Office Suite Options on the Macintosh

Three of the most common business software categories are word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations. On the Windows side, these tools are almost always fulfilled by Microsoft Office. On the Macintosh you have some options. Here we sort them out so you can make a well informed decision.

If cost is the determining factor, you can use either NeoOffice or OpenOffice for free. This are free software products that perform functions similar to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint in an integrated environment. They read and write MS Office documents. They may be a bit quirky but good for basic usage.

Then we have Apple’s software suite iWork 2009
Pages – Word processing
Numbers – Spreadsheet
Keynote – Presentations

Apple iWork 2009 $66 on Amazon
Apple iWork 2009 Family Pack (5 licenses) $72 on Amazon

The iWork suite is very capable and easy to use. It allows you to design awesome looking documents with minimal effort. The suite is worth owning if just for Keynote. Keynote is the premier presentation creation application. If you do any work with content creation on the iPad, you’ll also want to own the iWork suite since they work well together with the iPad versions of Pages, Numbers, and Keynote.

And finally, we have Microsoft Office 2011 which was just recently released.
Word – Word processing
Excel – Spreadsheet
PowerPoint – Presentations
Outlook – Mail and calendar

I’ve been very happy with the new version of Office. It’s faster and more compatible with the Windows version than the previous Mac version.

If you work in a corporate setting and everyone else uses Microsoft Office, you’ll want it for the Mac as well. It is the most seamless way to work together on documents. The main difference with the Home and Business version is that it includes Outlook for Mac. In general, I recommend that you use Apple Mail, iCal, and Address Book rather than Outlook but if you need to interact with other Microsoft Exchange users at your office, you’ll want Outlook. Beware that your Exchange server must be version 2008 or greater. Check with your IT administrator to see if it will work.

Microsoft Office Home and Student 2011 for Mac (1 license) $115 on Amazon
Microsoft Office Home and Student 2011 for Mac Family Pack (3 licenses) $129 on Amazon
Microsoft Office Home and Business 2011 for Mac (1 license) $182 on Amazon
Microsoft Office Home and Business 2011 for Mac (2 licenses) $229 on Amazon

In conclusion, if you’re trying to save money, give Neo Office or Open Office a try. If you’re good with only using Apple software and don’t interact with Windows users often then get the Apple iWork suite. If you’re in a corporate setting and use Word, Excel, and PowerPoint frequently then go for the Microsoft Office suite. If you can’t choose just get them all and you’re covered. It’s great to have many good choices!