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Pages 5 features checklist

As you go through the new Pages 5 can you please add an added, missing or altered features here please.


I will start with some culled from the general discussions and if you could correct any errors add them:


Added


1. Right to Left text ie Arabic, Farsi & Hebrew. Uncertain about Pashtu


2. Single model templates. You turn off document text to get rid of the default. Not sure if this then can be mixed and matched with Word Processing templates


3. Able to share outside iCloud


Missing


1. Selecting non-contiguous text gone


2. Outline view appears gone


3. Customizable Toolbar is gone


4. Many templates appear gone


5. Captured pages gone


6. Reorganize pages by dragging gone


7. Duplicate pages gone


8. Subscript/superscript buttons gone


9. Select all instances of a Style is gone


10. Retain zoom level of document gone


11. Facing pages gone


12. Endnotes gone


13. Media Inspector can't find iPhoto library on external drive


14. Update is missing for older installations, Apple is reportedly working on a solution via a redeemable code or update on the ir Support Download site


Altered


1. Language set under Edit > Spelling and Grammar > Show Spelling and Grammar now document wide


2. Subscript/superscript text is now a convoluted route Gear > Advanced options > Baseline > Subscript/Superscript


3. Header appears to be multi-column


4. New file format (but still .pages?) not backwardly compatible


5. Page numbering method changed


6. T.O.C. appears buggy


7. Template file storage location moved - to where?


8. Imported older .pages files are not translating properly


9. Text language is detected automatically now


Letting you know I can't test or verify any of these as I haven't got Mavericks yet.


Peter

iMac, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.4)

Posted on Oct 22, 2013 7:57 PM

Reply
1,554 replies

Oct 23, 2013 5:32 AM in response to cheekyjeremy

cheekyjeremy wrote:


Love it. I wrote a review in the app store just politely (not dramatic, not crude etc) mentioning some of the feature changes that have happened with this release, and that if those specific functions are important to you, be careful with the upgrade. Apple deleted my review


Should Apple do that here, I have (from experience) kept a full record and it will be posted verbatum onto the iWorksTipsnTricks forum and anywhere else where "Free" isn't just a slogan.


Peter

Oct 23, 2013 6:13 AM in response to PeterBreis0807

We aren't as stupid as Apple apparently thinks we are.


They improved iOS Pages (Pages Jr.) and ported it to the Mac. That's great, and there is a need for that. However, there is still a huge need for the features in Pages '09, which they have been neglecting, apparently because they didn't realize we were using it.


If Apple had any sense, they'd keep the new degraded version of Pages, then rename Pages 09 and continue it as a separate, professional-level product.


Some people need one, some people need the other, and some people need both.

Oct 23, 2013 6:59 AM in response to PeterBreis0807

If I'm being charitable—speaking as an engineer myself—I'd say that Apple decided that Pages needed to be completely rearchitected and rewritten from the ground up in order to facilitate parity with the iOS versions moving forward. Clearly this is their goal, and I agree with this approach in principle.


If Pages 5.0 had been advertised as a "Beta" or a preview of the new direction (as Apple is doing with the web apps), with Pages 4.3 still fully supported, I'd be much more understanding of this direction. Instead, new buyers of Macs will not get Pages 4.3, which is reasonably feature-complete; instead they will get Pages 5.0 and soon discover that complex documents (most of mine, for instance) are simply not possible using Pages 5.0. They will then look to Microsoft Office, OpenOffice, etc. to provide what they need.


Thankfully, I still have Pages 4.3 and I have reasonable optimism that Pages 5.x will eventually reach feature parity with 4.3. But how long will this take and how many sophisticated users will simply abandon Pages as a professional tool in the mean time?

Pages 5 features checklist

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