The problem with something like Notepad is that notepad can only write text files. This is fine if you're just looking to jot down a note or ten. Hence the name notepad, :). MS Word is designed to let you format your text. Now, one could use Wordpad, but that doesn't have a spellchecker. Furthermore, MS Word is able to handle some pretty advanced word processing features: indices, table of contents, table of figures, table of authorities, outlines, bulleted lists, subdocuments, styles, track changes, tables, charts, simple excel calculations and formulas, mail merge, envelope labeling, and probably more I'm not thinking of. WHile your average MS Word user might not even know half of these features exist, there are others who simply cannot live without them. Personally, having taken a course in Office, I can certainly appreciate the idea of MS Word for mac. An awesome word processor on an even more awesome OS? That sounds lovely. Too bad that won't happen for awhile. With that being said, let's look at some of Pages notable features: numerous preloaded templates, the ability to create custom templates, easy insertion of headers and footers, styles, track changes, mail merge, footnotes, endnotes, bookmarks, tables, charts, and formulas. And Pages has the ability to export not only to word documents but epub, rtf, PDF, and html. You can't save as .docx yet, which is a pity, but you can open .docx files just fine.
I'm not saying all this to suggest that everyone immediately love Pages. We can all agree it lacks some features which word has. Honestly, my first instinct is to fire up Word when I'm doing some intense document writing and editing. And I'm a hard core Mac girl. For my every day writing, I use Text Edit, and I love it. I call it WOrdpad on steroids because Wordpad doesn't have a spellchecker, the ability to save to PDF, or the ability to implement basic styles. At any rate, what I am suggesting is that we as Mac users (those of us with Pages at least) step back and say, okay, Pages isn't word. But what can it offer me? Is there some word processing I could be doing in Pages which I previously only did in Word? And if we don't know the answer, why not try creating that document in Pages when we're not on a time crunch? We might just surprise ourselves. In an effort to remain objective, I will also take the opportunity to include this link in my post. It is to Pages reviews on macupdate.com. http://www.macupdate.com/reviews.php?id=17494 On Sep 27, 2010, at 5:51 AM, ISAAC OBIE wrote: > Hi Kawal, > Frankly, I don't like programs like MS Word because it's too big for what I > want to do. It's huge, clumsy and plain a pain in the posterior. I love > notepad! I think Notepad can do all I want including cleaning up a file. > Now when I really get in to the Mac I think Text edit might do the trick. I > honestly don't know yet. Maybe Esther's "Simplenote" might do it. I'll have > to explore that at some point. > Isaac > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kawal Gucukoglu" > <kawal_gucuko...@sent.com> > To: <macvisionaries@googlegroups.com> > Sent: Monday, September 27, 2010 4:27 AM > Subject: Re: Microsoft Office 2011 and VoiceOver > > >> I too will be switching to I works rather than working with Microsoft >> Products in the future. >> >> >> Kawal Gucukoglu >> >> On 27 Sep 2010, at 12:53 AM, gkearney <gkear...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> It is interesting to note that the ribbons were accessible, much of >>> the user interface is as well. It is the main content areas that are >>> not accessible. >>> >>> Greg >>> >>> On Sep 27, 6:16 am, "Dave Taylor" <davetay...@tafn.org.uk> wrote: >>>> I bet that if they tried, they would soon realise that the ribbons would be >>>> difficult if not impossible to implement with VO anyway. As it is, their >>>> insistence on these awful things is one of my key drivers for making the >>>> switch, though there are many others too. Mike, the podcast where you >>>> install Snow Leopard is as good a demonstration as anything of how far >>>> things have come on the Mac side, I'm afraid it is the opposite story, >>>> almost the reverse story, on the windows side! >>>> >>>> Cheers >>>> Dave >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> -----Original Message----- >>>> From: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com >>>> >>>> [mailto:macvisionar...