The Mac Observer

Skip navigational links

Featured Article: Editorial - Apple is in Deficit, September 9 Event Needs a Treat

iWork Grabs Number 2 Office Suite Spot

by , 11:50 AM EST, January 24th, 2006

Although it comes in at a distant second, Apple's iWork took the number two office suite position away from Corel WordPerfect in 2005, according to CNET. iWork inched up over WordPerfect's 1.6 percent market share at 2.7 percent. In comparison, Microsoft Office holds the top position with 95 percent of the market.

Despite the fact that Apple has been fairly low key about iWork over the past year, it still came in with 17.4 percent of the Mac market, compared to Office for the Mac's 82 percent.

Microsoft, however, does have the upper hand in this battle, since Office is available for both Mac and Windows platforms, while iWork is available only for the Mac. Wordperfect is available only for Windows.

Office includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Entourage. iWork includes a smaller set of applications: Keynote, a presentation application that's similar to PowerPoint; and Pages, a kind of hybrid between applications like Word, and page layout applications like PageMaker.

Observer Comments

Show: Subjects Only | Full Comments
Close Name:Biff Posts: 1479 Joined: 08 Apr 2004
Subject:

Ok I'm not sure if I'm doing this right. So if 17.4% of the Mac market translates into 2.7% of the overall market, does that mean about 15% of the overall market is made up of Mac users?

View Name:Guest
Subject: correct!
View Name:Guest
Subject: error...
Close Name:Tiger Posts: 971 Joined: 17 Jun 2003
Subject: which goes to show

there are lies, damned lies, and statistics.

As a long suffering user of MSOffice, I'd love to see Apple make a version of iWork for PC users.

And to do it well!

Close Name:mrmgraphics Posts: 825 Joined: 05 Sep 2003
Subject: Compatibility

+

FWIW, I regularly use Office: Mac in a corporate environment, where not a day goes by that I don't despise using Word. Excel's a good program, IMHO, and PowerPoint...well, it's PowerPoint, what can you say. But Word is the most frustrating of all elements of M$ Office for always assuming it knows what I want it to do (and never getting it right). I'd love a Word alternative, but what's the compatibility like between iWork and M$ Office on Windows? If I can't share 100% of all word processing documents, then I'll still need to stick with Word.

Close Name:Biff Posts: 1479 Joined: 08 Apr 2004
Subject:

Quote
Guest wrote:
Quote
Biff wrote:
Ok I'm not sure if I'm doing this right. So if 17.4% of the Mac market translates into 2.7% of the overall market, does that mean about 15% of the overall market is made up of Mac users?


Your math and logic is correct, there is an obvious error in this reporting or the study!
Well glad I got one calculation right today. Not sure this indicates an error in the study. Remember PC market share includes things such as point of sale systems and el cheapo Walmart PCs. These most likely will never have a copy of office installed on them. At least not a purchased copy. It seems reasonable that a much higher percentage of Apple CPU's sold might see a purchase of an Office suite.

Close Name:JulesLt Posts: 136 Joined: 06 Jul 2005
Subject: Sales

I notice it's based on sales, not usage - so Mac users may have been busy buying iWork last year, as it's new or just to upgrade Keynote, while Office sales are declining as it heads towards the end of it's upgrade cycle. (It wasn't a particularly successful release by MS standards either - businesses seem to be sticking with the pre-XP version - 2001?2003??)

Close Name:Al Swearengen Posts: 339 Joined: 10 May 2005
Subject: Concour

Excel has a few quirks, but overall it is good, I use it to keep my accounts and expenditures, also to create some templates for clients. Word drives me nuts and I mostly just use it to receive files from clients. I guess that they are yin and yang of Office.

PowerPoint I don't use and I prefer Mail over Entourage.

I use InDesign for page layout, but I will have to take a look at iWork .

