Apple Introduces iWork 08

Apple along with its updated desktop range has announced an updated version of its business suite iWork '08. The updated suite now includes the Keynote application, Pages and a long overdue spreadsheet application simply called Numbers.

Keynote which is Apple’s version of PowerPoint has been given new text effects, animated text effects and new transitions. It has also gained an instant Alpha feature that will remove the background from an image. The updated application has also got new A to-B animations, which make it easier to build dynamic and fluid presentations.

Pages has been upgraded with several new formatting options and modes. A new contextual format bar has also been added with new templates and the ability to track document changes

This is the long overdue and much expected equivalent of Excel. Numbers offers intelligent tables that let its users easily build formulas, do column sorting and filtering. It also sports a flexible canvas that displays multiple tables on a single page and will include an interactive printing feature. One important feature of this new spreadsheet application will be the ability to import and export Excel documents.

More from News Analysis

iWork '08 will be priced at US$79.