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Mike Arrigo >>>> Sent: Sunday, September 26, 2010 11:03 PM >>>> To: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com >>>> Subject: Re: Microsoft Office 2011 and VoiceOver >>>> >>>> I don't think he said it was a beta. It is very disappointing indeed, >>>> really, Microsoft has no excuse for this one, it's not like they were not >>>> aware of accessibility and voice over, they just chose not to do anything >>>> with it. Apple has created a built in screen reader and provided the APIs >>>> to >>>> make programs accessible, Microsoft has definitely shown their interest in >>>> this. At least on the mac, there are alternatives that will handle >>>> Microsoft >>>> Office files, namely iwork and open office. >>>> On Sep 26, 2010, at 3:18 PM, M. Taylor wrote: >>>> >>>>> Hello Greg, >>>> >>>>> Thank you so much for providing this info. >>>> >>>>> I cannot begin to relay how sad and disappointed I am at the news of >>>>> Microsoft's Office 2011 VoiceOver inaccessibility. >>>> >>>>> Wow! >>>> >>>>> You know, when I installed the very first beta of Windows 7, it was >>>>> completely accessible. That is to say, as soon as one launched the >>>>> installation program for Windows 7, a very clear voice prompt asked if >>>> audio >>>>> assistance was required. This came as a total surprise to me, to say the >>>>> least. I answered in the affirmative and was able to install Windows 7 >>>>> without any sighted assistance, whatsoever. I installed that first beta >>>> on >>>>> three of my computers. By the way, the voice that was used to guide me >>>>> through the setup was not that of Narrator--it was much clearer. >>>> >>>>> Astonishingly, with the release of the next beta of Windows 7, this >>>> feature >>>>> was removed. I was shocked, disappointed, and angry, to say the least. >>>> >>>>> It was then that I began considering purchasing a Macintosh. >>>> >>>>> It's been much too long to recall how I came to learn Microsoft's reason >>>> for >>>>> removing this feature but they said they removed it for security concerns; >>>>> to which I exclaim, "TommyRot!!!!!" Or, to put it in the vernacular, >>>>> "That's a load of crap!!!!" >>>> >>>>> Greg, is it possible that the final release of Office 2011 will be >>>> VoiceOver >>>>> accessible? I mean, you reviewed a beta, did you not? Perhaps I'm just >>>>> grasping at straws, eh? (Smile) >>>> >>>>> Thanks again for giving us a proverbial "heads-up" on this one. >>>> >>>>> Most Sincerely, >>>> >>>>> mark >>>>> - >>>> >>>>> -----Original Message----- >>>>> From: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com >>>>> [mailto:macvisionar...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Greg Kearney >>>>> Sent: Sunday, September 26, 2010 1:22 AM >>>>> To: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com; macvoiceo...@freelists.org; Mary Beth >>>>> Janes; Mike Shebanek >>>>> Subject: Microsoft Office 2011 and VoiceOver >>>> >>>>> It is my sad duty to report that after getting a chance to test Microsoft >>>>> Office 2011 for Mac that it is no more accessible in this version than in >>>>> any of the previous versions. As in the past it is impossible to interact >>>>> with any of the content areas of the program. You are not able to review, >>>>> read or edit the text area in Word or Excel. >>>> >>>>> It should not be clear to all that Microsoft has no intention of ever >>>> fixing >>>>> these issues. I communicated directly with Microsoft over the same failing >>>>> in Office 2008. The fact that after a complete rewire of the programs they >>>>> remain inaccessible to the built in screen reader of the OS to me speak >>>>> volumes about Microsoft's total lack of commitment to accessibility on the >>>>> Macintosh platform and may well speak to Microsoft's general commitment to >>>>> the platform as well. >>>> >>>>> Gregory Kearney | Manager Accessible Media >>>>> Association for the Blind of WA - Guide Dogs WA >>>>> PO Box 101, Victoria Park WA 6979 | 61 Kitchener Ave, Victoria Park WA >>>> 6100 >>>>> Tel: 08 9311 8246 | Fax: 08 9361 8696 |www.guidedogswa.com.au >>>>> Tel: 307-224-4022 (North America) >>>>> Email: greg.kear...@guidedogswa.com.au >>>>> Email: gkear...@gmail.com >>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>>>> "MacVisionaries" group. >>>>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. >>>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>>>> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>> For more options, visit this group at >>>>> http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>>> "MacVisionaries" group. >>>>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. >>>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>>> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>> For more options, visit this group >>>>> athttp://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >>>> >>>> -- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>>> "MacVisionaries" group. >>>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>>> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>> For more options, visit this group >>>> athttp://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>> "MacVisionaries" group. >>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. >>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>> For more options, visit this group at >>> http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >>> >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "MacVisionaries" group. >> To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MacVisionaries" group. > To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. 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