Mac Iwork Vs Microsoft Office
May 15, 2019 The first key factor to consider when choosing between MS Office and Apple iWork is your operating system. IWork is available to use on Apple devices (Mac, iPad, iPhone) and can only be used on a Windows device via iCloud. Apple does not currently offer a.
iPhone and iPad owners have an amazing problem — iOS is the only platform with all major office suites. The good news is: we get to choose between Apple iWork (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote), Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint), and Google Docs (Docs, Sheets, and Slides). The bad news is: we have to choose between Apple iWork, Microsoft Office, and Google Docs. And it can be a tough choice! iWork is great for consumers. Microsoft Office is the enterprise standard. Google Docs is increasingly everywhere. So, which one is best? We put them to the test so you can find out!
Word processing: Pages vs Word vs Docs
One of the most common things we do with an Office suite is create documents or PDFs. Whether you need to update your resume, complete an assignment for school, or create a flyer for an event, or something else, you need to be able to get the text in efficiently and format it effectively.
In terms of templates, both Pages and Word offer a decent selection to choose from. Everything from reports to resumes to outlines to fliers and more. Google Docs doesn't offer templates and simply launched you right into a blank text document. So if you're looking for templates, you're going to want to use either Pages or Word.
When it comes to feature set and editing tools, Pages uses interactive formatting in order to let you select different elements. Editing tools and the format menu will change depending on what you have selected. When you're typing, a formatting bar will appear over the keyboard so you can easily adjust fonts, alignment, breaks, and more. You can also add tables, charts, graphs, shapes, and photos in just a few taps. Overall, Pages offers a robust feature set that remains easy to use and works great on a touch interface. When it comes time to export your documents, Pages supports .doc and .docx as well. Pair Pages with a Bluetooth keyboard and it's almost comparable to the desktop version of Pages.
Microsoft Word has been completely designed around a touch screen interface, but will be familiar to desktop Office users as well. (This is true across all the Microsoft apps.) There are tabs for creating, formatting, and editing your documents. In just two taps you can insert or format pretty much any object you'd like. Some features such as tracking and reviewing changes, section breaks, and a few others will require an Office 365 Premium subscription. Either way, the free version of Word offers enough features that a good majority of folks will be able to accomplish what they need with zero issues. One thing I do wish Word had was the formatting toolbar similar to what Pages offers.
Google Docs is simpler than either Pages and Word, and the editing tools more basic. Like Word, I do wish Google had placed a formatting bar directly over the keyboard instead of at the top of the screen. Image insertion is also missing, which will be a deal breaker for many. (You can go back to the web version to do it, but that's a terrible work around.)
When it comes to word processing, Pages and Word are equal in terms of feature set. However, certain features such as review tracking, section breaks, and more are free with Pages but require premium subscription with Microsoft Word. So unless you need Word or simply prefer the layout, Pages currently offers the best value for most people.
Spreadsheets: Numbers vs Excel vs Sheets
Numbers proves that doing calculations doesn't have to be painful on an iPad or iPhone. Just plot your data and then choose what kind of table, graph, or chart you'd like to use to represent it. The keyboard also changes dynamically in order suit what you're doing. So if you type an = sign in order to start a formula, Numbers automatically gives you a full number pad and relevant buttons you may want to use. There are also lots of templates to choose from in Numbers including ones to create budgets, calculate net worth, track grades (great for teachers), plan travel, and much more.
There's no disputing that Microsoft Excel has been the king of spreadsheets. The main reason for that is the robust feature set. There's no denying in networked office environments, Excel can't be beat. Microsoft did good job bringing the experience to the iPhone and iPad as well. When using formulas in Excel, the formatting bar automatically brings up suggestions to make handling complex formulas an easier job. The keyboard also is suited for entering numbers and editing formulas, a feature I wish the Word application received as well in terms of a formatting bar. Some features, however, will require a premium subscription.
