idiots who said the iPhone would not take off because there were no Apps for it. This has been well thought out, planned and timed. Cudos to Apple. Here is your phone apps.

[Sarvesh @ Aug 9th 2007 9:27AM]

wassa

[Pakk99 @ Aug 12th 2007 8:22PM]

To Mikey P, I actually own a copy of iWork '08 (Mac) as well as Office '07 (PC), and frankly pal, iWork is light years ahead of the M$'s dinosaur. M$ has even gone so far as trying to copy iWork 06's interface and basic organization. Numbers is so much more efficient a program than Excel and allows our company to store our data, our way, in a significantly more intelligent arrangement than Excel. Further, Power Point has never even come close to matching Keynote for ease of use, integration with other applications, and quality of output...even in Office 07. And Pages already offers an attractive and equally useful alternative to Word. So much so, that we're dropping all of our copies of Office 07 on eBay later this week. Bye, bye M$. If iWork is the 80's, Office is the 70s.

[Pakk99 @ Aug 23rd 2007 10:41AM]

I'd like to amend my previous post...iWork's interface and integration with the rest of the OS is light years ahead of Office. Excel is still more powerful overall than Numbers, and Word is a more complete word processor than Pages. That said, Keynote makes PowerPoint '07 look archaic, even with Escher (Microsoft's latest less-than-stellar attempt at a quality rendering engine), and Pages is a significantly better page layout program than Word 07 (even with Word's new page layout features). Of course, I judge the entire suite as a professional creative director and freelance graphic designer, and not as an accountant or business manager. Now if iWork '08 would just play a little nicer with Office.