Beware the iWork ’09 Trial
Posted by EsquireMac in Apple Applications on Feb 3rd, 2009 | 15 comments
This post is a word of caution to anybody trying out the iWork ’09 30 day free trial.
Curious about the new features in iWork ’09 over iWork ’08, I downloaded the free trial from Apple a couple of weeks ago. The only app I actually use on a regular basis is Numbers. I have a spreadsheet that I use to track my billable time, and I use it basically every day that I’m working.
Smartly, when you install iWork ’09, it leaves your iWork ’08 apps intact. Once I downloaded iWork ’09, however, my Numbers documents began to open with Numbers ’09 by default. I vaguely sensed that this was not a good idea, but went along with it anyway.
Today, out of an abundance of caution, I wanted to see what would happen if I tried to open my timesheet (which had been converted from a Numbers ’08 document to a Numbers ’09 document) in Numbers ’08. My suspicions were confirmed: no can do. You cannot open Numbers ’09 documents in Numbers ’08.
I have no intention to purchase the upgrade to iWork ’09 in the near future. The value-add just isn’t there. Frankly, the iwork.com integration means next to nothing for me, and I have not found much added utility to the rest of the suite for my purposes.
Hence, now, the obvious problem: once the iWork ’09 trial expires, I will have no way to access my now-converted Numbers ’09 documents. Apple will then effectively be holding my important information ransom.
No problem. I decided I would simply copy and paste the information into a Numbers ’08 document. Sorry, can’t do that, either. Copying data from multiple rows and columns results in one of two situations: (a) the data fills a single column (even though it was copied from several columns), or (b) the cells “paste” into the ’08 document as an uneditable picture clipping. Bottom line, there was no way to simply and effectively transfer the data from a Numbers ’09 document to a Numbers ’08 document.
I then had the inclination to export the ’09 document to an Excel document from which I could then copy/paste into an ’08 Numbers document. When doing a “Save as…” I was presented with the option of Saving as a Numbers ’08 document. This I did, and the data was safely back in the ’08 format.
There is one gaping hole in this scheme. If I were to allow the trial to lapse without purchasing it (I assume) the application would become disabled, and I would have no way of accessing the data trapped within the ’09 document.
Perhaps Apple has thought of this possibility and has implemented another workaround. But, if I were you, I wouldn’t risk it. If you have downloaded the iWork ’09 trial, be sure to convert all of your important documents back to the ’08 format if you do not intend to purchase the ’09 upgrade.
Please, somebody, tell me I’m wrong in the comments. I hope it’s me that’s being stupid here and not Apple.
15 Responses to “ “Beware the iWork ’09 Trial”
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You are NOT wrong! Thanks for the work-around.
I suppose you just have to not forget to convert things before the trial runs out. In reality, though, I think iWork ’09 is a worthy upgrade. The improvements in Numbers alone, I think, make it worth it.
Another solution is, if you waited too long, to get a serial for iWork ’09 illegitimately, convert your files, and then remove iWork ’09 from your system. That way, you can keep your documents without having to pay, and yet still be honest about it.
I had the same problem. After getting through to Apple support (free by filing the case under an iwork 09 random software file saving issue) they informed me that it’s in their license acceptance that previous file versions would be upgraded and could not be reverted to previous version. In my opinion there should be a more substantial notification of the issue before accepting the agreement. Regardless, I was surprised when apple issued me a copy of ’09. I don’t think it is something that should be exploited however most people who have searched for and found this blog are probably here because they have already encountered the problem and want help not a free ride.
Hey Mate!
In Numbers (iWORK09) you can save a numbers spreadsheet as iWORK08 or an excel spreadsheet. So what’s the problem?
horrie66
Hey David,
Thanks for the comment and thanks for writing.
The problem is that if you’re using the ’09 trial, and you didn’t realize that ’09 documents were not compatible with iWork ’08, and then your ’09 trial expires and you decide not to purchase it, your ’09 documents are lost to you since you are left with ’08 and no ability to go back into ’09 to save as ’08. Apple admitted this was a problem a couple weeks ago: http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/02/19/apple_details_compatibility_issues_between_iwork_08_and_09.html
It might be legal but I think it is a sly marketing practice. New to Mac I am appalled at such an underhand way of forcing people to upgrade. I am surprised that there is not more negative PR about this approach but there you go I guess that’s the beauty of being Apple. So I now have a month of documents that I can’t print and feel forced into upgrading. NOT HAPPY with this experience.
If the trial expires you can still copy the entire contents of the spreadsheet in ’09 and paste them into a new document in ’08.
You can also (and should) only use the trial version as a TRIAL and not work on any final documents with it until you purchase the license. I don’t think it’s Apple being underhanded or using a dodgy marketing technique to force you to upgrade. It is a trial after all and you know from the beginning that after it expires you won’t be able to save or print. You have to accept those terms before you install it!
The system is built so the default application is the latest version you have installed, but if you install a trial you can also set your documents to open with ’08 by default. Just go to Get Info.
Hi Guys, I had a vaguely related problem.
I purchased iWorks from an online store and ran the trial in the meantime expecting that my software would arrive well before the expiry. Unfortunately, as is the nature of online business, occasionally things go wrong and I reached my 30 days prior to the package arriving (turns out it was lost in the mail). Of course I had an assignment written in Pages which I needed to submit and converting and a copy/paste to something like OpenOffice produced horrible results and I really didn’t want to re-format the entire thing and re-add the footnotes.
Incidentally, despite its conservative looks, I think Pages is a far superior word processor compared with OpenOffice. The latter is as slow as a wet weekend, especially on my old g4 ibook.
Anyhoo… you can get around this by just deleting/moving/renaming the file /Library/Preferences/com.apple.iWork09.plist … and the trial will renew.
Quite seriously, I hope people won’t abuse this and I would only encourage its use when your bacon really needs saving… or perhaps until your purchased version arrives
Apple is probably tracking unique identifiers each time you (re)register anyway. I would.
Hey Mate!
In Numbers (iWORK09) you can save a numbers spreadsheet as iWORK08 or an excel spreadsheet. So what’s the problem?
horrie66
CL
Obviously, you didn’t read the entire article.
ML
Hi,
I have a problem. I am new to mac. I recently purchased a iMac and downloaded a free trial of iWork09. After using it I decided to purchase it. I bought it from a ebay online store. The boxed was sealed and you could tell it was from the factory. I deleted the trial version by dragging it to the trash. When I installed my purchased version it told me it was installed successfully. When I tried to open all three programs(pages, numbers, keynotes) it told me to enter my purchased serial number. I tried entering the number on the outside of the box but it didn’t work. Can anybody help me??
I Agree! Big marketing ploy! I downloaded trial version to read a document someone sent me and am now forced to purchase program because all the other docs are now converted over automatically.
Should be upfront about it!
Had exactly the same problem. Definitely shoddy (and I would have to add unethical) marketing on the part of Apple. Have entirely abandoned iWork in favour of NeoOffice as a result.
If the fie is one you converted from Numbers 09 and you use Time Machine, you can always delete the new file and restore the original.
Oops, I meant converted from 08.