Pages '08 opens Word 2007 documents

[Clive Huggan]

All,

As reported on:

http://www.tuaw.com/category/iwork/

For anyone who hasn't been following, the background is: [Windows] Office
2007 introduced a new file format, Office Open XML, which Office 2004 for
the Mac doesn't support. Until the release of Pages '08 this week, you
couldn't open Word 2007 [for Windows] documents on the Mac unless you used
the beta converter at www.mactopia.com (see "Quick downloads" column at
right) or bought the latest version of MacLink Plus (www.dataviz.com).

I don't know how successfully Pages '08 converts the more complex types of
Word formatting. And I don't know how well it subsequently allows you to
export to Word 2004.

One catch: the Apple site says iWork needs OS 10.4.10 and QuickTime 7.2
(which have not been without their share of problems for some users of
Microsoft Office). A [possible] slight variation:
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Tech.Q3.07/3242B18C-E737-49E7-9EA0-D8C4
F0C633C4.html reports "Mac OS X 10.4.9 Tiger and QuickTime 7.2 required".

Anyone have more details/clarifications/conclusions?

Cheers,

Clive Huggan
Canberra, Australia
(My time zone is 5-11 hours different from North America and Europe, so my
follow-on responses to those regions can be delayed)
============================================================
Avoid long delays before your post appears -- use Entourage or newsreader
software -- see http://word.mvps.org/Mac/AccessNewsgroups.html
============================================================

 

[CyberTaz]

Greetings Clive -

I don't claim to *know* as I have no personal experience with Pages, but
this is what the Apple site has to offer:

http://www.apple.com/iwork/systemrequirements.html

"System Requirements

A Macintosh computer with an Intel, PowerPC G5 or PowerPC G4 (500MHz or
faster) processor
512MB of RAM (1G recommended)
32MB of video memory
Mac OS X version 10.4.10 or later
QuickTime 7.2 or later
iLife ¹08 recommended
1GB of available disk space
CD drive required for installation"

And going a few pages [no pun intended] deeper:

http://www.apple.com/iwork/pages/#compatible

"Open for business.
Import your Microsoft Word documents into Pages ¹08 with ease. Whether
they¹re Microsoft Office 2007 (Office Open XML) or earlier Word files, Pages
will open them. Pages imports not only the text, but also the styles,
tables, inline and floating objects, charts, footnotes, endnotes, bookmarks,
hyperlinks, lists, sections, change tracking, and other elements of your
original Word document."

There aren't any "footnotes" that would restrict the language used in the
claims and I would tend to believe that any conflicting/supporting
statements from other sources would represent independently garnered
conclusions. As to 10.4.9/.10, I'm not aware of any radical distinction
between the 2 updates but my guess would be the typical "It will most likely
run on .9 but we don't support it" caveat.

I have a feeling Mr. Roper has secreted a copy of the Apple challenger and
will be along shortly with some first-hand insights

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

All,

As reported on:

http://www.tuaw.com/category/iwork/

For anyone who hasn't been following, the background is: [Windows] Office
2007 introduced a new file format, Office Open XML, which Office 2004 for
the Mac doesn't support. Until the release of Pages '08 this week, you
couldn't open Word 2007 [for Windows] documents on the Mac unless you used
the beta converter at www.mactopia.com (see "Quick downloads" column at
right) or bought the latest version of MacLink Plus (www.dataviz.com).

I don't know how successfully Pages '08 converts the more complex types of
Word formatting. And I don't know how well it subsequently allows you to
export to Word 2004.

One catch: the Apple site says iWork needs OS 10.4.10 and QuickTime 7.2
(which have not been without their share of problems for some users of
Microsoft Office). A [possible] slight variation:
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Tech.Q3.07/3242B18C-E737-49E7-9EA0-D8C4
F0C633C4.html reports "Mac OS X 10.4.9 Tiger and QuickTime 7.2 required".

Anyone have more details/clarifications/conclusions?

