Microsoft’s Office team should run, don’t walk, to the nearest Apple store and buy the new iWork, which includes a spreadsheet app called “Numbers.”
This is the iPhone of spreadsheets. Lots of wow. Cool. Kickass.
But no developer API. Yet.
No collaboration. Yet.
Hey, this does sound like the iPhone. 
But when you sit down to use Numbers as I did today after the press conference you see a few things.
1) You can have multiple spreadsheets on a canvas and you can resize and drag them around.
2) It feels very comfortable if you’re an Excel user.
3) Writing formulas rocks. Yeah, you can write syntax like “=sum(D2:F22)” but Apple goes one further. Uses the names of rows and columns you come up with. And has a nice little auto sum feature. Underneath it writes “=sum(monthlyreport:employee)” instead of the more obtuse (D2:F22).
4) Lots of templates aimed at regular people and what they tend to use spreadsheets for. Budgeting, lists of things, etc.
5) The UI feels much nicer than Microsoft’s stuff does. Much more interactive and easy to use.
But it is a 1.0 product. No macros. No pivot tables. Microsoft’s profits are safe for now.
This does provide a sizeable poke in Microsoft’s ribs, though, and reminds us all that even a spreadsheet can be made a lot better if you take a new look at it. Apple has sent us all a gesture that they are working on their own office suite. It’s one that everyone should take a look at.
I love the ease of use with numbers and the UI, but until they add some of the more powerful features of Excel, namely pivot tables, I will not be buying iWork ’08
I love the ease of use with numbers and the UI, but until they add some of the more powerful features of Excel, namely pivot tables, I will not be buying iWork ’08
“No macros. No pivot tables.”
That alone makes Numbers not even looking at. For anyone harping on Excel people for being so hard on Number without even using it, we don’t have to use it to see the flaws. Making a spreadsheet app without pivot tables means it doesn’t even warrant comparison to Excel.
Oh, and to people saying this is v1.0, and it will improve, the features left out shouldn’t be something that make it in the later revision, they are standard enough that they should be in the first release.
“No macros. No pivot tables.”
That alone makes Numbers not even looking at. For anyone harping on Excel people for being so hard on Number without even using it, we don’t have to use it to see the flaws. Making a spreadsheet app without pivot tables means it doesn’t even warrant comparison to Excel.
Oh, and to people saying this is v1.0, and it will improve, the features left out shouldn’t be something that make it in the later revision, they are standard enough that they should be in the first release.
It makes me laugh that you Excel fanbois start criticising Numbers before you even get your hands on it.
I bought it yesterday and it’s a much better foundation than Excel. You have way more control over layout and it’s far more logical in use. Remember it is at version 1 and Excel is at version 1000 or whatever.
Wait till it gets to version 2 and there is scriptability. Then forget excel as it will look like a dinosaur with obesity compared to Numbers by then.
People who use Apple software get enthusiastic about it because it does what it is supposed to. you just wouldn’t get that would you.
It makes me laugh that you Excel fanbois start criticising Numbers before you even get your hands on it.
I bought it yesterday and it’s a much better foundation than Excel. You have way more control over layout and it’s far more logical in use. Remember it is at version 1 and Excel is at version 1000 or whatever.
Wait till it gets to version 2 and there is scriptability. Then forget excel as it will look like a dinosaur with obesity compared to Numbers by then.
People who use Apple software get enthusiastic about it because it does what it is supposed to. you just wouldn’t get that would you.
hey, Sal, have you even used a Zune, I mean held it in your hand and used it? Just wondering.
hey, Sal, have you even used a Zune, I mean held it in your hand and used it? Just wondering.
That’s one of the reasons why I bought iWorks ’08 today instead of waiting for Office ’08, delayed to January.
Office 2004 is unusable on my MacBook, too unstable and far from being really easy to use. Numbers makes the difference because you can’t say “iWork is cool but no spreadsheet there” any more.
That’s one of the reasons why I bought iWorks ’08 today instead of waiting for Office ’08, delayed to January.
Office 2004 is unusable on my MacBook, too unstable and far from being really easy to use. Numbers makes the difference because you can’t say “iWork is cool but no spreadsheet there” any more.
Oops, I was mistaken. Turns out that I can indeed rename rows and columns, it just wasn’t obvious to me how to do so.
The real danger to Microsoft’s Office franchise isn’t Numbers, though. When Apple ships iWork on Windows, the app that will sell the bulk of the licenses will be Keynote.
Oops, I was mistaken. Turns out that I can indeed rename rows and columns, it just wasn’t obvious to me how to do so.
The real danger to Microsoft’s Office franchise isn’t Numbers, though. When Apple ships iWork on Windows, the app that will sell the bulk of the licenses will be Keynote.
Oops, I was mistaken. Turns out that I can indeed rename rows and columns, it just wasn’t obvious to me how to do so.
The real danger to Microsoft’s Office franchise isn’t Numbers, though. When Apple ships iWork on Windows, the app that will sell the bulk of the licenses will be Keynote.
Oops, I was mistaken. Turns out that I can indeed rename rows and columns, it just wasn’t obvious to me how to do so.
The real danger to Microsoft’s Office franchise isn’t Numbers, though. When Apple ships iWork on Windows, the app that will sell the bulk of the licenses will be Keynote.
Number is an excellent start, but it still suffers from several conventional spreadsheet limitations. The first of these is that you still refer to cells by letter and number, instead of being able to rename columns and rows as you can in Quantrix, or could in Lotus Improv.
Nevertheless, I’m greatly relieved that I’ll never have to buy another MS Office license.