iWork â08 a âstrong Mac productivity package and a pleasure to use,â says CNET
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iWork â08 provides âa solid deal for anyone needing an affordable office suite for the Mac,â according to Elsa Wenzel . She praises the new writing and layout tools in Pages â08, including the contextual Format Bar, Change Tracking, automatic list formatting, and the abundance of page templates. Wenzel points out that âKeynote â08 adds some smart features that PowerPoint lacks. Itâs also a breeze to figure out from the get-go.â And she notes that âNumbers reveals ease-of-use novelties that competitive tools donât provide,â concluding that âthe majority of users who rely upon spreadsheets as one-size-fits-all tools for household and light office work should be pleased to have a new option for Macs.â
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Microsoft used today's Macworld conference to release its much-anticipated Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac software suite.
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Macs are now stable, Intel-based workhorses that run Windows apps and make end users happy. Is that enough for entry to the enterprise?
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For one, âMac hardware is beautifully designed,â explains Ed Baig (USA Today). And âthe underlying software is polished, robust and secure.â For example, new Macs âcome with iLife â08, a slick multimedia software suite for handling pictures (iPhoto), video editing (iMovie), making music (GarageBand) and websites (iWeb).â And Mac OS X Leopard  âhas standout features of its own, including Time Machine (dirt-simple backup) and iChat (way cool video chat).â Whatâs more, Macs âhave been immune from the scourge of viruses and malware that have long plagued Windows.â  Mac customers âheap lavish praise on Macs for good reason,â Baig concludes.
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Edward C. Baig (USA Today) begins his review of the new iMac and iLife â08 by saying, âAppleâs svelte iMac computers always turn heads. But Iâm also smitten with the Macâs rock solid OS X operating system and top-shelf iLife software suite â programs that tame pictures, videos and more.â After exploring the new iMac hardware and individual iLife applications, such as iPhoto and iMovie, Baig finishes, âTaken as a whole, iLife remains the best collection of multimedia software. And in looks, design and pizazz, the iMac is still the best desktop computer for home users.â
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Mac users seem quite excited about Microsoft's long-awaited-but-little-anticipated Vista. The new Intel Macs are great machines for running it. In Cult of Mac.
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Here are CNET Reviews' 10 favorite items from the past few weeks, including Microsoft Office for Mac 2008, the most usable UMPC we've seen yet, and a portable phone system that lets you use VoIP on the go.
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&#147;It has been a good year for Apple,&#148; writes Wilson Rothman in naming the iMac G5 TIME Gadget of the Week. &#147;Since the beginning of 2004, I&#146;ve discussed GarageBand, AirPort Express and the latest iPod. If you go back 12 months, you can probably even throw in iTunes Music Store, the original G5 and the official release of iChat AV. This isn&#146;t favoritism, I&#146;m just impressed. Rather than spend money on its silly &#145;Switch&#146; ad campaign, the company has spent it inventing actual reasons for people to switch from Windows to Mac, not least of all personal style. The iMac G5 is super suave, but it&#146;s also a pretty good deal.&#148; [Sep 22]
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Is Apple a Mac magnate or an iPod powerhouse?
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Editor's note: This story was reprinted from Computerworld. For more of Computerworld's coverage of the Mac, visit its Mac Knowledge Center.
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&#147;I am writing these words on the most elegant desktop computer I&#146;ve ever used,&#148; writes Walt Mossberg about the iMac G5 in the Wall Street Journal, &#147;a computer that is not only uncommonly beautiful but fast and powerful, virus-free and surprisingly affordable. This machine takes up no more space on a desk than a flat-panel monitor. In fact, the entire computer is contained behind a flat-panel screen in a space just 2 inches thick &#151; thinner than most flat-panel monitors alone.&#148; [Sep 23]
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Franklin N. Tessler  awards Keynote â08 four and a half stars in his recent review of the latest version of the presentation application. He reports that this ânew version of Keynote retains an uncluttered interface that makes it easy to put together polished presentations with a minimum of fuss, while introducing features that boost efficiency.â Those include the Format Bar, Picture Frame, Instant Alpha, and the new Smart Build feature, which Tessler says âis another huge time-saver that lets you show a series of images without putting them on separate frames or using builds to display them one-by-one.â
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âApple has done well with Aperture 2.0, based on my test of ingesting and editing a batch of my own photos on a dual-core iMac,â remarks Stephen Shankland in a recent article on CNET.  And, he points out, heâs not the only one to notice the dramatic performance gains:  âI feel like someone snuck a new CPU into my machine,â gushed photographer Josh Anon in a Wednesday blog posting.â  âOn top of a general performance boost,â Shankland continues, Aperture 2 delivers âa new preview mode that specifically emphasizes speed,â an entirely ânew raw-processing engineâ that delivers significant advantages, and a variety of other new features, as well.
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Microsoft outlined a new feature that will be included in Office 2008 for Mac.
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The CNET Reviews team offers the straight scoop on these highest-rated goodies including the Apple Mac Pro, Quicken 2007 and a BMW.
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âWith Leopard, Appleâs operating system widens its lead aesthetically and technologically,â states Ed Baig . Baig âmigrated to Leopardâ from Tiger âwithout pain on a MacBook laptop and my own iMac desktop; thereâs mercifully none of the software driver and other hassles associated with a Windows operating system upgrade.â Calling Leopard âone cool cat,â Baig praises Time Machine with its automatic backup and effortless file retrieval; the new videoconferencing features in iChat Theater; stationery, notes and To Do options in Mail; Cover Flow, Spaces, Stacks, and the ability to âhighlight and copy any portion of a Web page inside the Safari browser and turn it into a live Dashboard widget.â
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Shortly after activating his new iPhone, Michael DeAgonia  received his â first phone call. A few moments after that, I got another. I was able to swap between calls, merge them, put them on hold, and separate them without hassle. Other phones, of course, do that as well. Whatâs the difference here? The multitouch screen and interface. I can confirm what early reviewers have already pointed out: it works like magic.â The iPhone, DeAgonia indicates, â isnât a collection of features, itâs a well-thought-out multi-function device with functions bound together by a drop-dead simple, drop-dead gorgeous interface. The sum is more than the parts.â