iApps for Productivity

Although they don’t start with an i, AppleWorks and Keynote share a common bond with the other iApps: They are smartly designed, easy-to-use applications.

AppleWorks

Many Macs include a free copy of AppleWorks, a six-function basic productivity suite that includes word-processing, spreadsheet, painting, drawing, presentation, and database functionality. It also knows how to read and write Word and Excel documents.

I will not try to convince you that AppleWorks does everything Office does—it doesn’t. But I would challenge you to spend a week or two with your new Mac and see if the combination of AppleWorks, iCal, Address Book, iSync, Safari, and Mac OS X Mail doesn’t meet most of your software needs.

Sure, if you then ...

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