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Sure it's the right thing to do. Apple is designing iWork for the 99%. Some of those features may be added back when they can implement them properly across all

by IBM 13y ago

Sure it's the right thing to do. Apple is designing iWork for the 99%. Some of those features may be added back when they can implement them properly across all versions of iWork, but I wouldn't be surprised if they don't. I think Apple is taking steps to make inroads in enterprise and I think they'll be successful. Numbers is never going to replace Excel for an investment banker, but it's not intended to. Most people in Corporate America don't actually need Word or Excel to perform their job, it's just what IT departments bought and that's the standard. For 99% of enterprise users, there really isn't a barrier to switching to another productivity suite. It's mainly just institutional inertia from the IT departments. Their concerns will be alleviated as well when Apple keeps building out tools to make their lives easier, like the recent volume app purchasing made available. And most importantly, the total cost of ownership is going to look different now that OS upgrades and iWork upgrades will be free going forward, making iOS devices and Macs more enticing a choice. edit: Matthew Panzarino discusses what Apple is going for with the iWork changes. http://techcrunch.com/2013/10/26/stop-freaking-out-about-iwork/ http://techcrunch.com/2013/10/26/stop-freaking-out-about-iwo...

Touche 13y ago
> For 99% of enterprise users, there really isn't a barrier to switching to another productivity suite. Well, not running on Windows is a barrier. The iPad has gained some acceptance in Enterprise for salespeople but until it gets more official keyboard support and corporate controls added it won't replace office computers. There is iWorks web apps but there you're competing with Google Docs and Google Docs is the gold standard safe bet. Pretty much every company that switches off Office goes to Docs. They want the full suite, not just a word processor and spreadsheet, what's Apple's enterprise email solution? Also Google makes a handful of utilities that make it easier to transition off of Office, like Google Apps Sync[1]. Apple's going to have to give up their "we only write software for our own platforms" stance if they want to seriously compete in the enterprise. [1]https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gappssync https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gappssync
- shadesandcolour 13y ago
  There's mail support built into OS X Server. Will it handle as many users as an exchange server? Probably not, but the built in mail clients on all of the iOS and Mac devices handle exchange email _relatively_ well (duck and hide!). As for making it easy to transition off of Office, Pages, Numbers and Keynote will all open up all of the microsoft file formats.
graeme 13y ago
It's still a huge slap in the face to those who's been using Pages for anything even slightly complicated. I'm an author. I wrote my books in Pages, loved it, and recommended it to everyone. I'm now very glad I didn't upgrade, because Pages 5 would make it impossible to format my books. I'm the sort of guy who tells everyone he knows "buy a Mac!". I'm now hesitant, for the first time in a long while. I'm very concerned about iOS-ification. I bought this machine because I use it to do things. This happened in 2011 with Final Cut Pro. Apple lost a lot of video editors, and my understanding is that their mindshare didn't bounce back.
- ghshephard 13y ago
  "I'm the sort of guy who tells everyone he knows "buy a Mac!". I'm now hesitant, for the first time in a long while. " You can still buy a Mac and use Office (MS Excel best spreadsheet on the planet), or Scrivener, etc... Apple is distracted (perhaps correctly so) by the MASSIVE revenue/profit stream that is iOS. The Software revenue for the Mac is minuscule in comparison. All of their attention/energy will be pouring gasoline on the iOS platform, possibly to the exclusion of everything else. The good news is we can ignore the Apps that Apple is churning out, and use the ones that make sense for us. I'm a 4+ year Aperture user who probably is going to have to bite the bullet and shift to Lightroom (perhaps 2 years later than I should). On the pro-side, nobody in business was using the Numbers product, so they aren't in any way impacted by the iWork news. I do feel for those who used Pages (I actually know quite a few who preferred it to Word) - but, the old version of Pages still works, even after Upgrade, and, eventually, the Pages product will start to move forward again as the iOS platform evolves. Overall rational and profit seeking move by Apple, even if it does screw a lot of their power users.
- oneeyedpigeon 13y ago
  Apple would rather you write a book in iBooks Author than anything else. Pages and MS Word have never really been products for the professional author: they are consumer-class apps for the mass-market. Apple recognises this to a greater extent than Microsoft, and by cutting functionality, they can vastly improve usability for the core market. Whether they will bother to fill the void left with their own professional writing software or not is up for debate; they will, IMO, just leave that to Adobe. I think you should still tell everyone you know to buy a Mac. Just tell those who are professional-class writers that the latest version of Pages might not fulfil their needs and point out the alternatives.

