iWork 09 crippled by High Sierra

[pitbull60077]

this seems strange to me, I just used the patch tool to install High Sierra on my 2009 MacBook pro and had iWork 09 on my laptop with El Capitan and after it was done with the install and post install operations according to the patch tool instructions when i ran software update it found updates for the iWork 09 suite and it seems to work just fine.

 

[HandyMac]

lI agree the PAGES upward compatibilities suffers like MS WORD, but I had hoped Apple would be much more user friendly than abandoning their print users who provided their bread and butter in the early decades.

I have nothing against LibreOffice, except will it be around for my grandchildren and does it supply User support as good as Apple.

I remember when PageMaker and the LaserWriter were perhaps the biggest factor's in the Mac's early success, and when the Macintosh was the platform for graphic design. It's been very sad watching Apple abandon its once fiercely loyal professional users in favor of ephemeral consumer crazes. The iPhone was/is a work of genius, but unfortunately the tail is now far larger than the dog, with predictable consequences.

As for LibreOffice, as a Mac user its major downside is its complexity and learning curve, but I've lately been considering moving to it precisely because it's far more likely to be around for your grandchildren, as one of their major aims is to "to free users from vendor lock-in of content" (the Document Liberation Project is part of the same umbrella organization as LibreOffice). LibreOffice is not as Mac-like and friendly as Pages, but given Apple's habit of abandoning whole user communities at whim (remember AppleWorks?), I know which one I'd bet on for the future. LibreOffice can already open a long list of old Mac formats – back to the original MacWrite and MS Word – and convert them into OpenDocument formats that are deliberately designed to last.

I don't know about user support, though LO certainly doesn't offer phone support. But like most open source software, it has a large, enthusiastic and friendly community who are glad to help.

 

[izzy0242mr]

I still rely on Pages 4.3 for a number of features that have still not made it to the new version. Unfortunately scrolling is crippling slow and laggy in HS.

Meanwhile, Keynote 5.3, which I still use largely because I prefer iWork 09's compact UI and independent tool windows, is buggy too in HS. It does not seem to cope with multiple tabs.

Tragic that these apps were replaced by lowest-common-denominator apps that (in the case of Pages) still don't allow me to work on some of my most important documents.

Really? I'm on HS and use Pages 4.3 as a daily driver. Works fantastically, no lagging issues at all. Have you done a clean install of iWork '09 and then installed updates? I love Pages 4.3 myself and wish there was a way to keep using it in future updates (I've heard 32-bit apps won't be supported anymore).

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

I still rely on Pages 4.3 for a number of features that have still not made it to the new version. Unfortunately scrolling is crippling slow and laggy in HS.

Meanwhile, Keynote 5.3, which I still use largely because I prefer iWork 09's compact UI and independent tool windows, is buggy too in HS. It does not seem to cope with multiple tabs.

Tragic that these apps were replaced by lowest-common-denominator apps that (in the case of Pages) still don't allow me to work on some of my most important documents.

Have you looked at virtual machines, like VMWare or Parallels?

Unfortunately, unless you have (could be wrong here) Developer Access ($100/yr), getting the older versions of OSX might be hard, but it can provide a solution to your problem.

This way, you can have your OS in the VM box, and then upgrade your machine as time rolls on.

Hope this helps...

 

[casperes1996]

Unfortunately, unless you have (could be wrong here) Developer Access ($100/yr), getting the older versions of OSX might be hard, but it can provide a solution to your problem.

That's not necessary at all! I've archived old releases of macOS installers on my Time Capsule. And they can all be redownloaded from the App Store's purchased tab (on non-HS)

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

That's not necessary at all! I've archived old releases of macOS installers on my Time Capsule. And they can all be redownloaded from the App Store's purchased tab (on non-HS)

That is good to hear!

I joined the developer program for a couple of reasons, one of which was to get snow leopard and put it on a thumb drive for older macs I have, where that’s a common denominator for a baseline software installation. I didn’t want to figure the highest os I needed to download, put that on a thumb drive, and then have it sitting in a drawer to get lost/reused for something else. Now it’s just Snow Leopars, upgrade until it can’t go any higher and go.

