Pages 5 features checklist

crumvoc wrote:

Anyone know if/how Pages 09 (4.3) can be loaded into a new Mavericks machine?

pinkuff

Of course it can, it's probably on an iWork '09 folder on your machine already [...]

A new machine with Mavericks pre-installed will of course not have iWork '09 on it. To install it, you'd need a copy of the installer package (reportedly still available for purchase from 3rd party re-sellers, even at major on-line shops) and then update incrementally <http://support.apple.com/downloads/#productivitysoftware> to bring it to the Pages 4.3 version.

In turn, if you have another, older Mac that has iWork '09 installed on it, you should be able to transfer the installation, by copying the following files/folders from your older Mac to the newer one:

1. the "Applications/iWork '09" folder
2. the "Library/Application Support/iWork '09" folder

and perhaps also the

1. "Library/Preferences/com.apple.iWork09.Installer.plist
2. "Library/Preferences/com.apple.iWork09.plist

files. I cannot test this since I do not have a new Mac. The problem (as Peter indicated earlier in this thread) is that there may exist other system/configuration files that the installer may be strewing at less well known places, and without which the programs will not work. I should think that moving the installation of iWork '09 from your older computer to your new computer is within the EULA of your original purchase; then again, the AppStore now reportedly (see earlier in this thread) happily upgrades iWork '09 to iWork '13 without checking for original receipts...

For EndNote & Pages users: Apple has a new plug-in:

<http://support.apple.com/downloads/#productivitysoftware>.

Based on the second response, seems like a lot of effort that may or may not work, and may or may not be legal.

crumvoc wrote:

I think you misunderstood. I am talking about a Brand New Mac that never had Pages 4.3 loaded from the factory. Maybe a better question is, do brand new macs come with 4.3 loaded? Thanks

No, a brand new Mac with Mavericks loaded WILL NOT have iWork '09 (Pages 4.3) installed. However, as noted above, you can still install Pages 4.3, should you have the disks for iWork '09 or a previously downloaded disk image, and some retailers still have it. It works fine with Mavericks. If you have a new Mac and want Pages 4.3, I suggest that you move quickly to get yourself a copy, as Apple themselves are no longer offering it.

crumvoc wrote:

I think you misunderstood. I am talking about a Brand New Mac that never had Pages 4.3 loaded from the factory. Maybe a better question is, do brand new macs come with 4.3 loaded? Thanks

Sorry for misunderstanding - yes I thought you were referring to an existing machine. I am sure new Macs do not come with what Apple considers now obsolete software - I think Tristan above answered your question more accurately...

But you made me think I must back up my now precious existing installation just in case my Mac goes missing or needs repair...

I could be wrong in this, but the first thing I do (and have had Apple recommend me) when a program goes wonky is blow away the .plist and preference files. It's been my experiences programs recreate them on the fly. Perhaps someone should try moving the 'iWork 09' folder over to a virgin machine and see what happens.

cosmofromwatertown wrote:

I could be wrong in this, but the first thing I do (and have had Apple recommend me) when a program goes wonky is blow away the .plist and preference files. It's been my experiences programs recreate them on the fly. Perhaps someone should try moving the 'iWork 09' folder over to a virgin machine and see what happens.

That would be just awesomely useful to us all - anybody with a new machine at hand?

21. Linked text boxes gone.

22. Pasting a graphic in headers and footers gone.

23. Probably more, but when I found those two, I quit Pages (new) and reverted back to Pages (old).

pinkuff wrote:

cosmofromwatertown wrote:

I could be wrong in this, but the first thing I do (and have had Apple recommend me) when a program goes wonky is blow away the .plist and preference files. It's been my experiences programs recreate them on the fly. Perhaps someone should try moving the 'iWork 09' folder over to a virgin machine and see what happens.

That would be just awesomely useful to us all - anybody with a new machine at hand?

OR

Can someone stick a DMG file somehwre for download? I don't have mine anymore and I don't think we would be in violation of the EULA, since the software is now free...

gto49us wrote:

22. Pasting a graphic in headers and footers gone.

This one is particularly disturbing and weird. EVERYBODY uses letterheads, right? And everybody has ditched printed letterhads in favor of software ones, right?

Or maybe someone at Apple bought a bunch of printing presses as scrap and are trying to turn a profit on them... Beancounters!

#45 and #87 are the same, no?

I'm not trying to defend Apple for removing functionality, I too was irritated that several of my letterhead templates no longer worked properly because I had logo graphics in the header.

However, using graphics in the headers is the way most people do it in MS Word and not very logical if you are trying to emulate printed stationery. A more flexible technique is to put the graphics in section masters (even on Pages 4.3). That way you can have all sorts of cruft as background anywhere you like on the page e.g. watermarks, address blocks and still not affect the primary document content which is really what the headers and footers are for. Pages 5 can handle that fine too. Just my 2 cents.

true that IanB!

Pages 4.3 could do both. Now Pages 5 forces you to adopt what is maybe a more effective technique but one that probably will be used by (you tell me) 5% of users?

Nobody knows what percentage of the user base exploits any particular feature or technique. Such speculation would be rather pointless.

Like I said pinkuff, I'm not trying to defend Apple with regard to dropped features in Pages 5. I'm as unhappy about it as everyone else, particularly when people's loss of work could have been so easily avoided.

I was merely trying to provide what might represent help to other users like gto49us which, incidentially, is the main point of this discussions facility.

Whilst I understand all the venting of frustration that has been going on here, I do wish that this effort were channelled into providing direct feedback to Apple presenting good arguments for restoring particular features. I think it would be much more effective at getting what we would like in Pages 5.x than any rant on here.

The original purpose of this thread was to compile a list of differences between the versions. That will help us all to do a better job of providing such feedback. I note that will now move on to another site by Peter.

All is not a total disaster in Pages 5. I've converted all my letterhead templates to Pages 5 using section masters and have taken the opportunity to improve many of them. I am quite content to use Pages 5 for these rather simple documents and in fact prefer it to Pages 4.3. I really like the fixed inspector panel and the effort Apple have put into re-organising the inspector. Everything is much more logically organised and clean in my opinion, although, like you, I wish there were more in it. For other more complex projects I will continue to use Pages 4.3 or Swift Publisher when that isn't up to the job (as it often isn't).

IanB,

Sorry, but I can't disagree more. I'm not about to learn how to work around something in Pages 5 that Pages 4.3 could do. I miss the ability of pasting graphics into headers and footers, and when I couldn't link text boxes in Pages 5, that was enough for me to revert back to the more powerful Pages 4.3. Why have two Pages programs, when the new one can't do what the old one did? If you say placing a graphic on the master is the way it should be done (which is likely, I'm not arguing that point at all), it can be done in 4.3. I don't need Pages 5 to do it.

In my book, Pages 5 (and the other iWork programs) IS a total disaster, and may prove the undoing of Apple, at least for those of us who actually use computers and not just tablets. I don't want to run IOS type programs on my Mac. It's meant for so much more...