iWork '09

Being a windows user, I'm used to Microsoft Office and it's the first set of apps that I installed in my MacBook Mini to get productive. I don't know if it's just the MacBook Mini's fault (not enough ooomph) but Office:Mac 2008 is like Molasses. See vid below, showing how long Word:Mac 2008 takes to launch:

Plus I totally don't buy the "Ribbons" thing; for netbooks with limited screen space, this would only eat up what valuable little vertical LCD real estate you've got.

From the previous Mac World conference video when iWork '09 was introduced, Philip Schiller's demo of iWork '09 piqued my interest. And so, given that the only apps installed on my MacBook Mini that came from Microsoft is Office:Mac 2008 , I thought I'd dump Redmond for good and go South à la Pomme all the way.



But since I'm running a mere hackintosh, I don't quite think it logical to go all legit and buy Apple software. Shelling out $79 would sound ironic. So, I just downloaded the trial version of  iWork 09 from the Apple website - lucky enough, this downloadable version is actually already a full version but just needs a serial number for it to run beyond the 30-day limit.

click on the paper bag with the Apple logo under "Buy"

if you want, you can click here and see... ;-)

Now look at these screenshots:

What can I say? I'm in love with Pages '09, just compare that menubar to this "Ribbon":

Imagine what would be left of that page that would still be viewable if it were taken on a netbook with just 1024 x 600 resolution?

This: