“It’s that time again. Apple has sent out invitations to its September 9 new product event, and tech journalists are reading the tea leaves, checking the colors and tagline of the invitation for clues as to what’s coming,” Kirk McElhearn writes for Macworld. “One detail piqued my interest: Apple will be streaming this event to Windows 10 users.”
“So what if Apple decides to introduce some more software for Windows next week?” McElhearn writes. “This won’t be a version of OS X; Apple clearly does not want a return to the clone era of the 1990s.”
“I think that if Apple brings more software to the PC it will be the iWork apps: Pages, Numbers, and Keynote,” McElhearn writes. “Windows users may already use the suite’s native iOS apps, and can access iWork documents via iCloud.com, which Apple made free back in February. Perhaps it’s time to bring out native versions of these apps for Windows.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Doing so wouldn’t sell one fewer Mac (nobody considering a switch to Mac is going to stay with Windows because they could use iWork apps natively), but it would hurt Microsoft Office while bolstering Pages, Numbers, and Keynote use. What’s the drawback except the relatively minimal cost of having to support more versions?
Of course, Apple could simply wish for Windows sufferers to see the new iPhones, iPads, Apple TV, and Apple Watch updates as they’re unveiled as even those stuck with inferior desktop OSes can use those products just fine.
No.
Does your negativity suggest that Apple has conceded to Microsoft?
Are the tech “experts” having a contest to see who can come up with the most outrageous rumor between now and the 9th?
I’d like to see Apple release a version of Pages that’s really for pages—like page layout. Right now, it’s just Words, just text. For me, Words is worthless.
A Pages document can be easily converted to a page layout document, though it’s not obvious how. Get a new blank document and see, in the upper right corner, a selection named “Document” (to the right of “Format”). Select it and a dialog box will appear with the top choices being “Document” and “Section”. Be sure the “Document” choice is selected.
Further down the dialog box is a checked checkbox labeled
“Document Body”. Uncheck it and another dialog box will appear that says “Are you sure you want to convert to a Page Layout document? Converting will remove the document body, including body text and inline objects” there will also be a “Cancel” button and a “Convert” button.
Click the “Convert” button and you are ready to place any objects you want anywhere on the page with many choices for formatting, masking, sizing; drag photos and graphics from the desktop (or import within the program), text blocks with text wrapping, working Numbers spreadsheet and graph sections, etc. It’s actually a very versatile Page Layout program, at no extra cost.
Doesn’t look like text blocks can be linked. Worthless and useless. I’d rather have priceless.
I agree. When Pages 5.0 came out, they dropped some very useful features, such as linked text boxes, and then we’ve all been met with nothing but *silence* from them for nearly two years. Very frustrating, so the idea that they’ve been investing into the Windows platform, without actually fixing the software for Mac, is rather disappointing. So, no, I don’t believe that Apple will be releasing iWork apps for Windows. Their web-based apps work perfectly fine for Windows users.
I blogged about this that it may be that if Apple is going to release a larger iPad, that showcasing it’s own next generation productivity apps will increase its value.
*Sigh* why do people who run and write for tech sites generally not understand tech or know what’s going on? Apple uses and has used HTTP live streaming protocol for it’s live streams… they have for many years. None of the browsers on Windows supports that protocol – that is until now. The new Edge browser on Windows 10 supports that protocol – thus they can now stream Apples lifestream events… It’s not something extra Apple is doing or a special consideration they’ve done for Windows users… it’s just as simple as they the edge browser for Windows 10 now supports the technology Apple uses for its streams. The end
It’s possible that Apple, knowing this and knowing they may have some Windows viewers this time, will take advantage of it and offer some goodies to further entice them to the Apple way of thinking. Probably not, but I think that’s all the author was saying.
I know too many Windows users who feel their versions of iTunes and Safari suck. Of course, the idiots are Windows users…
Safari for Windows has been abandoned. Realistically, no such thing.
iTunes on Windows really does have an added clunk factor. It’s mostly adequate. But the Mac version gets a lot more attention.
No chance. Apple dumbed down these apps to make them work the same way across OS/X, iOS and iCloud – and they weren’t very functional to begin with. I have both Office and Apple apps – I often have to move stuff into the Office app to do something (like insert a landscape table in a document, or paginate a financial statement in a spreadsheet).
These are toy apps – if you have serious work you use MS Office – and I say that with regret. Perhaps if people at Apple were forced to use Apple apps they might actually acquire some functionality…
“These are toy apps – if you have serious work you use MS Office …”
They are FREE apps, and are adequate for many tasks for many people. If you need more functionality, as many do, you pay (MS apps) to get it. Pickup trucks are very useful (cheap) but not if you need to move ten tons of earth at a time (Euclid trucks, not cheap).
Smart people are those who know when, and how, to use the tools appropriate to the task and pay the price (and not whine about it).
Many of us have lamented the dummying down of iWorks to little or no avail: One need only go to the App Store or various Apple blogs to review the expression of outrage over the emasculation of Pages. Apparently no one at Apple gives a damn about iWorks or the lack of quality which has now become the standard of its software. Apple seems more focused on the color of watch bands for the Apple Watch or more interested in trying to come up with even more useless features for the iPhone. Thanks Timmy. By the way, how’s the the iShoe coming along?