First Look at iWork '09

A First Look at iWork '09: Apple's senior marketing VP Phil Schiller announced iWork '09, with new templates across the board, support for sharing documents across the Internet via the new iWork.com, and numerous new features for Pages, Numbers and Keynote, which make up the suite. Schiller also announced a combo package of iWork and iLife. Keynote has added support for managing presentations from an iPhone or iPod touch.

The new windows have a slightly darker grey toolbar color scheme, adding contrast to the icons, making the details easier to read. Shading on the tabs has been slightly improved and some of the icons have been updated with more detail. A nice touch is the addition of curser-views of pages or slides within the template window, migrated from iPhoto '08. When a user scrolls the curser across the template window, individual pages within the template appear in a quick preview. The previews are available in the templates window of all three of the suite's applications.

Pages '09 now offers 182 templets, up from 67 in the '08 version. It has added a full-screen tab on the toolbar, along with an "add pages" and iWork upload button. Gone from the toolbar is the Track Changes tab. A major new feature is the full-screen view that eliminates everything but the current page, dropping it onto a solid black backdrop. Keynote '09 has gone from 46 templates to 54, added a guides and iWork.com tab, while eliminating the Smart Builds tab. Numbers has a new Reorganize tab, and a Formula List tab which opens up a formula window below the primary window. It also features the new iWork.com link tab.

Uploading documents to iWork.com is a simple process, once signed up using a MobileMe.com account, the process is simple: after clicking the iWork tab, the user inputs an e-mail address to share the document, with a subject and message area for introducing or discussing the work in progress. Users can choose to allow or not allow for leaving comments on the document and allowing for downloads of the document. iWork.com uploads multiple copies of the document, for example, in Numbers it uploads a native Numbers document, a PDF and an Excel version, allowing online users to download their preference. An advanced tab allows users to upload iWork '08 versions as well.

Pages


Pages in Full Screen


Keynote


Numbers


Uploading to iWork.com


Safari receives invitation to share from iWork.com


iWork.Com displaying shared document

by MacNN Staff

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 software, First Look, iWork, Apple, Pages, Numbers, iwork.com