Slashdot Mirror
Apple iWork Screenshots
applextrent submitted a story with a bunch of screen shots of Apple's new iWork package, including Keynote 2 and Pages, the new Apple word processor. Nothing particularly surprising here.
← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)
A little bird told me that Apple posted their own screenshots. http://www.apple.com/iwork/
iWork is not an update. It's an entirely new software package, that was announced at the MacWorld expo. Would you care to tell me what package is being "updated" by iWorks?
Sure, it "replaces" AppleWorks - but is by no means an AppleWorks update, as you might have been able to tell by the completely different name. It's all new code, new interface, etc. etc.
Open in a new browser window, their referrer code is what doesn't work. Jeez, thought you people were techie...
Well, it took me about three clicks from Apple's home page to get to http://www.apple.com/iwork/pages/compatibility.htm l.
7 .html.
Oh yeah, and Keynote's file format is XML, and it's very well documented here: http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn2002/tn206
*yawn*.
m l nonetheless.
Of course someone knows. Apple, for one, know... and they've been kind enough to tell us all on their web site. At the URL http://www.apple.com/iwork/pages/compatibility.ht
It'll save to RTF, PDF, DOC, HTML and Plain Text.
Greek is a typesetting term as well. In this case, it's referring to the traditional Lorem Ipsum placeholder.
The document format is XML and the schema for it should be posted sometime after the release. How SOON after the release I'm not sure. Just FYI, the Keynote schema that's currently posted on Apple's site is for version 1. V2 can read V1 docs, but cannot save to a V1 format. V1 of course, cannot open a V2 presentation.
Have you ever used Keynote?
If both Keynote 2 and Pages uses the same principle on their document formats as the original Keynote, it's nothing but open.
The Keynote documents (.key) are actually directories, not files, which have an XML file (presentation.apxl) and all the images, textures and data files used on it, on its original format (PNG, TIFF, etc.)
So I don't see how could this be 'another propietary Office format'. Given the facts just mentioned anyone could potentially write a Keynote viewer for Linux or whatever OS he/she might choose (or think of a Keynote to Magicpoint converter). Even the transition effects could be somehow recreated using OpenGL, as they're also into the XML file.
Regards,
Articulos para gente geek: Poleras, linux, libros y mas
Dunno, but by all accounts, the HTML export is absolutely hideous and not even close to being compliant with any HTML specification. I guess Apple must have hired the Frontpage 98 team or something.
Keynote 2 seems to have far more efficient workflow than what I am accustomed to when working in MS PowerPoint. The visual qualitys are far better than what I am accustomed to seeing with Windows computers (edges, aliasing, effects, color, etc.). /. discussions.) OK, back on topic.
Pages is a word processing and limited, albeit very powerful, page layout application. Pages is excellent for writting papers, making small multi-page brochures, menus, etc. It is not a Quark / InDesign replacement and was not intended to be, as one of the UI designers stated to me at the exhibit ( I think he is telling the truth, as I did study at Uni with him and he has always been very truthful). Pages is not Word, there are several features currently absent from Word (as previously stated in this thread) that professional writers would need, version tracking is one of those features.
Notice that there isn't a Spreadsheet application in the iWorks suite? Me too. However, Appleworks 6.x still has this functionality, and it imports most MS Excel docs, plus it is much cheaper than Excel (US$49.00, I think).
By the way, there are several word processing applications available for Mac OS X: TextEdit (Apple), AppleWorks (Apple), Pages (Apple), Mariner Write (Mariner), Abiword, MS Word, and 2 applications by Nissus (there main App is feature rich / high end, the other very basic, more features than TextEdit). These are what I am aware of, please add to the list if I have not listed all.
There are several Spreadsheet applications as well, Mariner Calc, a few from open source, AppleWorks (as listed earlier), and that MS Excel Application. Again, if there are any I have left out, please add these in.
I do know that there is a java Office Suite applicaion available, I just don't remember it by name. The "open" office suite application that I have read about (sorry, I forgot its techy name)
is not really an application for most Apple users, as it requires a rather cryptic installation process, not very apple-like, and so I would refer to it as a kind of prototype software, not ready for non-techys (I am refering to the majority of computer users out there who need to do work with their computers, not get their computers to work) those people who do not have the time or interest in learning how to make a computer work. These are the
same people who do not upgrade thier refridgerators, TVs, washing machines, toilet, or water heater, unless they are broken, or want to re-model the house, these are the same people who buy software by the way. These same people are
also the ones who fix that broken plumbing, electrical, and so
on. ( Sorry had to rant a bit their as I read so much elitist garble
on
It seems as though Mac OS X will have nearly as many USEABLE (whatever this really means I am not sure) office productivity applications as are available for MS WIndows users. Is this the same situation as well, where 95% of people use the dominant application and the remaining applications fight for market share scraps?
I think variety is a very good thing, as is competition, so hopefully, these applications will find their respective niches and only have overlap in reading each others formats and basic features.
Cheers!
Similar name and features but a totally different and new code base.
That's why there's a published schema, genius. So that the architects of that format can tell you about "those little parameters." The point is that it is possible to write a fully compatible importer for Keynote presentations on any platform. This level of openness is impossible with closed, binary formats like Word.
I'd be surprised if it didn't. Apple seems to pay a lot of attention to typography - ligatures are a standard feature in the Mac OS X 10.3+ text editing control. You can even use them in the simple ol' TextEdit.
Yes, Pages does correct ligatures automatically. It also does correct kerning. The full justification algorithm is superior to Word's implementation. (For correct typography, the number of physical spaces you end a sentence with shouldn't matter. In Word, if you end a sentence with a single space, the justification algorithm works correctly, but the inter-sentence spacing is off. If you end a sentence with two spaces, the inter-sentence spacing is better, though a little too large, but the justification algorithm then creates huge, ugly whitespace rivers, especially in two column documents.) Hyphenation is also automatically supported.
I doubt Pages has a TeX-style multiline composer, and it almost certainly doesn't have the awesome InDesign paragraph composer, but if hyphenation and justification are handled correctly, a single line composer is surprisingly hard to detect visually.
I also doubt Pages will have the advanced typographer-style "hanging punctuation" that InDesign offers, but even TeX does not have this. (You can implement this behavior using complex TeX macros, but it tends to screw up LaTeX.) This would be a truly killer feature for us typography nuts, but hardly necessary. InDesign still has a purpose.
On the plus side, it will undoubtedly be easy to use different fonts, including expert sets, in Pages. Installing a complete font, including small caps and expert sets, in TeX and having it work automatically with proper kerning is something I have always found to be exceedingly difficult, even with the automated font installer utility. I have never succeeded, for instance, in installing Minion and getting correct kerning. Don't underestimate how much a good choice of font can help in making your document look professional. It is worth more than a multiline composer, in my view.
At any rate, this typography nut is excited about Pages!
No. You assume wrong. iWork is a separate software purchase. Keynote was never bundled with Macs so spend $79 for Keynote 2 and iWork.
My original submission was along the lines of, "The headline pretty much speaks for itself, check out the screenshots on Apple-X.net." The "Nothing surprising here," wasn't from me. Although I am very thankful to Slashdot for posting the submission. --Trent L. Senior Editor at Apple-X.net