[pkguy323]

iWork/MS Office/LibreOffice...my current conclusions
Ok, I've been all around on what is best in my scenario regarding document, spreadsheets, publications, mail, calendaring, and presentation.

iWork and MS Office both have their strengths with unique features. Problem for me is, they really don't play well together when it comes to opening each other's formats. Formatting is lost, fonts change, or backgrounds go bye-bye on presentations. Too much work on the end-user IMO.

.DOC
Exporting an iWork document into a .doc format looks great in iWork but not so much in MS Office 2011/2007/2008. Same thing for documents created in Office and opened up in iWork. They say they are compatible, but only to a point-basic text. IMO, there's too much work in re-formatting, finding fonts, and other issues.

.XLS
Again, there are unique strengths in iWork NUMBERS and Office Excel that the importing exporting really messes up.

.PPT
Wow, I've never gotten a good import from one to another. Baisc info in a presentation is a nightmare because essentially I have to do it all over again for the backgrounds, etc.

Doc Sharing
I need to work on my docs at home, mobile, and at work. So not only is the import/exporting produce a challenge, but I need to access it from multipple spots. iWork doesn't office this natively...it has to export to a MS Office format first. A shame given all the platforms that Apple makes that are iWork Friendly. So, Google Docs comes into play.

So, what DO I DO?

I've landed with LibreOffice for my basic document and spreadsheet needs. I can save files to a tagged folder that Syncplicity(free!) will use to sync with GoogleDocs. Creating or editing a document on my Macbook Pro will automagically save it as well to my online Google Docs. If my computer or the "cloud" crashes, I don't lose my stuff. Any changes made online sync back to my Macbook Pro. I can use the GoogleApp on my iPhone to access and edit documents as well.

For presentations, I use KeyNote if I'm able to take my Mac with me. If not, then I use Office Powerpoint since most venues have a poor laptop handy that's usually Windows-based.

For publishing, PAGES is the best way. I was looking at PAGES wrong as just a document app, but changing my mind to using it as a publisher keeps it in my tool chest of apps to use for specific things. I can always produce on it and print/save as PDF.

On the email/calendar front...Apple's Mail and iCal work best for me. Outlook 2011 was SO promising but it's slow and still doesn't direct sync with Google calendar. Thunderbird with Lightning was a good try, but you have to be online for the calendar to show up, so offline access was a no-go. I hope a 3rd party will once day put an all-in-one together but until then, Mail and iCal it is.

I hope this helps as it's what I've finally landed on regarding Productivity on the Mac.

[besson3c]

It's funny, I was just about to start a thread about LibreOffice because I just heard of it (I guess I've been living under a rock), and it seems pretty good so far...

I was want something that will open MS Office files reliably on the Mac so that my clients can send me stuff that shouldn't have been saved in an Office format and I can cope. Libre so far seems to fit that bill nicely.

[besson3c]

Oracle has announced that it will no longer develop the commercial version of OpenOffice, so it's all on OSS to keep this software going. It will be interesting to see what happens with it.

I'm rooting for it simply because I don't want to buy MS Office for the privilege of being able to access content.

[Shades of Gray]

Interesting. I have not had MS Office at all on this MBP. So I started with Pages 08, but it had some limits (didn’t handle Hebrew). I have used NeoOffice > OpenOffice > LibreOffice > Symphony (IBM). The two best are NeoOffice and Symphony. A week ago I received a .docx file that even NeoOffice couldn’t open. So I tried Symphony - worked like a charm! And Symphony never crashes, which OpenOffice and LibreOffice do sporadically. Granted it doesn’t have the database module, but I never use it in the other apps anyway.

If I use Greek/Hebrew (frequently), then Mellel is my tool of choice. In fact, I have used Mellel for 7+ years and it has never crashed or cause a problem. It is my primary word processing tool.

For publishing I use two programs. 1) Papyrus; excellent tool, responsive, and never crashed while self publishing a book! 2) InDesign: I bought the entire Adobe CS4 Master Collection for $590 (faculty discount). Most of my work here is secondary, as I am not the primary design person; I just look at the product after it is past initial review.

[NeXTLoop]

I've recently made the switch to LibreOffice as well. Previously I used iWork and NeoOffice. If it was a document that was for my use only I would use iWork. But, as the OP highlighted, since iWork's file translation is not as powerful as the OpenOffice programs, I would use NeoOffice for any shared docs.

Lately, NeoOffice has begun requiring donations to upgrade. So I switched to LibreOffice. Overall, it's much faster than NeoOffice, and a number of Mac keyboard shortcuts work better as well.

[Big Mac]

NeoOiffice now require donations for upgrades? When did that start? You know OpenOffice is available too.

This is the first I've ever heard of LibreOffice. Looks impressive.

[besson3c]

It doesn't require donations, it just makes it seem that way (it pushes them hard).... Unless things have changed recently.

LIbre seems to be the clear frontrunner for those looking for a free Open/Staroffice based office suite. The question is how it will progress without Oracle developing the commercial version any longer.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

It doesn't require donations, it just makes it seem that way (it pushes them hard).... Unless things have changed recently.

They have.

It requires donations.

Could you consider verifying things you thought you knew before refuting somebody else's claims that they've changed ("Lately…has begun")?

[Big Mac]

It's not that big of a deal, SH. No need to abuse besson outside of the PWL.