To compare Microsoft Word ( ) to Pages ’08 ( ), I used each program to create the same four-page newsletter. Our questions: Which program is better at each stage of the job? What are their strengths and weaknesses? Which jobs (and which users) require which tool? (And for our experts’ take on alternatives to Office and iWork, see Word Processing Alternatives.) Is Apple’s iWork a viable alternative to Microsoft Office? To find out, we asked Jeffrey Battersby-our go-to expert on word processing programs-to use Word 2008 and Pages ’08 to create the same project, progressing from the basics (text entry and formatting) to more-advanced features.