Quote
mrmgraphics wrote:
+

FWIW, I regularly use Office: Mac in a corporate environment, where not a day goes by that I don't despise using Word. Excel's a good program, IMHO, and PowerPoint...well, it's PowerPoint, what can you say. But Word is the most frustrating of all elements of M$ Office for always assuming it knows what I want it to do (and never getting it right). I'd love a Word alternative, but what's the compatibility like between iWork and M$ Office on Windows? If I can't share 100% of all word processing documents, then I'll still need to stick with Word.

View Name:Guest
Subject: Appleworks still better
Close Name:treehouse1 Posts: 7 Joined: 27 May 2004
Subject: Wordperfect for Mac 3.5e

Wordperfect for Mac 3.5e http://acmfiles.csusb.edu/pub/Macintosh/Applications/Corel/Corel_WP_35e.sea.bin

Comment on this Article


You cannot edit your comments.   You cannot delete your comments.
Log in | Register | Having Problems? Reset TMO Cookies & Try Again
Username:   Password:   Log me on automatically each visit   

You are not logged in, and this post will appear as "Guest." Log in with your username and password from the TMO forums. If you do not have a username, you can register here.
Please note that guests are limited to including a maximum of two URLs per post.


Post A Comment
  Subject


  Your Comments



Please enter the word exactly as you see it in the image above. Registered users aren't prompted for this. Having trouble reading the image get a new one.


Recent Headlines - Updated Friday, September 5th, 2008

Fri., 5:30 PM
StrangeCharm - Particle Debris And No Soup For Microsoft (Week of Sep 1)
5:20 PM
User Friendly Blog by Ted Landau - Best Buy Polishes its Apple
5:05 PM
iPO The Back Page - Why Chrome? Think Apple
4:10 PM
iPodObserver - Nokia Warns of Weaker Q3, Global Economy and iPhone are Factors
3:30 PM
Apple Gaming News - Call of Duty 4 Embarks for Macs on September 15
2:30 PM
iPodObserver - Some iPhone Users Experiencing Syncing Problems via USB 2 Hub
1:45 PM
iPodObserver - TUNEWEAR Announces Clear Cases for iPhone 3G
1:10 PM
iPodObserver - MTS, Largest Russian Wireless Carrier, Lands iPhone Deal
12:00 PM
ATR: Low Expectations for Apple September 9 Event
10:10 AM
Hot Forum Topic - Reader Reactions: Seinfeld Microsoft Ad
9:15 AM
TMO Quick Tip - OpenDNS: Managing Your Internet Access
8:40 AM
CamSpinner 2 Improves FTP, AppleScript Support
8:05 AM
First Seinfeld Microsoft Ad Airs, Thin on Content
 

The Mac Observer Reader Specials

  • Download Typestyler, still the Ultimate Styling Tool for Internet, Print and Video Graphics. Works great in Classic with a Native OS X Version on the way. Free Tryout: www.typestyler.com
  • OWC: NewerTech NuPower Batteries for iBook and PowerBooks Designed+Built in USA to run longer, LAST LONGER TOO! Free Battery Recycling Return Label; Quality High-Capacity from $99.95
  • MacPro Memory 667Mhz With Apple Spec Heat Sink 2GB $ 82 / 4GB $128 / 8GB $256 - Click to Maximize your Macs...
  • Mac observers can now play Party Poker for Mac as well as Mac casino games by going to MacPokerOnline.com.
  • RamJet Memory: Mac Pro FB-DIMMs: 2Gig kit $115, 4Gig kit $179, 8Gig kit for $355! 500G Seagate Hard Drive $129! Click here
  • For the latest Apple products use Ciao a comparison website to find laptops like MacBook Air. Then find the best prices on MP3 players and use our comparison tool to evaluate cell phones.

  • Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.
  • Special Report: WWDC 2008
  • Special Report: iPhone
  • __________
  • Help TMO Grow
  • Podcast: Mac Geek Gab
  • Podcast: Apple Weekly Report
  • TMO on Twitter!

Apple Stock Quote

  • AAPL: $160.18. Change Today: -1.04.
  • (Prices delayed up to 20 minutes.)
  • Discuss in our Apple Finance Board

Hot Topics

What's the buzz? These articles have TMO readers talking.

Top Deals From DealsOnTheWeb