 

[Outerlimitsfan]

The problem is that younger users have never used Pages 09 so they think were just old and not adapting to the times when we complain about lack of features.
I've explored the new Pages on my iMac and iPad Pro till my hair began to fall out and at least 80% of the features from the 09 version are still missing in the new ones.
Apparently most users are perfectly happy with this "dumbed down" version so I suspect Apple will never really develop Pages to it's former glory.
So far, I've been able to still use my old version with this new OS, and while the system promps me to update all the time, I can still ignore those messages and open documents from within the old version.
I love Apple products, but when Pages 09 is made obsolete, I'll look elsewhere for a publishing program. (and it won't be Microsoft either!)
I get it that Apple wants all the apps and programs to work on all their platforms seamlessly, but frankly Im not willing to pay that high a price (lack of features and clunky non-intuitive operation.)
Sometime new is not better, Freehand was better than Illustrator and Pages 09 is still way better than the "new" Pages by a ton.
We can make suggestions on Apple's web-site but I'm afraid this time they will fall on deaf ears.

 

[johnwalz]

Really? I'm on HS and use Pages 4.3 as a daily driver. Works fantastically, no lagging issues at all. Have you done a clean install of iWork '09 and then installed updates? I love Pages 4.3 myself and wish there was a way to keep using it in future updates (I've heard 32-bit apps won't be supported anymore).

[doublepost=1533263914][/doublepost]This is good news to me as I have held back updating to High Sierra to stayed with Sierra.
Any problems with othe iWorks Numbers and Keynote on HS?

 

[MultiFinder17]

I haven’t run into many issues with Pages 4.3, however, Keynote has been giving me headaches. I have one particular presentation I use during exams at school that includes a live clock on the slide as a Quartz insert. This no longer functions at all under High Sierra. Keynote refuses to play the presentation, and the newer versions of Keynote don’t play the clock live. I keep around an old mini running Lion that I got for free just for exam week.

 

[elephantraccoon25]

I haven’t run into many issues with Pages 4.3, however, Keynote has been giving me headaches. I have one particular presentation I use during exams at school that includes a live clock on the slide as a Quartz insert. This no longer functions at all under High Sierra. Keynote refuses to play the presentation, and the newer versions of Keynote don’t play the clock live. I keep around an old mini running Lion that I got for free just for exam week.

For those who encounter "An unexpected error has occurred. Please quit and reopen Keynote" (as shown below) when playing a presentation in Keynote'09 full screen, I have a fix.

Here's how to get Keynote'09 to play slideshows in full screen under macOS High Sierra and macOS Mojave Public Beta:

1. Open Terminal, and paste in the following command (adjust path based on where Keynote’09 is installed on your machine):
codesign --remove-signature /Applications/Keynote.app/Contents/MacOS/Keynote
2. Press the return key and close Terminal.
3. Download and install Hex Friend from https://ridiculousfish.com/hexfiend/
4. Open Hex Friend and leave the app open, so that it has an icon on your Dock.
5. Go to Finder, then navigate to Applications -> Keynote.app (again, adjust path based on where Keynote’09 is installed on your machine).
6. Right click on the Keynote’09 app, then click on Show Package Contents.
7. Navigate to Contents -> MacOS. Then drag the Keynote file onto the icon of Hex Friend on your Dock.
8. On Hex Friend's menu bar, click on Edit -> Mode -> Overwrite.
9. Use Command + F to invoke the search field, then search for Hex value “55 A1 30 07“ (without quotation marks).
10. Overwrite “55 A1 30 07“ into “C3 A1 30 07”. Basically, you only need to change ’55’ into ‘C3’. (Note: You have to overwrite it manually. DO NOT USE THE BUILT-IN REPLACE FEATURE.)
11. Save the file with Command + S.
12. Run Keynote’09, and your presentation should play correctly in full screen.

 

[MultiFinder17]

For those who encounter "An unexpected error has occurred. Please quit and reopen Keynote" (as shown below) when playing a presentation in Keynote'09 full screen, I have a fix.

On the plus side, that does allow regular slideshows to play without issue. However, the live Quartz clock that I have embedded in the presentation still doesn't play in Keynote '09. Ah well.

I'll just keep an old Mac around for playing that particular presentation. My old PowerBook from college plays it just fine

 

[elephantraccoon25]

On the plus side, that does allow regular slideshows to play without issue. However, the live Quartz clock that I have embedded in the presentation still doesn't play in Keynote '09. Ah well.

I'll just keep an old Mac around for playing that particular presentation. My old PowerBook from college plays it just fine

Glad you've got a backup Mac to run the presentation! However, would you mind sharing your Keynote document with the Quartz clock embed, so that I can take a closer look?

 

[JoeInMilwaukee]

I, too, am running iWork '09 (on 10.12 Sierra) but am reluctant to upgrade to the latest iWork applications not because of lack of features (I don't use anything beyond the basics) but because iWork '09 documents can't be saved in iWork '09 format!

 

[Amotilos]

elephantraccoon25​

Thank you so much for your hack!
It has literally saved my life, bacon, whatever! Thank you!!!