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rcrockett

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 3, 2005
23
0
Does anyone have a recommendation for AppleWorks or is there a better suite? Also, does anyone know of a site that one can buy and download a good suite like AW or something else?
 

TheZebster

macrumors newbie
Feb 1, 2003
4
0
AppleWorks is pretty bad software. Bad enough to be basically unusable, independent of stability. And boy does it crash a lot.

Pages is much better in terms of functionality. But the current version is very buggy, and crashes so much that it is also basically unusable.

The only viable option right now, unfortunately, is Microsoft Office.
 

andiwm2003

macrumors 601
Mar 29, 2004
4,382
454
Boston, MA
TheZebster said:
AppleWorks is pretty bad software. Bad enough to be basically unusable, independent of stability. And boy does it crash a lot.

Pages is much better in terms of functionality. But the current version is very buggy, and crashes so much that it is also basically unusable.

The only viable option right now, unfortunately, is Microsoft Office.


?????????????

apple works never crashed on me (PB 1.5 GHz, 10.3.8). it's limited but absolutely usable for basic stuff.

Pages never crashed on me (although I haven't used it that much yet).

maybe you should check your system?

andi
 

benbondu

macrumors regular
Jul 2, 2004
122
0
The word processor in AppleWorks is decent. It's enough for my needs anyway. I don't have any of the stability issues a previous post mentioned.

The spreadsheet program is sub-par. After using Excel I can't go back to AppleWorks. If you need a spreadsheet program, steer clear of AppleWorks.

The presentation program (like Power Point) is also pretty useless.

The drawing program is okay. Better than Microsoft Paint, but not even comparable to a real illustrating program from Adobe or Macromedia. I use it from time to time to make simple diagrams or maps to send over e-mail.

I think there's a 5th program included but I can't think of what it is. If it's a database program then I'm sure it's horrible.


I can't recommend AppleWorks to anyone. The only program included that's any good is the word processor and iWork is supposed to have a much better version of that, plus a great presentation program in Keynote 2. If you need a spreadsheet application then you should get MS Office for sure.
 

IJ Reilly

macrumors P6
Jul 16, 2002
17,909
1,496
Palookaville
AppleWorks is stable (for me), but it's over-the-hill. If it's just a word processor you're after, you should try Mellel -- I was considering adopting it myself, until Pages came out. Pages is very good, but has some performance issues that I hope Apple works out in future revisions. It hasn't crashed on me once in the month or so I've been using it.

MS Office? Beats a poke in the eye with sharp stick, but not by much. :p
 

IJ Reilly

macrumors P6
Jul 16, 2002
17,909
1,496
Palookaville
Also: the freeware AbiWord.

It looks eerily like MS Word, which I suppose was the idea. Kind of gives me the creeps, but others may find it comforting.
 
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