Apple Releases iWork ’08 Update

Apple has quietly released minor updates for the three applications in the iWork ’08 suite: Keynote, Pages, and Numbers. The support notes for the Pages 3.0.3 update and the Numbers 1.0.3 update, are terse and essentially uninformative: “This update addresses general compatibility issues.” The Keynote 4.0.4 update notes give a little more information, stating that it primarily addresses compatibility issues with Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 and 2008. Pages 3.0.3 (27.3 MB), Numbers 1.0.3 (26.1 MB), and Keynote 4.0.4 (31.3 MB) are available via Software
Update or from the pages linked here.

As much as it’s disrespectful to professional users to restrict the release notes so completely, these updates send the much-appreciated message that Apple will continue to support the iWork ’08 applications despite the recent release of iWork ’09.

This practice is similar to Microsoft’s continued support of Microsoft Office 2004, which, though supplanted by Office 2008, is still widely used. Although iWork ’09 costs only $79, many users, especially those working in offices or schools with fixed budgets, may not wish to purchase the new version, particularly if iWork ’08 already meets their needs. So it’s good to see Apple extending the bug fixes and patches that are presumably included with iWork ’09 to users of the previous version.