Not mentioned at the WWDC

In article <>, TaliesinSoft
<> wrote:

> > And Microsoft Word is not likely to be re-written for Retina displays.
>
> And why would anybody want to run Microsoft Word on a Mac when Apple's
> Pages is so much better?

because the rest of the world uses microsoft word and excel. if you
need to exchange files, you need the real thing.

In article <jrblch$9sp$>, wrote:
> On 06-13-2012 17:34, Helpful Harry wrote:
> >
> > Just like on the iPad, a Retina display will make the text cleaner and
> > sharper, and easier to read ... assuming you're using a version of Word
> > that either uses Apple's text routines or has been re-written for Retina
> > dsiplays.
>
> And unless you're incredibly wealthy or have a visual impairment, that's
> not worth $400.

It's a first generation computer, but eventually the price will come down.


> And Microsoft Word is not likely to be re-written for Retina displays.

Word, like every other major applications, will be updated for Retina
displays ... eventually, because all Macs will have them at some stage.


Helpful Harry )

On 2012-06-14 03:59:39 +0000, nospam said:

> In article <>, TaliesinSoft
> <> wrote:
>
>>> And Microsoft Word is not likely to be re-written for Retina displays.
>>
>> And why would anybody want to run Microsoft Word on a Mac when Apple's
>> Pages is so much better?
>
> because the rest of the world uses microsoft word and excel. if you
> need to exchange files, you need the real thing.

Apple's Pages includes the ability to read and write in Microsoft Word
format. Thus it is easy to exchange documents with someone using Word.

--
James Leo Ryan - Austin, Texas

In article <>, TaliesinSoft
<> wrote:

> >>> And Microsoft Word is not likely to be re-written for Retina displays.
> >>
> >> And why would anybody want to run Microsoft Word on a Mac when Apple's
> >> Pages is so much better?
> >
> > because the rest of the world uses microsoft word and excel. if you
> > need to exchange files, you need the real thing.
>
> Apple's Pages includes the ability to read and write in Microsoft Word
> format. Thus it is easy to exchange documents with someone using Word.

i take it you've never actually tried it.

it works for simple documents. it does not work for medium to complex
documents.

like i said, if you need to exchange files with the rest of the world,
you need the real thing.

On 2012-06-14 04:15:45 +0000, nospam said:

> In article <>, TaliesinSoft
> <> wrote:
>
>>>>> And Microsoft Word is not likely to be re-written for Retina displays.
>>>>
>>>> And why would anybody want to run Microsoft Word on a Mac when Apple's
>>>> Pages is so much better?
>>>
>>> because the rest of the world uses microsoft word and excel. if you
>>> need to exchange files, you need the real thing.
>>
>> Apple's Pages includes the ability to read and write in Microsoft Word
>> format. Thus it is easy to exchange documents with someone using Word.
>
> i take it you've never actually tried it.
>
> it works for simple documents. it does not work for medium to complex
> documents.
>
> like i said, if you need to exchange files with the rest of the world,
> you need the real thing.

I've never encountered a problem exchanging a Pages file with Microsoft
Word. Admittedly I may not be using some of the more "exotic" features
of Word. We have a member of our local Macintosh user group here in
Austin that has a special interest group that focusses on Microsoft
Office and he is willing to state that Pages is a far better
application than Word.
--
James Leo Ryan - Austin, Texas

In article <>, TaliesinSoft
<> wrote:

> >>>>> And Microsoft Word is not likely to be re-written for Retina displays.
> >>>>
> >>>> And why would anybody want to run Microsoft Word on a Mac when Apple's
> >>>> Pages is so much better?
> >>>
> >>> because the rest of the world uses microsoft word and excel. if you
> >>> need to exchange files, you need the real thing.
> >>
> >> Apple's Pages includes the ability to read and write in Microsoft Word
> >> format. Thus it is easy to exchange documents with someone using Word.
> >
> > i take it you've never actually tried it.
> >
> > it works for simple documents. it does not work for medium to complex
> > documents.
> >
> > like i said, if you need to exchange files with the rest of the world,
> > you need the real thing.
>
> I've never encountered a problem exchanging a Pages file with Microsoft
> Word. Admittedly I may not be using some of the more "exotic" features
> of Word.

i have. try stuff with tables, which is one of the areas where problems
usually occur, but not the only one.

