Mac User's Forum | Apple, Mac, iPod, iPhone Discussions

I recently purchased a MacBook Pro and was wondering which of these two programs is better.

Thanks!

iWork is supposed to be better.

I use OpenOffice. It's free

iwork is much better the MO 08'... 'cause first it's much easier... got the cutting-edge animation's and ways of using.... i can't describe it more it's really brilliant ... u'll like it and i think MO is more expensive... (i'm tellin u that not as a Apple fanboy)... and as an appkle fan macbooks allergic to microdoft gd luk..!

iWorks is more "Mac" like in terms of the way it handles itself, ease of use, and appealing looks. It can get the job done just fine. But for full on office needs, Microsoft Office is the more robust choice. Plus, if you have to send off or receive MS Office files from other people, there's less of a chance of formatting problems if you own Office yourself. While iWorks might be able to read and save the format, you could still hit hiccups.

Alternatively, you can look into say iWorks for most of your day to day stuff and then use Open Office or Neo Office when having to do stuff you need to hand off (or if someone gives you a MS Office file that iWorks is having issues with). Both Open Office and Neo Office are open source office suites that have Mac installers. So that is another route you can take.

Simply because its got such a stranglehold out there in the business world, I would go with Microsoft Office. If you get a job somewhere, all the better to be more familiar and skilled with that than anything else.

I was finally able to cut the cord on Microsoft office last year. The one thing holding me back was being able to write papers for school. However, once I found Sente and Pages, it was a done deal for me. My vote is for iWork all the way.