Apple iWork 08

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Apple iWork 08

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Anthony Fiti
Beth
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Aug. 26, 2007

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Numbers

The new kid on the block is destined to shake up the traditional spreadsheet world. When you first open Numbers, you're presented with a number of different templates in four categories: basic blank spreadsheets, personal, business, and education.

Once you select a template the interface appears. And it is drastically different than Microsoft Excel. To start, on the right is your table of contents. Each spreadsheet is broken up into different sheets. Each sheet can contain one or more tables, charts, graphs, etc. And then there is the fundamental difference that puts Numbers an entire head and shoulders above Excel: the ability to display related data formatted in a variety of ways, along with graphs and images in a page layout-style mode.

Working with gigantic spreadsheets might be common at large organizations, but when I'm at home I'm trying to compare different vehicle's cost of ownership, or determining how much house I can afford. To do this I don't need one gigantic chain of calculations in one table. Instead, I have many small and medium-sized tables that are related to each other (the output of one table is the input to the next and so on).

The formula suggestion area in the lower left hand corner of the application is immensely useful. Not only can I drag a formula from that area into a cell after selecting a group of cells, it also gives me a little statistical analysis of the numbers I have selected. Also, similar to Excel, cells will highlight when you click on a formula to show you where the source data comes from.

The ability to use labels is extremely useful when you're using very complex formulas, like computing the amount of principle in a mortgage payment. In Numbers, you are able to see where each item in the formula comes from; not just what cell, but also what that number means.

I didn't have any problems with transferring graphs and tables from Numbers into Pages and Keynote. Not only that, but I was also able to modify things like chart colors, fonts, text appearance, etc within Pages or Keynote, and didn't have to worry that it wasn't a native object.

You can tell Apple worked long and hard on Numbers before releasing it. They tout it as "Spreadsheets the Mac way," and they're right. Numbers is simpler to use, and can produce attractive final documents without first generating tables and graphs before bringing them into a page layout application.

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Page 4 of 5

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Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: Pages
Page 3: Keynote
Page 4: Numbers
Page 5: Conclusion

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3 User Comments

1 - Posted by Splash6 on August 28, 2007 - 6:59 am

Numbers is definitely a noteworthy application. It is the biggest change in spreadsheets since their creation. By creating a series of standalone tables it will soon be possible to use standard libraries of modular tables. It will no longer be necessary to check through every individual cell of a spreadsheet to ensure it is correct, just to check the tables have been wired up correctly. This will be the biggest step forward in the quality of spreadsheets that will ever have occured and can not be far off.

2 - Posted by Max Slowik on August 28, 2007 - 12:56 pm

So it's a database with a spreadsheet interface?

3 - Posted by Vic on October 2, 2007 - 1:46 pm

Is there a "Password protect a document" feature in iWork 08 - I can't find it. Help please

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