They have a minimalist feel, but cover all of the bases. Even the icons at the top of the window (see Figure 1) are identical in all three apps. How iWorks hangs together More than any other suite in these reviews, iWork for iCloud has a very coherent, uniform design - the apps hang together well.

Like Office Online and Google Drive, iWork for iCloud officially supports all four of the major browsers. Just go to and log in with an Apple account (7GB free iCloud storage for signing up). Getting started with Apple's iWork for iCloud is much like with Office Online and Google Apps. Also unlike Microsoft and Google, Apple notes that its online apps are currently in beta. Apple used to sell iOS and OS X versions of the iWork apps, but as of September 2013, they're free for those who buy new Apple mobile devices or computers, respectively. If there's a way to actually pay for iWork for iCloud, I haven't found it. Unlike Microsoft and Google, Apple doesn't draw a distinction between personal and corporate use of its online suite. Start downloading! | Get the latest insight on the tech news that matters from InfoWorld's Tech Watch blog. | InfoWorld dishes on must-have iPad office apps, essential Android productivity apps, and road-warrior standbys. Hands on: Office 365 on the Mac and iPad.[ Also on InfoWorld: Review: Office Online is great for Word and Excel, not PowerPoint With iWork, Apple takes a fresh approach.

Both remain saddled with old-fashioned interfaces, and even old-fashioned notions about what constitutes a document or a spreadsheet or a presentation. The Google Apps resemble Office 2003 in an uncanny way they, too, have odds and ends grafted on the side. Office Online inherits its DNA from Microsoft Office, which itself grew in Frankenstein fashion over many years. Perhaps the most striking thing about iWork for iCloud is that unlike Office Online and the Google Drive suite, it has clearly been built as a whole from the ground up.

Welcome to iWork for iCloud and its three component apps: Pages, Numbers, and Keynote for iCloud. This is the second in a series of three reviews covering the major online productivity apps - Microsoft Office Online, Apple iWork for iCloud, and Google Drive (aka Google Docs or Google Apps).

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