iWork '06 is Apple's latest update to the closest thing it has to a productivity suite. The two included applications, the slide-show creation tool, Keynote 3, and the graphical page layout program, Pages 2, aren't quite of the same ilk. Keynote 3 is certainly a pro-level tool, being a solid competitor to Microsoft's PowerPoint, but Pages 2 does not really go head-to-head with Microsoft Word, although it boasts new features and is a breeze to use. While Word is a kitchen-sink text editor, with a feature list that verges on bloat, Pages 2 does fewer things. In graphical layouts, it beats Word easily, but it doesn't include features that professional writers need, such as footnoting. You can't buy the applications separately, so you'll have to determine for yourself whether you need both Pages 2 and Keynote 3 or whether one is worth the price of both. Still, though this is no Office killer (no spreadsheet application--yet), iWork '06's combination of power and simplicity can be great for the home or SOHO user.
Installing iWork '06 is a simple matter of double-clicking the installer application on the iWork '06 CD-ROM; the installer program takes you through the steps of agreeing to the terms of use, deciding where you want to place the applications, and reviewing the options for installing extras or just one of the bundled programs.
Upon launch, both Keynote 3 and Pages 2 offer a range of either templates (for Pages) or themes (for Keynote) that can set the overall look and feel of your project. If you want to stick with the provided themes or templates, without making many adjustments to them, either application can be used with the basic interface--little but the project contents will be visible. For advanced work, both applications offer toolbars with commonly used tools, a media browser integrated with the iLife applications, and a single inspector, which is a floating palette with tabs for layouts, tables, text formatting, charts, and more. Both also offer a transparent palette for adjusting photos, much like in Apple's professional photo adjustment and management application, Aperture. With its styles drawer, inspector palette, and main window, Pages can quickly overwhelm a laptop's screen real estate. Keynote's unified interface better fits the laptop screen of the mobile slide-show warrior. Pages could benefit from more keyboard shortcuts for common tasks.
