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Apple's new version of Pages just came out. Whadda ya think?

Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 9:16 pm
by BreakNeckRidge
They added more word processing features now, like change tracking, instead of mainly just having page layout functions. Pages can't do nearly everything that Mellel does, but I think Mellel better keep on its toes.

Re: Apple's new version of Pages just came out. Whadda ya th

Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 11:19 pm
by joewiz
BreakNeckRidge wrote:They added more word processing features now, like change tracking, instead of mainly just having page layout functions. Pages can't do nearly everything that Mellel does, but I think Mellel better keep on its toes.
Regarding change tracking, the first question I had was 'is it compatible with Word?' Well, Apple advertises the ability to import Word files' track changes info:
apple.com/iwork/pages wrote:Whether they’re Microsoft Office Word 2007 (Office Open XML) or earlier Word files, Pages will open them. Pages imports not only the text, but also the styles, tables, inline and floating objects, charts, footnotes, endnotes, bookmarks, hyperlinks, lists, sections, change tracking, and other elements of your original Word document.
It's not clear if Pages can export to Word format and preserve all of this.

Re: Apple's new version of Pages just came out. Whadda ya th

Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 6:32 am
by daiyi
BreakNeckRidge wrote:They added more word processing features now, like change tracking, instead of mainly just having page layout functions. Pages can't do nearly everything that Mellel does, but I think Mellel better keep on its toes.
I must admit being much more impressed with Pages as a wp than when it first came out. I'll still probably use it only in layout mode, however, even though it does handle importing Word documents quite well (preserving comments, which is the only thing I miss not having in Mellel).

PS I have no intentions of switching. FWIW, someone on Macintouch posted, noting that spell checking in a longer document brought Pages to its knees.

Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 7:17 am
by FA1
I haven't tried it out yet, I'd be interested to see if styles survive a round trip into Word (at least so that it knows there is styled text, so that you can reformat). That would be a big plus.

Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 8:22 am
by simifilm
As long as they don't support external bibliography apps, Pages is not interesting for academic writing.

Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 8:38 am
by Boban
I agree with the comment about academic writing, but let's be honest, that's not the market the application is aimed at. I used to pages to make an excellent-looking flyer to sell my old (bubble) iMac and hung them around the department. That's the sort of thing Pages is very good at – I'm not really that fussed about the comments issue. I've written for quite a few major academic publishing houses (in Europe anyway) and I've yet to be sent a document requiring the use of comments in Word. In fact, the best way to proofread work (IMHO) is to sit in the garden with a red pen and a glass of wine.. away from the computer.

As ever,

B

Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 4:37 pm
by ptram
What I like more in Pages, and would like to see in Mellel, are track changes, and a good exchange of files between Mellel and Word. Otherwise, I still prefer a dedicated word processor to a half-dtp, half-wp program.

Then, Pages icons are nice, but too much filled with colors. I don't like distractions.

Paolo

Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 5:47 pm
by FA1
simifilm wrote:As long as they don't support external bibliography apps, Pages is not interesting for academic writing.
Although I love the biblio palette in Mellel, keep in mind that Bookends still works pretty well if you just insert citations and then scan. I don't know how well it works in Pages though. Certainly for heavy academic use you're going to have some shortcomings in Pages.

I have no intention to switch, just sayin'

Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 5:59 pm
by simifilm
FA1 wrote:
simifilm wrote:As long as they don't support external bibliography apps, Pages is not interesting for academic writing.
Although I love the biblio palette in Mellel, keep in mind that Bookends still works pretty well if you just insert citations and then scan. I don't know how well it works in Pages though. Certainly for heavy academic use you're going to have some shortcomings in Pages.

I have no intention to switch, just sayin'
What exactly do you want to scan? Can Bookends read Pages file format?