Difference Between Office Mac and iWork

Office Mac vs iWork

Office and iWork are two office suites that let you create documents and presentations. Since they serve the same purpose, their difference is in who these two software packages are from. Office is a product from Microsoft and is traditionally meant to run on the Windows operating system, but it is now available for Mac users. iWorks was developed by Apple in order to provide an office suite to users of their Macs.

Because iWork is created by Apple, it is expected to perform much better compared to Office which is created by its competitor. Since its written in native code, it can make use of commands that other software programs cannot resulting in a much faster execution time. You are also less likely to encounter glitches when using iWorks on a Mac rather than Office. Although iWorks is really much faster, this is not really a major concern because these applications do not really take a lot of processing power and the only time you would probably notice the difference is on boot-up.

Because Office is tied in with the Windows operating system, a great majority of Windows users also use Office and are very familiar with it. Those who are already familiar with the Office interface might have some trouble shifting to iWorks. Then, there is the problem of compatibility with their file types. In order to open or save Office documents in iWorks, you would need to use the import and export functions. This is not a flawless process where the document you saved in Office would look exactly the same in iWorks. A lot of users have been frustrated when some elements in the documents move around after it was imported or exported.

For people who simply needs their paperwork done and printed, and don’t necessarily have the need to send their files to other users, iWorks would probably suite you as you are more likely to have a flawless time in creating documents. But for those who have the need to collaborate on files or move from Macs to PCs, the problems with file formats is enough to switch to Office despite its quirks.

Summary:
1. iWork is from Apple and is native to the Mac OS while Office is from Microsoft
2. iWork is much faster on Macs compared to Office
3. Office is being used by a great majority of computer owners while iWork has a very small user base
4. The default file formats of both are not compatible with each other

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