Office 2011 H&S vs iWork

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macboer

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My father will be getting his first mac in a couple of weeks.

He only needs basic "office" apps, so iWork-like features will suffice.

BUT, he is obviously used to Office.

What I want to know is, what are the limitations of Office HOME & STUDENT 2011 e.g. why is it cheaper. And if I put iWork on his machine how compatible is it with Office, MOSTLY WORD.

I have "format problems" when I open .doc files from windows users and will like to make the experience as smooth as possible for my dad.

Thanks y'all!

I probably have the formatting-problems because I don't have the latest update to 09.

But let me know if you run the latest.
 
If it's the same as Windows Office, then :

Office Home & Student = Word, Excel, Powerpoint
Office Home Pro/Small Business = Outlook, Word, Excel, Powerpoint
Office Pro - Outlook, Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access, OneNote, Publisher, Sharepoint
 
macboer said:
My father will be getting his first mac in a couple of weeks.

He only needs basic "office" apps, so iWork-like features will suffice.

BUT, he is obviously used to Office.

What I want to know is, what are the limitations of Office HOME & STUDENT 2011 e.g. why is it cheaper. And if I put iWork on his machine how compatible is it with Office, MOSTLY WORD.

I have "format problems" when I open .doc files from windows users and will like to make the experience as smooth as possible for my dad.

Thanks y'all!

I probably have the formatting-problems because I don't have the latest update to 09.

But let me know if you run the latest.
Click to expand...

It's cheaper 'cos it only has Word, Excel and PowerPoint... The full suite also includes Outlook and Office 365 Support.

A couple of things to remember, Office H&S at a store here is R999,00 or $149,00 if you buy online... Apple sell Pages, Numbers and Keynote as individual apps now and each costs $19,99 from the Mac App Store. If it's just Word/Pages he'll be using, you can save a packet by going the Pages route. I'm running iWork '09 and the only compatibility issue I've ever encountered are fonts. Apple has a couple of fonts Windows doesn't but if you set a universal font like Arial as his default, you're A-for-away.
Then, as far as using the applications go, I swear by Pages... You'll already know you can open, read and edit Word documents as well as save them in .doc format. Using the app will take him a day or two to get used to. The main thing you'll need to show him is to look for the "Inspector" button when he needs to do a little formatting.
 
Yes the iWork suite is very capable once you just get the hang of it. Pages is awesome, love it.
 
Here is a suggestion, install Libre Office or Open Office first before using that wallet of yours. If its really simple office work, open source office will suffice, especially Word as it's the simplest of the three.
 
I prefer iWork suite i feel it much better than office and if you can purchase the Pages,Numbers,Keynote separately depending on your usage no point in buying the whole office suite if you use word only. The apps are around +-R160 each so total amount of all the apps would be +-R480 compared to Microsoft Office For Mac around R780 for the Home And Student Edition

Here are the iWork Equivlents
Pages->Microsoft Word
Numbers->Microsoft Excel
Keynote->Microsoft Powerpoint
 
I agree with Mystic Twilight. NeoOffice is another variation on the same theme. If dad's word processing requirements are really simple, consider Bean.

But I am making a PowerPoint doccie even as I read this forum and compared to Keynote, it just gives new meaning to the term "clunky". Pages is the first word processor ever on which styles are so simple and obvious that I actually USE them. Sorry, I'm not a spreadsheet person, so I won't comment there.
 
I think the fact that he might have to deal with office based documents will be a big factor in the decision.

Luckily there will be a period for us to first try out iWork before needing to make a decision.
 
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I use both. But for convenience and compatibility, Office 2011 H&S is the better option
 
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