iWork on Mac on life support? Hardly, but …

Jason O’Grady, writing for “The Apple Core,” says it appears that iWork for the Mac is on “life support” as Apple has all but abandoned the OS X version of Pages, Numbers and Keynote while lavishing love on the iOS versions.

Calling the latest Mac update (9.3) “anemic” — you can read all of O’Grady’s comments at http://tinyurl.com/apkmd5u — he says “If Apple’s going to provide a true alternative to Microsoft Office and Google Docs/Drive, it needs to update its desktop office suite more than every four years.”

Jason is certainly right about that. While I love the iWork apps (I’ve abandoned the bloated Office software), they could use some serious updating.

 The last major upgrade to the iWork apps came in 2009, so it’s time for some changes. For one thing, the apps — especially Pages — could load faster. In addition, an even better ability to import/export Office docs would make the iWork software titles even more competitive.

If Apple really wants to make its iWork apps thrive, it will offer Windows versions. I’m 99.9% sure that’s not going to happen, but a Windows version of Pages, Numbers and Keynote would mean more sales of the software. And some folks would take the apps more seriously if there were Windows versions (well, maybe after seeing Windows 8 “seriously” isn’t the right word).

Apple could still make the Mac version of iWork “special” by hooking into Mac OS X and iOS features. The company has done this already with Safari and iTunes.

 Whatever Apple plans for iWork on OS X, the company would be insane not to continue to improve Pages, Numbers and Keynote. Why? The top paid apps at the Mac App Store, in all categories, are, in order, Mountain Lion, Pages, Keynote and Numbers.

This means the software titles are generating some serious moolah. So, c’mon, Apple, show ‘em the love they deserve. You’ve got a potential “Office killer” on your hands, oodles of cash to burn, so let’s serious about working on iWork for OS X.