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August 7, 2007

software

Mac Event: iWork runs the Numbers, .Mac gets a bump

Posted Aug. 7, ’07, 11:18 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Software

NumbersAfter demoing new iMacs and new versions of the iLife apps, Steve spent some time discussing a few of Apple’s other products: .Mac and iWork. Both saw updates today, with .Mac adding the Web Gallery function demoed in iPhoto, and jumping to 10GB of storage.

In iWork, Jobs discussed new improvements to Keynote, such as Instant Alpha, which lets you drop out a presentation’s background; Smart Builds, which simplify the process of creating high production value animations; and new themes.

Likewise, iWork’s other component, Pages, got some changes as well. Seeing that people want to use it not just for page layout but word processing, Apple’s built in two separate modes. “Now it’s super easy to do both,” said Jobs. There’s also a contextual format bar, change tracking, and 140 Apple-designed themes.

And then, in a moment many have been waiting for since the introduction of iWork, Jobs rolled out a new component to the suite: Numbers. Numbers is a spreadsheet done in the style of Keynote and Pages, featuring intelligent tables that allow sorting and filtering by clicking on headers; a flexible canvas that allows multiple sheets on a single canvas, meaning you can use formulas to tie them together, but format them separately; interactive printing that lets you scale content so that you get exactly what you see; and drag-and-drop formulas.

The point of Numbers, as with the other elements of the iWork suite, is to be able to make beautiful spreadsheets very quickly. Best of all, it’ll allow you to import and export almost all Excel documents.

iWork ‘08 will be compatible with Tiger and Leopard, and like the rest of the products discussed, it’s available today for the same good old price of $79.

[Image via Engadget]


1 Comments

shakti said:

I *knew* it. No, really, I did. I called it way back in January and now look forward to the rolling out of new commercials:

http://shakti.hamla.org/2007/01/maturation_of_apple_advert.php

August 7, 2007 11:50 AM

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