Pages 5 features checklist

Yes!

Well, it's been a week since I got royally screwed by Apple. As per a previous post in this thread I've had a few days to play with VMWare Fusion / Windows 7 / Office 365 / Creative Cloud and SkyDrive and I've got to say I'm actually quite impressed. I've just placed an order for a Surface Pro 2 on the strength of half an hour's playing with a friend's.

To clarify, it's not just the destruction of Pages and the dead-ending of 4.3 that's caused me to make the change. To use a couple of metaphors, this was the straw that broke the camel's back and the writing's been on the wall for Apple's direction for a while now.

I'm quite surprised at how easily fifteen years of my intense loyalty to Apple was wiped away by its arrogant and entirely unnecessary treatment of me as a customer. I've never been a fanboi as such, but I have extolled the virtues of Apple kit to colleagues and friends. I can only hope that they forgive me. While I need to hold onto my MacMini server for a while, I have Pages 4.3 there so I can remove OSX from my 15" MBPR completely and turn it over to Windows 8.1. The iPad was always just a child's toy and I can get Angry Birds on the Surface, so that's the iPad replaced. The iPhones will get re-evaluated when I get a chance to look at Android or Windows phone.

To those who are going to stick by Apple in its race to the bottom I honestly wish you the best of luck. Tech for the masses is a laudable (and financially rewarding) goal but I work at a different level from Granny Jones and her Facetime connection to the grandchildren. I'm in the happy position that I can afford to walk away from their atrocious ongoing customer contempt programme but I appreciate that some people are more invested in both hardware and software than I am.

Microsoft, here I come.

I've setup a list with alternatives to Pages 5 DTP programs (No I won't call them apps :-) )

This list could probably be extended, feel free to tell me about. It's intended for those pro users who need more than just write a letter or 2 pages reports. They can use the free Bean app. Great for fast setting up a letter. My kids use it on their Mac minis.

Bean (free, development stopped this year) http://www.bean-osx.com/Bean.html

PageStream (still developped, evolved from Publishing Partner ST (Atari ST) to Pagestream on Amiga, Windows, Mac versions exists)

Very professional DTP prog, with many features not found on any other DTP prog.

I used it on my Amiga computers to publish magazines for differnts clubs.

Though the actual version works on Mavericks, but the layout of the prog is a liitle old, not really Mac like

Has mailmerge, can put text in any forme, even pictures can be cut in any form and filled with text, styles for text, graphics, text boxes etc. has a very powerfull translation function, which can move, tanslate, change transparency and resize (at once if wanted) any object (bitmap, vector gfx or text)! Text on curve function, spacing of single letters etc.

One pro function is have masterpages for every chapter, any page can be portrait or landscape or have different sizes like (A4, the other A5 or A0) all in one document. Can export GFX in any format!

Can export to professional printing offices! Has a function (don't remember the name, but used it once) so

when printing all text begins on the same place at each page, if you "bostitch" the pages as a book.

A demo is available.

http://www.pagestream.org

Swift Publisher (http://www.belightsoft.com/products/swiftpublisher/overview.php)

Never tried it, but doesn't seem to have mail merge. Functionality seems to be much like MS Publisher.

Demo available

iStudio Publisher

Seems to have much more functions than Swift Publisher. Will try it later this week. Has hundreds of remplates, and much more vector gfx functions than Pages 09.

Demo avilable

http://www.istudiopublisher.com

iCalamus (free, but paid version much more features)

If I'm right this was a very famous DTP prog on Atari ST, even used to publish magazines.

looks much like PageStream

available here http://www.icalamus.net/icalamus/index.php?lan=en

Scribus (http://scribus.net/canvas/Scribus)

Open Source professional DTP prog.

many plugins for importing complete documents from other DTP progs

Best of all it's free!

About Pages 09.

What I liked most of Pages is/was the easiness with which one can create documents and switch between Wordprocessor and DTP function. And the ability to import PDF files with drap and drop! I often have to insert PDF docs exactly as they are! It works just great, without messing up the fonts!

I REALLY hope Apple will but back all the lost functions and more to Pages 5. But I think in 5 years or so, there will be no more desktop computers, just tablets, pamphlets, watches and glasses and we're supposed to share everything with everybody in a big cloud!

Hhmmm… this remembers me the good old times…my first DTP programm on the Commodore C=128 (C=64) GeoPublish (GEOS 64) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeoPublish)

Shouldn't this be a new thread?

I started one, based on the premise that Apple should have no problem with that since they do not consider people that need the missing features of Pages 5 customers. See

Pages 5 alternatives

As a side note: When I upgraded to Mavericks, I also installed the iWork bundle as it was free. My iWorks 9 bundle was NOT removed so I may continue using it.

BimmG wrote:

Shouldn't this be a new thread?

That was my idea too, but wasn't sure it will be noticed by those not happy with Pages 5 in this thread.

Not sure how this pertains, but Apple is legitimizing illegal iWorks installations (even Aperture):

http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/24/5023560/the-mac-app-store-is-upgrading-illega l-and-trial-software-for-free

Yes you can access the Services, BUT 38 items that are in the old Pages are missing.

If Apple decides it will only support cyryllic keyboards there will always be people who will say "Oh, well, I always wanted to read Dostoevskji in original!".

I agree with robogobo and Gerrith (only thing I agree with them), programmers at Apple will never read these boards, but marketing suits will, big time. I speak from experience, I spent 15 years in software at Lotus Development Corp. We would never admit it, but we did!

I do not know the reason Apple made these decisions, sometimes companies do get it wrong; some other time they will try something to see if it sticks. Anything to deviate from their course requires the allocation of resources and these - yes, even at mighty Apple - are ALWAYS scarce.

It must be worth it, and therefore we must make it worthy for them: I see the boards as a way to do three things:

1. prevent users from "upgrading"
2. encourage everybody who doesn't like iWork '13 issue a low rating on the App Store - scaring away more upgraders
3. keep the complaining front and center - this is the reason behind the FB page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Apple-give-us-back-iWork-09/169283333271374

C'mon everybody, do not waste your time trying to convince robogobo or Gerrith: you have tried the software, you know how frustrated you are - but don't let them fool you with the tale that "there is nothing we can do but swallow it and hope Apple will make good."

Discussion boards are great for discussing, but they do not show the numbers - they will say that "there are many more users which like Pages 5". Well, let's show them: like the page, share it, invite your friends to it.

Another missing.

Tiered numbers within numbered list alternatives have gone.

OMG! Tiered numbers are gone?!?!

Nearly every document I create for my employer requires tiered numbering. What would happen to the thousands of tiered numbered documents I have already written?

This is just so so very sad.

Tiered numbering is still there. It's just more of a nuisance to do.

Pinkuff,

I agree. They will not change unless they have to. This is why we should not whitewash the potential loss of data and formatting.

I found (with help) the template folder:

Library > Containers > com.apple.iWork.Pages package. Show the package contents

then navigate Data > Library > Application Support > User Templates

Thanks.

Took me 10 minutes but I finally found tiered numbers:

Select Numbered list following by the down arrow by bullets.

Hardly intuitive but at least it is there.