Cheers,

Clive Huggan
Canberra, Australia
(My time zone is 5-11 hours different from North America and Europe, so my
follow-on responses to those regions can be delayed)
============================================================
Avoid long delays before your post appears -- use Entourage or newsreader
software -- see http://word.mvps.org/Mac/AccessNewsgroups.html
============================================================

 

[Michel Bintener]

Hi Clive,

For anyone who hasn't been following, the background is: [Windows] Office
2007 introduced a new file format, Office Open XML, which Office 2004 for
the Mac doesn't support. Until the release of Pages '08 this week, you
couldn't open Word 2007 [for Windows] documents on the Mac unless you used
the beta converter at www.mactopia.com (see "Quick downloads" column at
right) or bought the latest version of MacLink Plus (www.dataviz.com).

You've forgotten to mention NeoOffice, which has been able to open and save
Word XML files for quite some time now.

I don't know how successfully Pages '08 converts the more complex types of
Word formatting. And I don't know how well it subsequently allows you to
export to Word 2004.

I've got the iWork 08 Trial installed; if you want me to test a couple of
documents for you, just e-mail them to me.

One catch: the Apple site says iWork needs OS 10.4.10 and QuickTime 7.2
(which have not been without their share of problems for some users of
Microsoft Office). A [possible] slight variation:
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Tech.Q3.07/3242B18C-E737-49E7-9EA0-D8C4
F0C633C4.html reports "Mac OS X 10.4.9 Tiger and QuickTime 7.2 required".

Anyone have more details/clarifications/conclusions?

I tend to update my system software as soon as possible, so I'm running Mac
OS X 10.4.10 right now, which is one of the two system requirements
mentioned by Apple. Needless to say, iWork runs as expected on 10.4.10.

--
Michel Bintener
Microsoft MVP
Office:Mac (Entourage & Word)

***Always reply to the newsgroup.***

 

[Elliott Roper]

I have a feeling Mr. Roper has secreted a copy of the Apple challenger and
will be along shortly with some first-hand insights

Indeed I have. If you would be kind enough to mail me a sample Word
2007 document in XML format, I will gladly test the Apple claim.

I'll send it back to you in Word 2004 stylee after giving it the old
Redmond Cupertino two-step.

If you need a mental image of the above dance moves, I recommend
Charles Dunning's performance as the Governor in "The Best Little
Worehouse in Texas"
(deliberate mis-spelling for Salmon Egg's delectation)

 

[CyberTaz]

Indeed I have. If you would be kind enough to mail me a sample Word
2007 document in XML format, I will gladly test the Apple claim.

I'll see to it that you have a rip-snorter in time for breakfast.

 

[Clive Huggan]

From: Michel Bintener <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.mac.office.word
Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2007 12:13:31 +0200
Conversation: Pages '08 opens Word 2007 documents
Subject: Re: Pages '08 opens Word 2007 documents

You've forgotten to mention NeoOffice, which has been able to open and save
Word XML files for quite some time now.

<snip>

Me, *forget*?

On this occasion I hadn't forgotten; I didn't even know.

Thanks for the info, Michel!

Clive
======

 

[Elliott Roper]

Indeed I have. If you would be kind enough to mail me a sample Word
2007 document in XML format, I will gladly test the Apple claim.

The results are in. Bob sent me a slightly fancy company report with
tables, index, table of contents, hyperlinks and illustrations in Word
2007 .docx format. He also sent a control copy as .doc

Pages opened both with only minor errors and saved the .docx back to
..doc quite happily.

It mucked up the pagination in different ways with each, but you expect
that Word to Word, so I don't count that. It reported not dealing with
an unsupported field somewhere, but I couldn't see what. On the .docx
it claimed diagonal borders on tables were not supported and thus
removed, and it claimed that links to other files were not supported,
which was moot because Bob never sent me whatever it was. There was a
decoration in the header on the original that did not make it to pages
on either. One hyperlinked heading got the wrong font on the .docx
only.

Style definitions made it across just fine, the Word styles become
available as Pages styles, adding to the repertoire just as Word deals
with a doc from a foreign author.

Overall, Pages did a most impressive job. It is far faster and far
prettier than Word on my Mac Pro, and leaves me looking forward to
seeing how well the next Version of Mac Office will run once it is
native.

Note this was a quick test on a single document. Don't go making
purchasing decisions based on this alone.

But oh mum. It is *so* cheap. It is a no-brainer. Don't ditch Office.
Get this as well. In the same bundle, Keynote makes PP look like the
ailing geriatric it is, and Numbers? Well, I'm not sure about Numbers
yet. Excel is a hard act to beat.

