I will be impartial when reviewing this product. I feel that, a review is only good when one is honest about the product. Finally, the following is an advertorial sponsored by Nuffnang Australia and Microsoft Office.
Before I start this review, what type of girl or guy do you prefer?
Option 1: Nice guy/girl
Does basic tasks in a breeze
Very friendly personality
Wears decent looking tees and loose fitting jeans most of the time/ Dresses up in a
simple manner
Easy to talk to
Dont quite make the cut when it comes to complex tasks
Option 2: Workaholic
Very intelligent
Have complex thoughts
Can be cold at times
Able to solve complex problems
Shops at Neiman Marcus/ Saks Fifth Avenue
Very immaculate
Well, to be honest, I cant really decide. Ideally, I would like to have both but life is just unfair like that. Its like choosing between iWorks and Microsoft Office for Mac. Both have their strengths and disadvantages.
For me, Microsoft Office, is the workaholic and able to get complex stuff done in no time and iWorks is the nice guy who will fix your basic problems but complexity will get him killed.
There are many things that Microsoft Office can do that iWorks cannot. For instance, my 2008 version of Pages from iWorks (think Microsoft Word) cannot support Endnote. Moreover, Pages always screw up my stats assessment each time I import something from my SPSS package (Stats programme) from Mac. Furthermore, it does not allow me to convert my! .pages into .docx. Also, each time I download .docx files, the font appears weird.
Now, thats not such a good thing.
While Keypoint from iWorks supports .ppt (Powerpoint) files, it will again, send your fonts to outer space.
I dont think I need to elaborate much about Numbers (excel)... Creating a graph or table that fits the APA style can drive you into an asylum before you finish saying the word Psychology.
Microsoft Office for Mac is quite similar to iWorks. However, it is certainly a step up from iWorks. First, Microsoft Office Word, compared to Pages allows you to cite your essay in a breeze, that is, you do not need to have the Chicago/MLA/ Harvard/ APA manual next to you and type every single thing in with precision and accuracy (Think OCD). If you hate doing bibliography and hate footnotes a lot, Microsoft for Mac can take care of this without driving you up the wall. :)
Also, it supports Outputs from SPSS at a breeze. I cant do any statistics analysis with iWorks. I will get alien characters and my graphs will be all over the place! Sometimes, the alignment will come in wrong!
Not only that, Microsoft Office Powerpoint is far superior to Keypoint in terms of making slideshows. Sure, Keypoint allows you to insert whole videos and make your slideshow interesting but Powerpoint has a range of templates for your to choose from. And, I had to admit, the templates are posh looking compared to Keypoint. Maybe, I just need to get my iWorks updated to the latest version but I spent a fortune on iWorks! Of course I have to utilize it until I feel that it is unfit!
Apart from that, Microsoft Excel also allows you to tabulate data and create graphs at any shape and sizes too. Its ideal for professionals who want to deliver a very good presentation. In terms of graphs and tables, Numbers is severely lacking.
Having said that, the workaholic is by no means invincible. I can assure you, it is not very user friendly. The first time I used iWorks, I got my ! hand aro und it within minutes. Plus, I dont get anxious from using iWorks. On the other hand, Microsoft Office is quite complex, thanks to the amount of functions! It took me a longer time to know what I was doing. It is not suitable for people who are not well-acquainted with technology. The worst thing? They removed Microsoft Assistant! This means, there's no more Mr. Paper Clip and Cute Dog.
As you can see, there is a trade off between complexity and user-friendly. Im sure, if you are used to Microsoft Office, it will be not a problem for you. However, for a diehard iWorks user like me, conversion is slim.
Of course, having both programmes is good. You can convert to Microsoft Office anytime you feel like it. And not everyone likes the Nice Guy. Most institutions (like my university) does not accept essays in .pages format. Of course, you can convert .pages to .pdf using the export function BUT in some faculties where they dont have .pdf, you have to send your documents using .doc or .docx. Then, its time to go out on a date with the Workaholic... My sister, who has both Pages and Microsoft Office on her Mac, agrees with this. If she can't handle Microsoft, she will use Pages to do her work and then use Microsoft Office as a "medium" to submit her essays. How smart!
Does this mean that both us are players? Maybe but maybe not. In life, sometimes youve got to be flexible in doing things. As the Cantonese saying goes, The faster you change, the better life is () . Commitment is great BUT only if you are 100 percent certain that you are willing to embrace your significant other's weaknesses. Not everyone can do it. Thats why loyalty is such a noble thing.
Anyway, here are some screenshots to show you how beautiful the interface of Microsoft Office is. It certainly encapsulates the minimalist yet posh feel that most Mac Users will want for their Macs. :)
See the cute "W, P, X, and O" logos! They are way more awesome than the PC version. :)
Very neat looking and the black backdrop is very easy on the eyes
The types of graphs they have in Microsoft Word - far more choices than Apple.
Different types of templates - one can get spoilt for choice!
Typing :) will change it into a smiley! How smart is that! An excuse to! abuse s mileys.
Fiddling with the citation programme. It's a bit tricky.
The range of documents you can convert your doc. files to
Again, black interface
There are many templates to choose from. Most are very minimalistic. Some are a bit on the classy side
I love this template the most. :)
Excel for Mac.
You can choose from different set of templates. If I'm not mistaken, Numbers does not have this
The plotting of graphs function is a little complex but this allows one to create complex graphs.
Outlook for your Mail.
I feel that Outlook is quite similar to Mac's Mail.Before I finish this post, just for your benefit, Nuffnang Australia is running a competition. :) All you need to do is to click the link below. Who knows, you might win:
This unique mouseOR
This sleek looking cam. :)It's easy to score these two beauties. Just click the following link:
http://www.nuffnang.com.au/blog/2011/06/14/competition-better-your-blogging-thanks-to-microsoft/
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