Google Sheets is a barebones spreadsheet application that allows you to create spreadsheets but without the help of a lot of formatting tools and templates that are offered in competitor apps such as Excel and Numbers. However, if your main purpose is to track data between large groups of people, Google's collaboration tools are some of the best around. Just share sheets with whoever you need to via email and once they accept you can view changes, make comments to each other, and even see who's changing what in real time.
If feature set and advanced tools are your main concern, there's none better than Excel. If you're new to spreadsheets and would appreciate a balance between ease of use and feature set, Numbers is for you. If collaboration tools are what you're after and your feature requirements are minimal, Google Sheets will suit you just fine.
Presentations: Keynote vs PowerPoint vs Slides
Keynote has always been Apple's best office app, and the same holds true on iOS. Aside from offering gorgeous templates to choose from, Keynote's interface feels as it if were made for the touch screen. Adding slides couldn't be easier, and neither could tweaking them to your liking. Just like the other iWork apps, formatting and editing is interactive, so the menus will change depending on what type of content you're working with. The Keynote Remote feature also lets you use one iOS device as a remote to control a presentation on another, or even on a Mac.
PowerPoint is no a slouch when it comes to creating presentations either. You can create animations, transitions, and much more in just a few taps. If you've ever used PowerPoint on the desktop computer, the experience is very much the same on iPad and iPhone. Inserting objects is also easy and includes support not only for tables and pictures, but videos as well.
Unfortunately Google Slides doesn't provide as great of an experience as either Keynote or PowerPoint do. Slides are technically 'editable' but not functionally. You can add text into existing text boxes but there isn't a way to add, move, or edit them. Basically, you have to pick from Google's pre-made slides and be happy with text-only slides with no image support, unless, of course, you are okay with finishing things up from a web browser. You can choose themes on the web and then they'll sync down to the mobile version, but again, not very convenient.
Keynote and PowerPoint run neck and neck when it comes to creating presentations. Both support inserting images, videos, and other kinds of objects as well as the option to choose from many great looking templates. Google Slides can't really offer any of that.
Syncing, sharing, and collaborating
All of Apple's iWork apps tie in with iCloud. That means no matter what device you create something on, you'll be able to access it on any other iOS device or Mac that's linked to your account. (You can also use Continuity to Handoff documents between devices as you go.) All of Apple's iWork apps also support the most popular file formats and let you easily share what you create via email or by sharing an iCloud link.
Microsoft Office syncs with Office 365 so you can access all your work on the web from anywhere. You can also link Dropbox and pull files from there into any of the Office apps. Dropbox integration isn't something Google or Apple offer (though that may change in the future thanks to iOS 8's third-party storage provider support), so if you're tied into that ecosystem due to file sharing or some other factor, Office may be the best option for you.
Google uses Google Drive as a hub. There, you can view all your Docs, Sheets, and Slides files in one place, and they'll sync anywhere you can access Google Drive, including any desktop browser. You can easily share documents or export them from the apps and online. And when it comes to collaboration, Google can't be beat. Not only can you share Google Docs files with others so they can view and edit them, you can see what changes they're making live, which makes Google Docs a great option for workgroups and teams that need live collaboration options.
Who should use iWork?
If you're tied into an Apple ecosystem consisting of Macs and multiple iOS devices, and iCloud is your main syncing service of choice, Pages, Keynote, and Numbers will serve you well. All of the iWork apps manage to strike a great balance between feature set and ease of use. If you don't need the most advanced tools on the planet, the iWork apps are a great place to start. Also, if you're new to working with office documents, iWork is a great place to start.
- Pages - $9.99, free for newer iPhones, iPads, and Macs - Download Now
- Numbers, $9.99, free for newer iPhones, iPads, and Macs - Download Now
- Keynote, $9.99, free for newer iPhones, iPads, and Macs - Download Now
Who should use Microsoft Office?
