Appleworks 7 coming?

hmurchison

hmurchison

Registered
Ok it's time not to be jaded about this. Everthing points to this being totally legit. Appleworks finally looks to be getting an update. A new book is coming right now appended with an "X" placeholder. Finally we find out that AW isn't dead. Perhaps this app is announced at Apple Paris but if not I see it coming at MWSF. I'm excited...toss keynote 2 in and give me a total revamp and I'm buying.

0201702827.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg

Title: AppleWorks 6 for Macintosh : Visual QuickStart Guide
ISBN: 0201702827
Author: Nolan Hester
Format: Paperback / 2ND July 2000

This is for Nolan Hester's first AW6 book.

Here's the new book

Author: Nolan Hester
ISBN: 0321246640
Publisher: Peachpit Press - March 2004
Format: Paperback

Seems clear cut to me. Date differs by 4 years and ISBN number is different. We gotta ask ourselves why would PP take 4 years and register a new ISBN for AW 6.2.9. Answer is they wouldn't. This is a new version coming that is substantial enough to warrant the need of a new updated book. That in my book is AW7.
 
hmurchison said:
A new book is coming right now appended with an "X" placeholder.
Click to expand...

I'll bite on your logic -- seems unrealistic that someone would release a new book four years later just for a minor update to AppleWorks. We'll have to wait and see, you could be correct, sir!

However, AppleWorks, ever since it got Mac OS X compatibility, has been named "AppleWorks X." Look here:

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/11281
http://www.macfixit.com/search.php?productID=11281
http://www.opengroup.com/cbbooks/076/0764506366.shtml
 
I hope they update Appleworks 6. Its currently having a hard time competing with Office v.X.
 
If AppleWorks will be upgraded to version 7, it better be good. It better have similar iApp functionality. It better seemelessly work with other iApps. I highly doubt it would be a complete rewrite, but maybe lots of the app will be rewritten since the app is based on very old code (relative to the other iApps).

But on the otherhand, maybe, just maybe, they have rewritten the entire suite in Cocoa, each section (word processing, spreadsheets, etc) being it's own app. Why would they create Keynote, and update AppleWork's presentation feature? Wouldn't make sense. What would make sense is Apple to sell the AppleWorks bundle which includes all new apps, and the option to buy each app separately like what M$ does with Office.

I do hope for a complete rewrite, or at least major new UI. Although I do have Office on my Mac, I'd rather use AppleWorks as it is easier and more basic for my needs.

All I know is, if a major update is in the works, Apple won't disappoint us. :)
 
If Appleworks 7 is coming I'm not sure if it would be Cocoa but it would make sense. Cocoa has come a long ways in the last few years and pretty much dominates all these cool apps coming out today. Just supposing that Appleworks 7 had a Tiger version here are some things I can imagine seeing.

Appleworks Tiger-

Spotlight- Not only for finding your own user created docs but for finding any AW template or file needed.

Core Image- Needed for images that are imported and need easy tweaking.

Webcore/Web Kit- Image saving html pages in Safari right to AW.

PDF Kit- new API for handling pdfs. Probably like having Super Preview built in

Image IO- For handling JPEG, PNG and other file formats

Automator- Automating any repetitive task is good. Need support even at this level

Quicktime- All the quicktime goodies.

Apple has a lot technology they can roll into AW7 that would make a big difference in how we use it.
 
Viro said:
Its currently having a hard time competing with Office v.X.
Click to expand...
What competing is it doing?

Apple stamps new Office releases on the front page, main section, every single time.
 
Ricky said:
What competing is it doing?

Apple stamps new Office releases on the front page, main section, every single time.
Click to expand...

Precisely! But I was just trying to be diplomatic :)
 
Why is everyone so keen on Appleworks being rewritten in Cocoa? What does it have that Carbon doesn't?
 
Speed is not the issue. I mean, sure, AW6 is quite slow on OS X, but that's not entirely Carbon's fault, it's rather the fault of AppleWorks, I guess. Office 2004 is no slouch, and it's Carbon, too. So is Photoshop, for example.

I'm pretty sure that AW7 will adopt Cocoa, though. Or at least, it will adopt all the new technologies that cry out to be used in AppleWorks. For example: Tiger's TextEdit will support Word files with tables natively. I don't see AW7 support Word files through filters anymore. And: Text rendering is awful in AW6. However, this sounds like a major overhaul. And that's why I think there won't be an AW7 - I rather think Apple will bring out single applications. There's already Keynote. An "iLifed" FileMaker light could be an entry-level database application. So what's missing? Spreadsheet and word processing.
 
AppleWorks 7 has supposidly been "coming" for the last 3 years. i highly doubt this though. if Apple was smart, they wouldnt even bother wasting the time or money. NOTHING is going to dethrone Office in the foreseeable future.

hopefully they're focusing their time, money and efforts on something a little more likely to succeed.
 
