Hey just got a Macbook today and the saleswoman said i have a 30 day trial of iwork. But after it runs out i would have to pay 80$ to buy it. Are there any word processors out there that are good and cheap? Also doesn't Microsoft Word work on Macs so I could just stick my Microsoft Word CD in and install that?
25 replies
About Microsoft Word, it has to be the Mac version. The one for windows wont work.
Ever heard of Open Office? Guest what... ITS FREE! Now thats cheap! Its compatable with all Office apps on both Mac and Windows.
Mellel is $49 for the regular download version, $35 if you're an educational customer. It also runs with footnoting/bibliographical software packages Bookends and Sente, but not Endnote.
Open Office is another possibility but it is only in alpha in the Intel version so far, and I think may still be in beta even for PowerPC, so probably not really a viable option just yet.
Open Office is another possibility but it is only in alpha in the Intel version so far, and I think may still be in beta even for PowerPC, so probably not really a viable option just yet.
Question: Do you think it's weird that you'd spend over $1k on a laptop but $79 is too much to spend on a vital piece of software?
$79 = Pages and Keynote of course (iWork)
If you're in education by the way, you'd qualify for a discount on MS Office for the Mac...$149 for the Teacher/Student edition.
$79 = Pages and Keynote of course (iWork)
If you're in education by the way, you'd qualify for a discount on MS Office for the Mac...$149 for the Teacher/Student edition.
No, not at all. Not if that $1000 purchase was the result of months of scrounging up money for a new MacBook. Besides, just because someone buys an expensive computer doesn't mean they should then stop caring about good deals on software 😉
And more on topic...you can use your existing Windows-compatible Office if you've got a Windows XP SP2 CD, because you can go download Boot Camp and install Windows and then Office.
And more on topic...you can use your existing Windows-compatible Office if you've got a Windows XP SP2 CD, because you can go download Boot Camp and install Windows and then Office.
Don't overlook TextEdit.app which comes free on your Mac. TextEdit handles fonts, basic formatting, tables and spell-check well. It also saves to and opens a variety of formats including .doc (i.e. Microsoft Word).
Sure there isn't any track changes or grammar features, and it won't insert footnotes, or endnotes, and there are no built templates, no ability for mail merge or presets for labels, however, it does stay out of your way, and type.
other than that I would get the Student Edition of MS Word. Pages isn't so much a word processor as it is a desktop publishing / layout app.
Sure there isn't any track changes or grammar features, and it won't insert footnotes, or endnotes, and there are no built templates, no ability for mail merge or presets for labels, however, it does stay out of your way, and type.
other than that I would get the Student Edition of MS Word. Pages isn't so much a word processor as it is a desktop publishing / layout app.
NeoOffice is free, and is completely compatible with Microsoft Office. I've exchanged lots of documents both directions with MS-Office users who use Windows. Never had a single problem.
Their getting ready to release an Intel Mac version here very soon.
It's absolutely the best office / word processing program I've used in a long time. And, it's free.
Don't let it's price fool you, it is the best one out there (at least in my opinion).
http://www.neooffice.org/
Their getting ready to release an Intel Mac version here very soon.
It's absolutely the best office / word processing program I've used in a long time. And, it's free.
Don't let it's price fool you, it is the best one out there (at least in my opinion).
http://www.neooffice.org/
I have to agree with mhunter. Neo Office is geat. It's a tad slow on my old G3 iBook, but I can't wait to try it on my MacBook (I've been waiting impatiently nearly a week for it to finish it's shipping trek), and even more so when the native Intel version comes out shortly.
What about AppleWorks? Is that still available for download? I do not have a MacBook yet, but I have been using AppleWorks for years. Can you use Migration Assistant to bring over AppleWorks from another Mac?
Thom
Thom
Mellel, Mellel, Mellel. A slight learning curve but powerful features. I just dumped Word for it. It's still lacking a few requested features but is very nice (and reasonably priced). Try it for 30 days. $35 for educational version. Already have released Universal version.
http://www.redlers.com
http://www.redlers.com
Thom,
AW is still for sale in the Apple Store (online) and probably in Apple's retail stores as well as in other re-seller's stores. However it is a PPC app and will run on an Intel Mac under Rosetta. As Apple hasn't developed or updated AW for a couple of years now, I don't expect a Universal version of it.
You can check in the AW forums to see how it's still running.
I don't know about moving it to a new Mac with Migration Assistant, as I'm still waiting for my new BlackBook. I will give it a shot myself as I have many files in AW format.
AW is still for sale in the Apple Store (online) and probably in Apple's retail stores as well as in other re-seller's stores. However it is a PPC app and will run on an Intel Mac under Rosetta. As Apple hasn't developed or updated AW for a couple of years now, I don't expect a Universal version of it.
You can check in the AW forums to see how it's still running.
I don't know about moving it to a new Mac with Migration Assistant, as I'm still waiting for my new BlackBook. I will give it a shot myself as I have many files in AW format.
Will the current version of NeoOffice run on Intel Macs? I'm waiting impatiently for the Intel version to be finished so I can try it.
Appleworks runs fine on intel macs; according the AWUG tests, it's even faster than on a G5. However, given that you need to buy it for a new computer (your license is for only one computer at a time, so unless you remove it from your old computer it's not strictly legal to just copy the appleworks application folder over, although that works), and the fact that it is obviously EOLed by Apple, I'd start looking for new alternatives, alas.
Hello,
No, unfortunately, you'll have to wait for the Intel version to be released. It should be very soon though.
Will the current version of NeoOffice run on Intel
Macs? I'm waiting impatiently for the Intel version
to be finished so I can try it.
No, unfortunately, you'll have to wait for the Intel version to be released. It should be very soon though.
Without a doubt, OpenOffice.
It's free, cross platform and (mostly) MS Office compatible.
Can't speak for the MacBook because I don't own one (yet), but running it on my intel iMac and it runs fine
It's free, cross platform and (mostly) MS Office compatible.
Can't speak for the MacBook because I don't own one (yet), but running it on my intel iMac and it runs fine
Cheap but good word processor for mac?