iWork vs other Office type apps for iPad usage

**John Yester** · 12-21-2012, 03:58 PM

Just picked up a iPad the other night.

Want to get some solid opinions on iWork vs any other apps you may use for office type functions, word, table, presentations, etc...

Pro's and Con's

I have a MacBook Pro, iPhone 4s and now an iPad to syncing would be great for what ever is the best Application out there.

Thanks in advance.

**cjvitek** · 12-21-2012, 04:15 PM

If you use the iWork apps on your main computer, and with the iCloud system, I would think iWork is the way to go.

If you are a Microsoft office user, you may want to look at other apps. I still like Documents to Go, but that could be stubborn holdover from my Visor and Palm days. Certainly they are not generally going to be as full featured as Microsoft office or the iWork apps.

Chris

**Karenkcoulter** · 12-21-2012, 05:13 PM

Agreed. Go with the iWork's apps since you are already a Mac user.

**TurboTiger** · 12-21-2012, 07:49 PM

Originally Posted by John Yester

Just picked up a iPad the other night.

Want to get some solid opinions on iWork vs any other apps you may use for office type functions, word, table, presentations, etc...

Pro's and Con's

I have a MacBook Pro, iPhone 4s and now an iPad to syncing would be great for what ever is the best Application out there.

Thanks in advance.

i'm in the same boat as you JY.
Same devices but MBA not MBP.
I have Pages and Numbers on my iPad and iPhone,
Gonna get the same for the MBA

Good Luck

**Alli** · 12-22-2012, 07:44 AM

When I first bought my Mac, I bought the iWorks suite. I used it for two weeks and couldn't handle it. I immediately went and got MS Office for Mac. It is so much better than iWorks - even on the Mac. MS nailed it. You can still manually save your MS files to iCloud and read them on your iPad if you use iWorks.

My solution continues to be using Documents to Go on my iOS devices and saving all my necessary documents to Dropbox. (iCloud has way too many limitations at this point, starting with them not allowing access by any apps not sold by Apple.)

**Karenkcoulter** · 12-22-2012, 08:10 AM

MS Office works well on the Mac but I don't like the UI. It's too Windowsish for me.

**Alli** · 12-22-2012, 10:05 AM

I still prefer Windows. It's far more intuitive than anything Mac. Love the Office UI, and it has way more options than iWorks.

**Karenkcoulter** · 12-22-2012, 10:41 AM

Originally Posted by Alli

I still prefer Windows. It's far more intuitive than anything Mac. Love the Office UI, and it has way more options than iWorks.

That's why it's great that there are choices! I was a long time Windows user (and still am at work), but since switching to a Mac , I just find the Windows UI annoying and hard to use.

**John Yester** · 12-22-2012, 07:44 PM

Going to try both. If anyone can provide some solid reviews on why they chose what and why. Thanks

**spatra** · 03-04-2013, 01:02 PM

Depends on your needs. If you work with MS Office documents a lot and are looking for compatibility then there are some cloud based office apps that are full featured. But you will need a strong internet connection for this. If you dont care much for compatibility iWork is great!

I use AstralPad- It is a Free Office suite and lets you share your iPad screen to co-edit a document.