Will iWork Give Microsoft a Run for Its Money?

Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) has unveiled its iWork '05 productivity software that is the Mac enthusiast's answer to Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Office for Macintosh, and Apple CEO Steve Jobs made no bones about the application's ability to rival Microsoft.

Still, analysts questioned whether the new software would be able to compete successfully with the widely used Microsoft product.

IWork was announced at Macworld Expo in San Francisco yesterday and is designed to take advantage of both Mac OS X and iLife '05 to help users create, present and publish professional-looking documents and presentations.

AppleWorks Successor

The software suite includes a new word processor called Pages that replaces AppleWorks, and Keynote 2, a new version of Apple's presentation software.

"With iWork '05, we're building the successor to AppleWorks by taking advantage of the latest innovations in Mac OS X and iLife '05," Sina Tamaddon, Apple's senior vice president of Applications, said. "IWork '05 makes it incredibly easy for anyone to create really great-looking documents, newsletters and presentations quickly and easily."

Still, can Apple really give rival Microsoft a run for its money? Or will this new product suite eventually go the way of the now defunct AppleWorks?

Directions on Microsoft lead analyst Michael Cherry told MacNewsWorld that the problem for vendors competing with Microsoft is interoperability. He pointed to Sun's StarOffice as an example of a Microsoft Office competitor that hasn't taken over the world.

"If people are working together on a project and one person starts the document using Word, then other people need to be able to open it, edit it and send it back," Cherry said. "When they send it back, the first person has to be able to open it back up."

Need for Interoperability

Apple has attempted to address this interoperability issue with iWork. The program imports and exports Microsoft Word and PowerPoint files, along with a wide range of industry standard file formats like PDF, Adobe (Nasdaq: ADBE) Photoshop, TIFF, JPG and QuickTime.

Still, there is a missing link in any head-to-head bout between Microsoft and Apple for a comprehensive productivity suite. That missing link is a spreadsheet.

"Apple doesn't mention Excel," Cherry said. "Spreadsheets are not just used by people in financial applications. An awful lot of people use spreadsheets to create a list. At first glance, the [lack of a spreadsheet] would appear to be an unanswered question."

Jobs didn't answer the spreadsheet question in front of the standing-room-only crowd at his keynote speech at the Macworld Expo yesterday. What he focused on was what he called Pages' "Incredible sense of style."

However, is style alone enough to compete with the world's most popular word processor? Microsoft, for one, is not too concerned. Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit (BU) unveiled four new enhancements of its own at the Macworld Expo yesterday.

One of those enhancements was fresh Office tools and templates designed to help users work smarter. The Mac BU launched Job Tools, a free online resource for job-specific tips, expert articles and customizable templates to further extend Office 2004. Phase one of the program delivers resources for K-12 teachers, marketing professionals and small-business owners.

Preparing for Tiger

"Once we launch a product, our job as developers doesn't stop. We spend an incredible amount of time talking to our customers," Roz Ho, general manager of the Macintosh BU at Microsoft, said. "In the six months since we launched Office 2004, our customers told us they needed deeper Exchange support. We heard them, and it's coming."

Microsoft is also working closely with Apple to ensure that Microsoft Office for Mac can take advantage of new features in Mac OS X version 10.4 "Tiger," such as Spotlight and sync services when available in the first half of 2005.

"The Mac BU continues to show its dedication to the Mac platform by enhancing its products for Mac users," Ron Okamoto, vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations at Apple said. "Microsoft Office 2004 delivered many Mac-first and Mac-only features, and we're delighted to see that innovation continue with applications that will take advantage of the groundbreaking features in 'Tiger.'"