It is *so* nice to see some competition.

 

[gbhawkins]

Bad news- it will not correctly import any spreadsheets embedded in
any version of word (2007 included), converting them all to graphics
in Pages.

 

[CyberTaz]

Thanks for you prompt & thorough examination. Just a few in-line notes
below:

The results are in. Bob sent me a slightly fancy company report with
tables, index, table of contents, hyperlinks and illustrations in Word
2007 .docx format. He also sent a control copy as .doc

Pages opened both with only minor errors and saved the .docx back to
.doc quite happily.


It mucked up the pagination in different ways with each, but you expect
that Word to Word, so I don't count that. It reported not dealing with
an unsupported field somewhere, but I couldn't see what.

Am not sure about this myself. There are cross-references & footnotes in the
doc as well as one hyperlink,,, although it may refer to the embedded MS
Chart object (an EMBED field), perhaps‽

On the .docx it claimed diagonal borders on tables were not supported and thus
removed,

Curious as there is only one table in the doc & it has no diagonal borders‽

and it claimed that links to other files were not supported,
which was moot because Bob never sent me whatever it was.

Sorry, I didn't realize that this version of the doc has *one* hyperlink
that points to another Word doc which is a press release. That's the only
link to an external source so I assume that it is what generated the
message. However, it *is* a hyperlink, not an OLE link, so it _shouldn't_ be
a problem. Perhaps the wording of the message is generic and merely means
that the target couldn't be found‽

There was a decoration in the header on the original that did not make it to

pages on either. One hyperlinked heading got the wrong font on the .docx only.

That's just a green line added as a plain border using Format> Borders &
Shading... Although it does have the 3D preset effect applied.

Style definitions made it across just fine, the Word styles become
available as Pages styles, adding to the repertoire just as Word deals
with a doc from a foreign author.

That is certainly good to know

Overall, Pages did a most impressive job. It is far faster and far
prettier than Word on my Mac Pro, and leaves me looking forward to
seeing how well the next Version of Mac Office will run once it is
native.

Certainly sounds like Pages is a far more worthy product than I had expected
it to be... I just hope Apple isn't up to the same shenanigans they pulled
with iPhoto - Give it away to establish a customer base, then yank it away
unless you're willing to repurchase at a significantly escalated price
and have to re-purchase every time an upgrade is released.

Note this was a quick test on a single document. Don't go making
purchasing decisions based on this alone.

But oh mum. It is *so* cheap. It is a no-brainer. Don't ditch Office.
Get this as well. In the same bundle, Keynote makes PP look like the
ailing geriatric it is, and Numbers? Well, I'm not sure about Numbers
yet. Excel is a hard act to beat.

My thoughts exactly - might even break down & try it myself:<}

It is *so* nice to see some competition.

Hopefully it'll have a positive impact on MS attention to the Mac market!!!

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Elliott Roper]

Thanks for you prompt & thorough examination. Just a few in-line notes
below:

Heh! It was good fun and easy too.

 

[Clive Huggan]

Thanks for you prompt & thorough examination. Just a few in-line notes
below:




Am not sure about this myself. There are cross-references & footnotes in the
doc as well as one hyperlink,,, although it may refer to the embedded MS
Chart object (an EMBED field), perhaps‽


Curious as there is only one table in the doc & it has no diagonal borders‽


Sorry, I didn't realize that this version of the doc has *one* hyperlink
that points to another Word doc which is a press release. That's the only
link to an external source so I assume that it is what generated the
message. However, it *is* a hyperlink, not an OLE link, so it _shouldn't_ be
a problem. Perhaps the wording of the message is generic and merely means
that the target couldn't be found‽


pages on either. One hyperlinked heading got the wrong font on the .docx only.

That's just a green line added as a plain border using Format> Borders &
Shading... Although it does have the 3D preset effect applied.


That is certainly good to know

Certainly sounds like Pages is a far more worthy product than I had expected
it to be... I just hope Apple isn't up to the same shenanigans they pulled
with iPhoto - Give it away to establish a customer base, then yank it away

Thanks indeed for your investigation, Elliott and Bob -- it certainly
clarifies things, and the extent of Pages 08's capabilities are good to see
too.

Cheers,

Clive
======