iWant iWork
Posted January 3rd, 2005 @ 06:20pm by Erik J. Barzeski
This may be the best evidence yet of an upcoming "iWork."
Update: According to filings at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the "iWork" name is currently registered by Apple, with the previous registrant being IGG Software--hinting that Apple acquired (paid for) the rights to the mark. The change was made in August 2004.
iCan't iWait! I've been longing for a replacement to AppleWorks for quite some time. I use AppleWorks for 98% of my document needs, and if the app can export to and from Microsoft Word pretty seamlessly (at least as well as Keynote <-> PowerPoint), then I may be able to use "Pages" for my book project instead of Word.
But beyond that, my lips are sealed. I've got lots of friends inside Apple (and many more former co-workers that I don't consider more than acquaintances), but I haven't bothered to ask them about iWork. Nor will I… I'm just going to hope to be surprised.
Donate Life
Posted 03 Jan 2005 at 6:33pm #
It's funny that I can want something that I've never seen, but then again, Apple has had those three Gobe coders squirreled away for some time now, and AppleWorks is more than long in the tooth.
Gruber has a few thoughts (or less) too. Some better links than the MacMinute article, mostly.
Posted 04 Jan 2005 at 11:20am #
Of course even if they did know they probably wouldn't even tell you what is coming.
I am pretty sure it will have good MS Office compatibility, if TextEdit is any example.
Posted 04 Jan 2005 at 11:35am #
They'd tell me. I don't blab secrets.
Posted 04 Jan 2005 at 12:04pm #
The one thing I'd *love* to see is compatibility with the new XML - based office documents. That would be a major plus for it.
Posted 04 Jan 2005 at 1:55pm #
I would like to see an updated AppleWorks, but I would prefer to see separate apps. Apple is great at app integration, and apps are better when they focus on what they do best rather than trying to be all things to all people. So, I would like to see a word-processor app and a separate spreadsheet app. Keynote covers the presentation space and FileMaker the database space, although there is a market for a simpler database for consumers. Separate apps with MS Office interoperability would make them more useful to businesses and corporate clients, which I'm sure is a major target. If they do update AppleWorks and keep it as one app, that would be good for consumer clients but perhaps less appealing to corporate clients. I'm pretty sure they would drop the presentation module. But hey! I've been wrong before and I would love to be surprised.