| Sorry, I didn't explain myself very well.
In Office, yes, everything is compatible with everything. Everything will transfer and look exactly the same on both a Mac and PC. (Just make sure you by Office 2008 for Mac, not Office 2008 for PC, as a lot of people make that mistake and waste $300).
In iWork, technically, you can export all documents as "Windows-friendly". In Pages you have the option to export as a .doc (Word) file, for example. There is the same equivalent with Keynote/Powerpoint etc. HOWEVER, I'll admit, sometimes you'll have unknowingly used something in Pages that isn't compatible in Word so something small in the formatting will screw up. It's never a huge deal, but I just always feel more comfortable producing work on Word when I know I'm going to be sending it to others using Word, and vice versa with Pages.
My point was: most of the world use a PC. Using Microsoft Office on a Mac will guarantee that everything is readable by pretty much anyone you send it to via email, internet, USB, whatever. If you use Pages, they'll either need it themselves (which honestly, a lot of Mac users still don't) or you MAY run the risk of your converted document (eg. Pages to .doc) not displaying exactly as how you designed it.
Basically, unless you know you're going to be dealing with a lot of other people using iWork or you're just generally a Mac-freak and love the look and feel of the software, I'd suggest just buying Office. In terms of compatibility with the rest of the world, it just makes things far simpler. |