Today anyone with a computer knows that once they get it they are given lots of free stuff to play with like solitaire or a calculator on the desktop. You may also get something that is essential these days, a word processor and spreadsheet program. I freely admit I’m a Microsoft man (sorry Apple); all I do is write things out on word because that’s all I know because of their monopoly on desktops. The IPad though has something new and interesting the iWork system designed to help you live life, type things, plan a budget and do other stuff. Now I’m going to tell you what I think about it.

IWork I discover is a massive collection of applications, typing, spreadsheet, presentations, all put into one big program called iWork, the new version designed for the IPad, I hope you’re keeping up with the I’s, is apparently better than ever before with more functionality and stuff that people like. The main problem I have with word processors being on the IPad is that I have no keyboard to type with, I was so wrong about that! A keyboard can be brought out on the screen that you can tap your fingers on. Problem solved apparently.

To create a presentation is something that I never do as I don’t really want to, but with iWork I can even if I have noone to present it to. The interface allows numerous options when planning presentations such as changing the way a graph appears or moving pictures around the slide. A simple tap of your finger on the right place and it’s done smoothly and easily. In a demonstration of this the score statistics for a soccer team were shown and the man who demonstrated it worked it like a pro, very smooth finger work and if I blinked I missed something. It actually made me want to use the presentation program eventhough it would be pointless without someone to present it to.

When I thought of spreadsheets on the iWork on the IPad I thought it would be about a bunch of numbers under a heading that still reads as A no matter what I throw at my screen. Instead it has an interface where you can actually see what these statistics you’ve written down mean, with sections with titles and even the ability to put stars instead of numbers on each row. Why you would want to do that if you’re writing up your taxes escapes me but it is another option and it looks gorgeous enough to work. It also looks fun to play around with; something that spreadsheets shouldn’t be!

The iWork programs enable you to create professional presentations and spreadsheets that have to seen to believed. The software is seamless with virtually no load time in-between sections. I expect that it will be a huge hit with people who take their work with them to work or simply want to play around with the fun spreadsheets. Personally I think it looks nice but let’s wait and see if it locks up eventually.