Apple has often chosen to release new software that seems limited, but is strong on a new way of doing things. Later, as users become accustomed to the app, evolutionary additions come, in a transparent way. That keeps the app fresh and simple, but incrementally adds power. This is what Apple is doing with iWork '09.
Keynote '09
Keynote is a classic example of getting the user interface right, then adding or extending features without much of a change to the UI. For example, theme pages in Keynote '08 were static. Now, as the user passes the cursor over the various theme, and there are eight news ones, sample pages in the thumbnail are displayed. That gives the user a great preview of the potential of that theme that can't be displayed in a single view.
New features in Keynote '09 include:
- Magic Move
- Enhanced previews of themes (mentioned above)
- Additional transitions that include text and objects
- Movement and texture in 3-D charts
- Instant e-mail of charts
- Interface to iWork.com
- Keynote remote app for iPhone
In Magic Move, the user creates a slide with various objects, then duplicates it. Objects on the second slide can be resized, moved or deleted. Then the Magic Move transition is invoked in the Inspector. This is great for presenters who are trying to emphasize a change in a very visual way -- which is the point of many presentations.
Some of Keynote's Templates
Another nice feature is the ability to animate or give texture to 3-D charts. Again, this effect is not evolutionary but incrementally deeper. One can do things as one always does, or take that extra selected step. The effect in which the pieces of a pie chart are sequentially added or the bar chart rotates for visual effect are especially appealing and add a air of professionalism without being cheesy.
Finally, the Keynote remote is a stroke of genius and shows how when a company has a holistic approach to modern technical life, great ideas aren't too hard to come by. It's questionable, however, to charge a buck for it since one is already paying a hefty upgrade price for iWork '09.
Keynote Remote for iPhone/iPod touch
Pages '09
Pages has been a problematic application in the past. It came into being, not as a traditional word processor, but rather as a visually oriented document creator, approximately a newsletter creator. As a result, many had a hard time characterizing the app and complained when they couldn't force the app into more traditional ways of doing things. Others just accepted it for what is was and then, for serious word processing, selected Nisus Writer Pro or MS Word.
On the other hand, there a lots of documents that are a royal pain to prepare with a conventional word processor. The rich template library of Pages reveals the underlying philosophy here. For example, news letters and informal newsy publications can require compositional skills that many users just don't have -- or if they try, it looks awful.
In the same manner as Keynote, there is a rich template library to chose from, and scanning the cursor left to right reveals the panoply of possible document types. It's hard to imagine a theme that can be pressed into service for any use here.
Formally, Pages '09 adds the following features:
- A full screen view
- Dynamic outlines
- Mail merge with Numbers
- Equations with MathType and bibliographies with EndNote
- Instant e-mail
Pages Template
One of the design choices that may be questionable is the choice of a pure black background for the full screen view. Apple, a company known for charming and helpful user interface design choices, should be aware that the stark contrast of a white page in a black background can be hard on the eyes. A preference to set the background to, say, a light shade of gray would be most welcome.
With power comes complexity, and new users should be aware that the exercise of page layout features requires some practice and the RTFM ritual. Now that Pages has grown up and staked out its territory in the scheme of things, the learning curve is a bit steeper. Some patience and practice is called for despite the initial ease with which templates are chosen.
A fairly messy document, beginning with a travel theme, and with lots of graphics added, was exported to MS Word 2008, and it looked pretty good. If Pages could not import and export to Word, it would remain in a very small niche, but the capability invites the user to live in the Apple world and export only when necessary. It's reasonable, now, with outlines, a Table of Contents creator (in the Inspector) equations, and bibliographies to make the effort to adopt Pages as one's default publishing software. (The last two items need to be purchased separately: MathType and EndNote) Yes, it's finally time to delete AppleWorks from the hard disk.
Numbers '09
Numbers has also benefited from an original, extensible design philosophy. Those who found that the first numbers was a toy compared to Excel will now find that that original design philosophy has paid off.
For example, those who question the use of a spreadsheet for scientific calculations because the formulas are scattered all over the page and hard to document will welcome the new Formula List view. (Although this reviewer still resists that kind of use for spreadsheets.)
Sample Spreadsheet to compare new cars
Again, in the style of its siblings, the template browser shows multiple pages as the cursor is dragged, suggesting, for example, how one might start with a grid but have a second page that shows the corresponding pie chart.
Numbers '09 adds about 100 new functions for a total of 250 and does a much better job of documenting what each function does and gives examples. This is a very welcome addition.
Functions are now thoroughly documented
Also, the addition of 40 templates brings the total to 180, and if there isn't one that does the job, it'll be a rare case.
Perhaps most important of all is that Numbers, Pages and Keynote are all linked so that, for example, spreadsheet driven charts can be pasted into Pages and Keynote. They're dynamically linked so that changes to the original are reflected in the document they're pasted into. The basic concept of the old Publish and Subscribe system remain valid and will just never die -- and that's a Good Thing.
Because spreadsheets are a strong candidate to be worked on in a group, it should be mentioned that the interface to iWork.com and the public beta affords comments but not interactive changes. If Apple continues to improve this suite as it has in the past, more capability, as is currently in Microsoft's Sharepoint, will surely be added in the future -- that is, checking documents in and out.
As with Keynote and Pages, Numbers has gone through a remarkable maturation process. The key to migrating to Numbers is understanding the task, its potential complexity, how important it'll be to export to Excel at some point -- and the investment that must be made in the learning curve for an alternative to Excel. For many, that will be an easy transition.
For those who want to learn more, a thirty day free trial is available. Apple has done a great job documenting the added features, and in some cases supplies a short video demonstrating how to use it. User guides are available on the iWork '09 Support page. No effort has been spared to explain, introduce and document this extraordinary suite of products.
Denouement
One can argue that with only incremental changes, it's a tough sell to charge full price every year, especially this year, for iWork. What one has to consider, however, is that the added features in iWork '09 appear to mark a turning point. Software that started as a stake in the ground for Apple and which wasn't full featured enough to make a big investment in has now matured to the point where each member of the suite is a formidable product. In essence, the journey through the years, if you took it, has become the reward.
System Requirements
A Macintosh computer with an Intel, PowerPC G5, or PowerPC G4 (500MHz or faster) processor 512 MB of RAM (1 GB recommended) 32 MB of video memory Mac OS X v10.4.11, or Mac OS X v10.5.6 or later QuickTime 7.5.5 or later 1.2 GB of available disk space DVD drive required to install