Home > My Thoughts, Rants > My Thoughts on Apple’s iWork ‘09 – ‘08 Compatibility [UPDATED]

My Thoughts on Apple’s iWork ‘09 – ‘08 Compatibility [UPDATED]

February 19th, 2009 admin

I’ve been reading how Apple is now asking users of iWork ‘09 to save their documents as ‘08 versions because if you don’t, someone who is using ‘06 or ‘08 versions of Pages, Keynote or Numbers won’t be able to open those files. AppleInsider calls it a bug and others say it’s not an issue. Some people state this:

What’s the problem? I see this as a non-issue. Why is it news worthy that a previous version of some software can’t open files from the new version? Now, if you saved in `08 format from within `09 and `08 couldn’t open the files, that’d be interesting. But this is a complete non-story.

Well they are missing the point. Apple has chosen to create incompatibilities between their software in a suite that is only it its 3rd revision. I understand Keynote has been out since 2003 but Pages and Numbers are both from 2005-2007 era and are very new software versions. iWork itself wasn’t a package until 2006 and Apple had so little faith in the suite that AppleWorks continued to sit on shelves at Apple Stores until 2007. Now that we’re all up to date on history, I’d like to say that most people bought iWork in its second revision which was in 2007-2008. Now Apple is asking those users to upgrade it iWork ‘09 for $79. That’s a steal compared to Microsoft Office but they’re saying that you must down save your files for compatibility for anyone not using iWork ‘09 which is a real issue when you’re collaborating with people over email. Another thing that Apple is missing is that how do I know if they even have a version of Pages on their computer or if it’s even a Macintosh to begin with?

Let me get this straight; I type out a document in Pages ‘09, then save it, down save a copy in Pages ‘08 and export a version in Microsoft Word format as well. I zip all of that up and send it to my colleague. You have got to be kidding me. I would rather spend $149 for Microsoft Office 2008, rest assured that they won’t be updating their suite for at least 3 years, have full compatibility with Mac and PC users with a simple save command and have twice as much functionality in the software. Sure the ease of use in iWork ‘09 is tremendous and there’s that whole iWork.com feature (which will cost you money once it’s out of beta) but Microsoft has spent 20 years perfecting Office and they have 60-80% more market share.

Apple, you fucked up. You lost me on the iWork suite. Your latest version is easy to use but saving in Word, PDF, ‘08 and ‘09 versions is ridiculous. Incompatibilities, forcing me to upgrade every single year and charging me (a MobileMe) customer to put things on iWork.com is another stupid idea.

Some people may state that Microsoft in its latest version of Office just implemented totally new file types for all of their apps and you need a converter to open those files in the previous versions! That’s true but Microsoft has been using .doc, .xls and .ppt for at least the past 12 years. Microsoft also has preferences in each application that allow you to make the default file type the new or old format. If I’m the only Office ‘08 user in an office of Office 2000-2004 users (Mac or Windows), it’s in my best interest to simply set my default to .doc so now I don’t have to worry about compatibility with any other user but Apple doesn’t allow you to setup iWork ‘08 as your default file save option. Microsoft made the transition very easy and they didn’t change until they were the leading suite of office applications and they even made the file extension different. Apple still uses .pages for all of their extensions so I won’t know if it’s a Pages ‘08 or ‘09 until I’m greeted with a comforting, “your version of Pages is incompatible.”

In short, Microsoft wins on pricing, functionality, widespread use, common file extensions and the transition to a new file format. Apple asks us to pay $79 each year, changes compatibility without warning or extension change, charges us to put things on the cloud and with their small iWork market share, they’re really pissing people off very early on in the game. Oh and one more thing, Apple add a freaking set of key commands so I can export to Word, PDF or RTF with one keystroke. I’m tired of going to the “share” menu and then “export” and then “Word Document” Make it freaking easy already to save Word Documents and PDFs!

UPDATE: The Apple Blog posted a great update to how Apple is handling iWork ‘09 files. Of course, I support the change they made I still feel that the transition could have been a bit more seamless for users by providing an update to iWork ‘08 or a conversion tool instead of leaving ‘08 users out in the cold.

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  • Just in case anyone was interested, there was a hint put on MacOSXHints.com today about the file formats and how they work. Good to know though not relevant to the larger conversation. Find out more here: http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20...
  • Microsoft developed .doc in a time where we were just using text and maybe a dozen fonts. As Microsoft office applications began including clip art, movie files, mp3s, recorded audio notes and more, Word documents soared to megabytes upon megabytes. The new XML file format cut file sizes by 10 so 1 megabyte word files became only 100K. It was huge for Microsoft in terms of size, load time, bloat and in Microsoft Vista and Windows Desktop Search for Windows XP (that’s a product name), they added “meta data search” just like Apple’s Spotlight search tool. When Windows finally got this, that’s all well and good but searching huge .doc files that are just a bunch of code when you search the file contents wasn’t efficient. The XML format of Office documents was faster, lighter and easily idexable.

    Now that concludes the history lesson. My point is. Apple has been using XML based document formats since Keynote ‘03 so what exactly did they change between iWork ‘08 and ‘09 file types? What’s different? What needed to change? Microsoft was kind enough to justify why they changed things up after 20 years and I think Apple should do the same.

