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Different Professional Office Suites

I am highly considering switching to a Mac from my old PC. I have recently read your book, and it doesn’t really state an opinion on each of the office suites. Which one would you recommend:iWork or Microsoft Office for Mac?

— Ethan

Comments: 4 Responses to “Different Professional Office Suites”

    14 years ago

    It depends on a lot of factors. Mostly on your experience and how you need to use them.
    I use iWork because I like those applications. They are very nice to use.
    But I also use MS Office because I sometimes work with others who prefer to exchange Word .doc files and use Word-specific functions like edit tracking.
    Reasons to go with MS Office are: you are used to MS Office, you need 100% compatibility to work with others using MS Office.
    Reasons to go with iWork are: You want something new and innovative and don't care about compatibility or your prior experience.
    If you have enough in your budget, you may want to consider getting both if office applications are very important to you.

    Ethan
    14 years ago

    Thank you for your response, Gary! I just have one more question about the office suites. If I only use basic tools in office programs, and I want to transfer most of my documents over to my new Mac, do you think iWork will be ok? Or do you think MS Office is the better option for my situation?

    14 years ago

    If you have a lot of MS Office documents, I would lean toward sticking with Office. Otherwise, not only will have you do a lot of conversion, but you will have to leave new tools as well.
    You could always try the iWork demo (http://www.apple.com/iwork/download-trial/) for 30 days to see if you like it before you decide.

      Ethan
      14 years ago

      Thank you so much for your help, Gary! I will definitely try the demo.

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