by IBM 13y ago

Touche 13y ago

> For 99% of enterprise users, there really isn't a barrier to switching to another productivity suite. Well, not running on Windows is a barrier. The iPad has gained some acceptance in Enterprise for salespeople but until it gets more official keyboard support and corporate controls added it won't replace office computers. There is iWorks web apps but there you're competing with Google Docs and Google Docs is the gold standard safe bet. Pretty much every company that switches off Office goes to Docs. They want the full suite, not just a word processor and spreadsheet, what's Apple's enterprise email solution? Also Google makes a handful of utilities that make it easier to transition off of Office, like Google Apps Sync[1]. Apple's going to have to give up their "we only write software for our own platforms" stance if they want to seriously compete in the enterprise. [1]https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gappssync https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gappssync

shadesandcolour 13y ago
There's mail support built into OS X Server. Will it handle as many users as an exchange server? Probably not, but the built in mail clients on all of the iOS and Mac devices handle exchange email _relatively_ well (duck and hide!). As for making it easy to transition off of Office, Pages, Numbers and Keynote will all open up all of the microsoft file formats.

graeme 13y ago

It's still a huge slap in the face to those who's been using Pages for anything even slightly complicated. I'm an author. I wrote my books in Pages, loved it, and recommended it to everyone. I'm now very glad I didn't upgrade, because Pages 5 would make it impossible to format my books. I'm the sort of guy who tells everyone he knows "buy a Mac!". I'm now hesitant, for the first time in a long while. I'm very concerned about iOS-ification. I bought this machine because I use it to do things. This happened in 2011 with Final Cut Pro. Apple lost a lot of video editors, and my understanding is that their mindshare didn't bounce back.

ghshephard 13y ago
"I'm the sort of guy who tells everyone he knows "buy a Mac!". I'm now hesitant, for the first time in a long while. " You can still buy a Mac and use Office (MS Excel best spreadsheet on the planet), or Scrivener, etc... Apple is distracted (perhaps correctly so) by the MASSIVE revenue/profit stream that is iOS. The Software revenue for the Mac is minuscule in comparison. All of their attention/energy will be pouring gasoline on the iOS platform, possibly to the exclusion of everything else. The good news is we can ignore the Apps that Apple is churning out, and use the ones that make sense for us. I'm a 4+ year Aperture user who probably is going to have to bite the bullet and shift to Lightroom (perhaps 2 years later than I should). On the pro-side, nobody in business was using the Numbers product, so they aren't in any way impacted by the iWork news. I do feel for those who used Pages (I actually know quite a few who preferred it to Word) - but, the old version of Pages still works, even after Upgrade, and, eventually, the Pages product will start to move forward again as the iOS platform evolves. Overall rational and profit seeking move by Apple, even if it does screw a lot of their power users.
oneeyedpigeon 13y ago
Apple would rather you write a book in iBooks Author than anything else. Pages and MS Word have never really been products for the professional author: they are consumer-class apps for the mass-market. Apple recognises this to a greater extent than Microsoft, and by cutting functionality, they can vastly improve usability for the core market. Whether they will bother to fill the void left with their own professional writing software or not is up for debate; they will, IMO, just leave that to Adobe. I think you should still tell everyone you know to buy a Mac. Just tell those who are professional-class writers that the latest version of Pages might not fulfil their needs and point out the alternatives.