They don't need to unseat MS Office to do well. They just need to get enough sales to turn a profit. And they could make a much lighter weight and more elegant product then Office - less bloat means less development effort on features no one cares about...

Look at OmniGroup's software, for example. I think, even if MS were to come out with Visio for the Mac, they'd still develop OmniGraffle, and still make a profit at it, it's just so nice and elegant.
 
kendall said:
AppleWorks 7 has supposidly been "coming" for the last 3 years. i highly doubt this though. if Apple was smart, they wouldnt even bother wasting the time or money. NOTHING is going to dethrone Office in the foreseeable future.

hopefully they're focusing their time, money and efforts on something a little more likely to succeed.
Click to expand...

Who says it has anything to do with dethroning Office. Keynote wasn't made to dethrone Powerpoint. There are thousands of people that just aren't feeling MS Office on a usability and aesthetic level. Why must we have our choices limited for the sake of appeasing Redmond? Apple needs to get their butts in gear and provide a solution that leverages technology and embodies their ideals on computing. MS is only beholden to themselves getting into bed with them only ensures that you will get screwed.

On a side note, you really have to start admiring the "spunk" of Linux. Here is a platform that has risen from the ashes like a phoenix and built up a base strong enough to get MS' attention. They don't have MS products, they don't have Adobe products but they still grow! While Apple is sloganeering with "Think Different" and "Here's to the crazy ones" Linux is actually doing it. I cheer them because should Linux make drastic headway into the Enterprise Desktop environment it would benefit Apple in the fact that Linux is open and non-predatory. A win for Linux is a half win for Apple.
 
Or use it to pack more value into the machine. Not everyone wants to spend hundreds on Office, or even just Word...but they don't want to use TextEdit because, well, its TextEdit. Nothing wrong with it for a no-frills GUI, etc, but consumers want the whole 9 yards. They just better be sure this puppy can really work seemlessly with Office docs.

If they bundled AppleWorks X, with all the capabilities you can imagine and had it pre-installed on all new Macs, it'd be one more reason to get one.

I'd think a great launch would be with the iMac G5...schools would eat that up!

Moving to Tiger, use of Core Image, Core Audio, and Core Video would be lethal in that thing!
 
kendall said:
AppleWorks 7 has supposidly been "coming" for the last 3 years. i highly doubt this though. if Apple was smart, they wouldnt even bother wasting the time or money. NOTHING is going to dethrone Office in the foreseeable future.

hopefully they're focusing their time, money and efforts on something a little more likely to succeed.
Click to expand...
Why do you insist on seeing AppleWorks as a competitor to M$ Office? AppleWorks is a works program. M$ Office is a bundle of office productivity applications. AppleWorks, like every other works programs, combines the more popular features of found in a number of different programs into a single appliation. The target audience is the casual user at home, in schools, and other places that can be satisfied by a limited number of features. M$ Office, like other office suites, provides a single source of popular office applications at a lower price than buying them separately. If you have the sense that God gave red brick then you know that an office suite is really a rouse to sell users more software than they need. But, I think you get the idea. Works programs and office suites don't compete on the same turf.
 
MisterMe said:
Why do you insist on seeing AppleWorks as a competitor to M$ Office? AppleWorks is a works program. M$ Office is a bundle of office productivity applications. AppleWorks, like every other works programs, combines the more popular features of found in a number of different programs into a single appliation. The target audience is the casual user at home, in schools, and other places that can be satisfied by a limited number of features. M$ Office, like other office suites, provides a single source of popular office applications at a lower price than buying them separately. If you have the sense that God gave red brick then you know that an office suite is really a rouse to sell users more software than they need. But, I think you get the idea. Works programs and office suites don't compete on the same turf.
Click to expand...

have you ever used AppleWorks? i did a year ago or so because it was loaded on an iBook i purchased. it really sucked but thats beyond the point. my point is, isn't it a suit of productivity applications as well? i seem to recall it having more than just a word processor. perhaps im wrong.

clarification anyone?
 
As I remember, it has more than just word capabilities...

You'd think AppleWorks X would include things like (just guessing) Document, Keynote, (insert Spreadsheet name here), Data (FileMaker Lite, maybe with some Access abilities?) and of course OS X comes with Mail already...

If they wrote these things to be ready for Tiger's core technologies, they could be visually stunning and very powerful.
 
Heck: Every linux distribution comes with OpenOffice.org and has Office compatibility out of the box. I _sure_ hope Apple gets its act together and just bundles this with OS X one day... Keynote can be separately sold, so be it. But a TextEdit Pro or Document or iWrite and some spreadsheet application...
 
Wouldn't that incur the wrath of the anti-trust department? I mean, look at all the stuff MS went through just because it bundled IE with Windows. I think the Linux distros get away with it because OpenOffice isn't made by RedHat/SuSE/any other distro.
 
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