> We have a member of our local Macintosh user group here in
> Austin that has a special interest group that focusses on Microsoft
> Office and he is willing to state that Pages is a far better
> application than Word.

that's just one person's opinion. there are a whole lot more people who
will state that word is far more capable than pages.

pages is adequate for simple stuff, such as letters, brochures, etc.
it's not that great for lengthy documents, such as a thesis or a novel.

On 12-06-13 10:21 PM, Wes Groleau wrote:
> On 06-13-2012 17:34, Helpful Harry wrote:
>> Just like on the iPad, a Retina display will make the text cleaner and
>> sharper, and easier to read ... assuming you're using a version of Word
>> that either uses Apple's text routines or has been re-written for Retina
>> dsiplays.
>
> And unless you're incredibly wealthy or have a visual impairment, that's
> not worth $400.

I agree. I do have a visual impairment, and found the retina display on
the new iPad fantastic. It, unlike the original iPad, works as an ebook
reader for me. I can read for extended amounts of time.

But the problem I had with reading on the original iPad is not something
I have with an non-retina MBP. So the retina display would really be
wasted on me.

Others, particularly visual designers, may need the new display. But
it's not something I would pay $400 for.

Cheers,

-j


--
Jeffrey Goldberg http://goldmark.org/jeff/
I rarely read HTML or poorly quoting posts
Reply-To address is valid

On 12-06-13 11:12 PM, TaliesinSoft wrote:

>>> And why would anybody want to run Microsoft Word on a Mac when Apple's
>>> Pages is so much better?

Pages still doesn't do things like section numbering and cross
references. It is useless for academic articles. (Personally I use LaTeX
for such things, so it isn't a particular issue for me). I know some
academics who would very much like to move from Word to Pages, but there
is too much that Pages doesn't do.

It's actually becoming a problem for my daughter (now 13). As her school
papers are getting more involved, Pages isn't up to the job. Whether I
nudge her toward LaTeX or let her succumb to Word remains an open question.

> Apple's Pages includes the ability to read and write in Microsoft Word
> format. Thus it is easy to exchange documents with someone using Word.

This is not workable if you have multiple people contributing to the
same document. It may be work, in simple cases, for a one time
conversion (that requires a lot of manual fixes afterwards), but it
isn't useful for documents with multiple authors.

I hate Word as much as the next guy, but I also have to have Office on
my Macs. It's always my last choice for any project, but I'm frequently
out voted.

Cheers,

-j


--
Jeffrey Goldberg http://goldmark.org/jeff/
I rarely read HTML or poorly quoting posts
Reply-To address is valid

On 2012-06-14 03:21:52 +0000, Wes Groleau said:

> On 06-13-2012 17:34, Helpful Harry wrote:
>> Just like on the iPad, a Retina display will make the text cleaner and
>> sharper, and easier to read ... assuming you're using a version of Word
>> that either uses Apple's text routines or has been re-written for Retina
>> dsiplays.
>
> And unless you're incredibly wealthy or have a visual impairment,
> that's not worth $400.
>
> And Microsoft Word is not likely to be re-written for Retina displays.

Not right away, since Microsoft is generally pretty slow to update
Office for Mac. (They still have not provided support for the new
versioning features in Lion, for example, although they have promised
they will.)

But it is possible that the text at least will look fine on Retina
displays without a rewrite, and even if a rewrite is needed I'm sure it
will come eventiually.

--
Scottintokyo

On 2012-06-14 03:54:13 +0000, TaliesinSoft said:

> On 2012-06-14 03:21:52 +0000, Wes Groleau said:
>
>> And Microsoft Word is not likely to be re-written for Retina displays.
>
> And why would anybody want to run Microsoft Word on a Mac when Apple's
> Pages is so much better?

Some of us have to provide compatibility for benighted clients who have
standardized on Microsoft Office. It's not as if we use Word (or Excel
or PowerPoint) by choice.

--
Scottintokyo