    In the IT realm, we don’t install updates, upgrade software or make serious changes without full information on the new developments. When you’re buying Office for 1,200 computers or installing a Windows Vista box across a domain of workstations, you want to know exactly what is being patched so you when you come in on Wednesday and the finance department that runs this old ass MS-Dos application isn’t bitching at you because this software suddenly doesn’t work. Apple continues to give software updates that just say “bug fixes”. I as a sys admin will scratch my head and not install the update because I don’t know what that software will break by installing it. By breaking compatibility, if I was a sys admin at a Mac based shop, I would tell our company to avoid iWork ‘09 and wait for 2010 edition because I want to make sure every other Mac user has upgraded to at least ‘09 and that will take at least until the next version. I’d rather do that instead of deal with the headache of teaching 50 users how to save all files in iWork ‘08 if you’re sending them to people outside of the office because you have no idea what version of the OS they’re running.

    Speaking of the bug fixes bullshit apple gives us, here’s an article I wrote about it a while ago http://dailytechtalk.com/2008/06/perfect-exampl... it gives an example of how much apple pisses me off for their “bug fixes” shit. Every other software vendor doesn’t release updates that say bug fixes yet Apple does. It’s bullshit and one of the reasons, I feel Apple hasn’t made big leaps in the enterprise.

    That’s all. Thanks for commenting Matt.
  • @admin

    1. My pleasure.
    2. First off let me just say again that I don't need to do a whole lot of collaboration, and I don't use iWork all that much (even though it's my primary tool for that).
    3. I think it's a hugely important topic to be discussed among users, developers and platform leaders, definitely. I'm sure most indie Mac developers have had the same discussion around their tables themselves.
    4. I'd also agree that making things compatible is hugely important, but I don't think it should be so important it halts development or need for development. Microsoft make a huge deal every few years about features added to an already bloated, 20 year mature set that people don't need. They spend years working on making compatibility spot on and that costs money too. They also tell their business customers that it's okay not to upgrade. The issue with saying it's okay not to upgrade, that it works so don't fix it, is that people end up all bent out of shape when it stops working or it suddenly costs them whole new setups and software to catch up with everyone else.
    5. I see your point, don't get me wrong, but there is a huge difference between paying (I'll put it to you in GBP because that's what I know) £350 for MS Office in one foul swoop, and paying £69 every year or two to stay up to date with iWork, regardless of total cost of ownership.

    From a development point of view it costs a lot of money to refine compatibility. It's time that could be better served improving a product. While Apple do like iWork, I don't think they see it as a genuine work tool themselves. They are trying to do something with iWork.com which I think points at having one eye on this ball, but they have absolutely no clue what-so-ever what they are doing with it.

    Sometimes it's cheaper and less hassle to stay up to date is the long and short of my point. It depends on a lot of personal factors of course, but I don't see it as being as huge as you do. The question of how much upgrades should cost and how they should be structured is one that I'd love to hear discussed at length by someone like yourself.
  • Just a couple of things.

    1. thanks for commenting :)
    2. Apple makes it nearly impossible to collaborate with iWork and Office or older versions of iWork. Basically, the 50K people that bought '09 can open my files everyone eise (millions) need my document in Office or iWork '08. It cramps my collaboration factor.
    3. By moving on we're accepting the fact that apple can just keep on fucking us in the ass on everything. I'm not trying to start a rebellion but a bit more vocalism toward this issue is in order.
    4. Apple should do what Microsoft did and develop a tool that allows iWork '06-'08 users to open our documents sent from '09. It's only fair.
    5. The suite is expensive. If you paid $49 for Keynote back in 2003 then bought every version since then, yes it is expensive. You could have just bought Office in 2004 and still be using it happily today with zero incompatibilities with the modern office using world.

    If you paid $149 for Office 2004 Standard, you have downloaded the tool that converts office 2008 documents so you can view them then you're totally fine and that's all you had to pay.

    If you stuck with Apple and bought every version of Keynote
    '04, '05, '06, '08 and '09 you're now $335 in to your investment. In retrospect Microsoft wins this battle and they never were sneaky about changing the file names up on us and once again, "fucking us".

    Just my opinion.
  • Perhaps I don't use the suite enough, or perhaps I don't collaborate enough, but I'd have to be in the "What’s the problem?" camp. I agree it sucks that file versions aren't always compatible. I agree that software should be updated to at least open file types from newer versions of itself. I don't agree that default saving in old file types is a good idea.

    I know you said change the default to something else, but I still don't agree. You are encouraging people not to upgrade and while not everyone will be able to afford it (those people can find workarounds, which they can't really complain about) it's not expensive and we can only move on if we... move on.
  • Actually Mike, I'm a long time Windows user. We immediately began deploying Office 2007 for Windows when it was released (mid 2006) but on every install, we chose the preference, "Office 2003 compatibility" on every single office suite as the default save option. I did the same with Office 2008 on the Mac.

    Microsoft was also very clear about the issues with the new XML version when Office 2007 / 2008 were released on Windows & Macintosh. Apple didn't make a peep about it and just told themselves, "our users will understand and happily bend over and let us fuck them with no return police on this BS implementation."

    Microsoft made things a hell of a lot easier in my opinion and I was dealing with over 1,000 Office 2007 / Vista installs in late 2006 - early 2007
  • "I would rather spend $149 for Microsoft Office 2008, rest assured that they won’t be updating their suite for at least 3 years, have full compatibility with Mac and PC users with a simple save command..."

    I think you're overstating the MS ease by a wide margin. The number of Office 2004 users I know who have yet to install the XML file filters is very high, and the number of Office 2007/2008 users who don't default to the older formats is also very high. It's a sea of confusion.
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