Which one is better to buy> iwork '06 or microsoft office (for a mac)?

Question

I just bought a macbook and found textedit to be very simple and not-much-to-do-with-it. But there is a microsoft office for a mac($150) and iwork '06 ($80) available. I would like to know which one is better in terms of quality of software and money, etc.

Answer 1

I have both on my Mac. I got Office v.X when I got my first mac, and have installed it on all my machines since then. I started using the demo of iWork on my MacBook Pro, since it was Universal binary, and absolutly loved it! I waited for the trial to end and then i ordered it. I used it for note-taking and found making charts and graph's were so much easier than anything Office can offer. Then I got into Keynote. I had always liked watching the presentations that Steve Jobs gave because he really knows the art of presentation zen. Building Keynote presentations and presenting them was all done with ease and class. Just compare Microsoft's presentation of Office (Mac or PC) and Apple's presentation of iWork '06 online, and you'll see the difference.

As far as compatibility goes, iWork can import Powerpoint and Word files just fine, with the exception of the Word Art feature in Office, which is crap, and if you're a professional of any kind, you shouldn't be using that anyway.

I still have the Word icon in my dock, but it hardly ever gets used. I really like iWork and would recommend it for anyone who likes the simplicity and the asthetics of Mac OS X to try it out. The only downfall is maybe in the corperate world, you may want to have MS Office as a back up for compatibilty sake, but as far as personal use, apply your creative side and wow your recipiants with great looking stuff!

Answer 2

Hi there...both are equally good programs. Depending on what your computing needs are: in a corporate setting Microsoft Office is ideal, however for personal use iWork is more cost effective. Open Office is even better for personal use and is free (http://www.openoffice.org/) and very stable as well as compatible with Microsoft, and iWork.

Answer 3

I have a Mac and hav Mac Office. I got it on sale for $99. I would try openoffice, it is supposed to be 100% compatible and even more stable then Office.

But personally Mac Office is more stable then the windows version.

Answer 4

probably for a mac then i would go with the iwork because it is made for a mac. but Microsoft offers more then just a word writing program.

Answer 5

microsoft office

Answer 6

Not sure obout those two, but why not try open office?

openoffice.org

Why, because it's free and MS office compatible!