“Apple users are allegedly upset because iWork is now free, some complain of missing features,” Jonny Evans writes for Computerworld. “They needn’t worry.”
“Apple’s initial focus (other than a complete rewrite of the applications) has been to deliver the features 80 percent of most actual users actually make use of.,” Evans writes. “Apple won’t discuss future products, but it seems to me that to understand Apple’s future plans here it’s probably instructional to look to the evolution of Final Cut Pro X (a new edition of which will ship alongside the new Mac Pro in December). That evolution saw steady, rapid introduction of new features to answer real world user need. The implication is that this is how things will evolve for iWork and iLife.”
“This is a starting point for a much larger future vision of cross device computing,” Evans writes. “The user interface is critical. A user of iWork on an iPhone will be able to use a Mac without figuring out how. Apple seems proud to have reduced the number of controls on iMovie from around 26 to around 11, while still retaining the most used features that made the software useful in the first place. These features will be expanded — however, unlike Microsoft’s Office user interface, Apple wants to ensure users on any of its platforms don’t need to take night classes to find the tools they need within its free solutions.”
Read more in the full article here.