Microsoft Office has always been the most advanced productivity suite on the market. Anyone that's already familiar with Office 365 on the PC will feel right at home with Office for iPad or iPhone. Office is also the only offering that includes Dropbox integration, which is something you'll want to consider if you keep most of your documents there. The more advanced features of Office will require a 365 subscription, however. If you already have an Office subscription, Microsoft Office is hands down the best option for you considering all the premium features you already have access to.
- Word - Free - Download Now
- Excel - Free - Download Now
- PowerPoint - Free - Download Now
Who should use Google Docs?
Google Docs is a barebones productivity suites but it's completely free and offers some of the best collaboration tools you can ask for. If you don't need all the fancy formatting and media capabilities, want to work with multiple people, and like having everything in the cloud, Google Docs is your best option. (If you work with presentations, however, you'd be well advised to pick up Keynote or PowerPoint as well...)
- Docs - Free - Download Now
- Sheets - Free - Download Now
- Slides - Free - Download Now
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⌚️✨😎We review the subtly blingy LAUT OMBRE SPARKLE Strap for Apple Watch
Bring a little bit of sparkle to your wrist, but not too much, with this colorful genuine leather Apple Watch band.
By Shane Cole
Saturday, November 23, 2013, 01:03 pm PT (04:03 pm ET)
What's included and how much does it cost?
While each suite's ancillary services —like hosted e-mail and file storage —differ slightly, all three platforms offer some variation on the age-old trio of word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations. For the purposes of this review, we will look only at those features available on iOS —iWork for iCloud's web-based document editing, for instance, is not included.
Apple's iWork suite counts three native apps, iOS versions of the company's Pages word processor, Numbers spreadsheet, and Keynote presentation creation application. Each app is free with the purchase of a new iOS device, but users who need to get up and running on their current handset or tablet will still need to purchase them in the App Store for $9.99 each.
Microsoft Office 365 is available from the software giant on a subscription basis, with varying costs and differing packages for home users and business users. We chose the $12.50-per-month Office 365 Small Business Premium plan, which is the least-costly option that grants access to the company's Office Mobile for iOS app. Unlike Apple's native app strategy, Microsoft has chosen to integrate its entire suite in to a single application, Office Mobile, though that strategy may soon change as rumors indicate an iOS version of the company's Word, Excel, and Powerpoint applications is on the way.
Google Docs is famously free for anyone with a Google account —which is now a large swath of internet users —though we chose to work with the company's Google Apps for Business platform at $50-per-user-per-year. Upgrading to Google Apps for Business does not add any additional features within the scope of this review, and the accompanying Google Drive iOS app is available free of charge to all users.
iWork
Apple's suite is, without question, the most feature-rich experience available on iOS. The ongoing 'Back to the Mac' iOS/OS X strategy combined with the company's renewed push into the enterprise and education markets have made the iOS versions of longtime tentpole applications first-class citizens, so much so that many users of their desktop counterparts feel iOS's influence has grown too strong.
What frustrates customers on the desktop, however, is at the same time a boon for mobile users. Document creation is easy, featuring most of the same predefined templates as Apple's desktop applications, while retaining a significant degree of control over style and layout. Editing existing documents —including collaboration features like Apple's implementation of change tracking and commenting —works smoothly, with synchronization between devices happening quickly in the background whether on Wi-Fi or mobile data.
Pages, Keynote, and Numbers on iOS are as feature-rich as their desktop counterparts.
Pages can import and export Microsoft Word documents, though some formatting is often lost in the transmogrification. We also found some small, yet annoying, issues with the new Pages user interface, such as a situation where on-screen controls for swapping images disappeared if the image was enlarged such that its edges moved off-screen. Because users can't pan around the Pages canvas on iOS, fixing this means resizing the images until the controls return, then enlarging it yet again after making changes.
Numbers is perhaps the most impressive iWork for iOS app in the context of power versus touchability. Apple has packed an admirable amount of the desktop application's functionality into the iOS app—�formula creation is particularly fine, as Cupertino has taken full advantage of iOS's ability to customize the keyboard to each specific purpose. Like its document and presentation siblings, Numbers can also import and export Microsoft Office-formatted documents.
