Ian
I must say I was surprised that no-one came forth with any better examples of improvements in Pages 5. As I said I can give a few myself.
For a start I much prefer to draw and create graphics in Pages 5, and the object styles are for the most part easier to use.
But those few advancements, which are only some of the features we were begging for for over 4 years, do not make up for the vast number of features taken away and the massive lost productivity.
I have just completed 3 projects in Pages '09 that would have been possible in Pages 5.5.2 but would have been painfully slow and difficult to re-edit once completed and universal adjustments needed to be made. The projects reminded me just how quickly and efficiently I can work in Pages '09 without the stumbling blocks and bugs of Pages 5.5.2.
Just one thing took me literally 2 - 3 seconds, and was absolutely accurate, that would have had me working for hours in Pages 5.5.2 with probably many errors. That was changing only specific formatting in a head that appears on every one of 120 pages, without altering the fonts used (It is a typeface catalog).
Also the speed of adding captured section formats only served to remind me that this is completely gone in Pages 5.5.2.
There were many other such examples, some even new that I only noticed now because I have hit the unfixable problem in Pages 5.5.2. All of which made me think how could the programmers of the original Pages get so much right, and even anticipate future features of OS X when, given everything on a plate, the Programmers of Pages 5 managed to get so much wrong, especially with the User Interface.
But getting onto your ray of hope.
You have discovered that some styling and layout survives translation into Pages 5.5.2's formats. That should not lead to the false conclusion that this means those features are actually buried somewhere in the Pages 5 UI just waiting to be revealed. Anymore than importing a graphic into Pages reveals some innate Illustrator or Photoshop talent in Pages. All that is happening is basic XML is being read, just as pdf graphics or bitmap images are being read.
It is hard to know where Apple is headed with Pages 5, or Numbers or Keynote. It may surprise us all and step right out of character and put in the hard yards and fix everything that is broke and replace everything that it removed, but after 16 months of very little to show, do you really think that likely? Especially given Apple's track record with everything else it has cast aside.
We have reached the tipping point where no-one is listening or cares anymore, unless you are totally green and this is the first time you are being had.
I am just waiting out this lame duck software until a viable replacement comes along.
Meanwhile Pages '09 is as productive as it always was and I now realise it could be worse. It could be Pages 5.
Peter