Keynote may be the least-used of the three applications over the course of a typical workday, but it has seemingly received the same amount of attention from the iWork for iOS team at Apple as its more high-profile brethren. Creating a simple presentation revealed no areas that we found lacking, and unlike Pages, Keynote did not allow us to enlarge photos so much that controls disappeared offscreen.
Apple's recent focus on content sharing has carried over to iWork for iOS, and moving documents between an iPhone 5 and iPad Air both through iCloud and via the company's Bluetooth-based AirDrop technology worked well.
Microsoft Office 365
Microsoft's Office 365 is widely viewed as the company's response to the threat posed by the growing number of business that are choosing Google's web-based productivity applications over Microsoft's desktop software, and it shows. Microsoft's Office Mobile app is currently only available for iPhone, though the company does promise an iPad version is in the works. After signing in to Office Mobile with a valid organizational Office 365 account —which, in our testing, took nearly a full day to become active for one account but less than one hour for another —users can choose any Office document in their SkyDrive account to view or edit. The app is well designed, striking a nice balance between Apple's iOS 7 and Microsoft's Metro, but functionality is severely limited in comparison to its competition.
Office Mobile is fine for small changes, but falls down on creation.
Mac Iwork Vs Microsoft Office 2016
Office Mobile's Word implementation offers only basic formatting options. Text size can be changed and made bold, italicized, or struck through, while letter and highlight colors can also be applied in one of three pre-selected colors. Fonts and images cannot be swapped out, and we often experienced trouble selecting text for formatting.Excel fares much better in its mobile incarnation. The touch-based interface for basic spreadsheet functions appears to have been thoughtfully considered, and most of Excel's advanced formula functionality has made the transition. We did miss Numbers's customized formula keyboard, however, and the included charting functionality is rudimentary.
PowerPoint, unfortunately, seems to take its cues from Word rather than Excel. Users cannot create a new PowerPoint document in the Office Mobile app, and editing is restricted to changing text—�though no formatting options are available—�rearranging slides and adding presentation notes.
Google Docs
Google Docs exists in an uncanny valley between native and web applications, and not just on iOS—�Google's in-browser strategy extends across its entire platform. On iOS, the company makes Docs available through its free Google Drive application, which matches Google's other iOS properties with a Google Now-style user interface.
Like Microsoft's solution, Google Drive is the single native point of interaction for all of Google's productivity applications. The company has recently updated its entire iOS suite with single sign-on functionality, a convenient time-saving feature, especially for users with Google's two-factor authentication enabled.
Google Docs is ubiquitous, but Google Drive for iOS is flawed.
Word processing options are more advanced than those offered by Microsoft's Office Mobile but still fall far short of what Apple makes available in Pages. Users can swap fonts, change font size, and edit text and background colors in addition to standard bolding, italicizing, and underlining. Adding images is also not supported in the mobile version.
Spreadsheet editing is similarly simple, with basic options available in a spartan user interface. Creating formulas requires typing them in longhand, without the benefit of Numbers's custom keyboard or Excel's formula dictionary. Charting is nonexistent in the mobile application.
Presentations are a read-only affair in Google Drive for iOS. Users cannot make any changes, or even add presentation notes.
Reflecting Google's mastery of online services, sharing and synchronization work very well. Changes are reflected very quickly between devices, and because of its implementation as part of Google Drive, documents can easily be shared between users without a direct connection between devices. We also appreciated the granular sharing permissions, which allow the document owner to grant view-only, comment-only, or editing permissions to other users.
Mac Iwork Vs Microsoft Office 2015
Iwork
Conclusion
Unless users are in an organization that has standardized on Microsoft Office 365 or Google Apps for Business, there is little reason for iOS device owners to use anything other than Apple's first-party tools. Pages, Numbers, and Keynote are every bit as fast, stable, and feature-rich as their desktop counterparts and are a steal even for the small set of users who will need to pay to acquire them.