I downloaded a presentation made with Apple’s IWork Keynote and since I’m running windows, I can’t even find a single tool to open this file.
Apple created their own xml format called APXL, but so what? I know Mac users will brag how great their presentations looks like when they created them in iWorks, but who cares? You can only serve a small community (sometimes, maybe only yourself!).
There are in fact options to export them into ppt, pps, or QT, but there might be a chance where the presentation won’t look nice in Windows due to Keynote using so called “Quartz rendering technology” and real “true type fonts”!
Searching the Apple forums return me this:
A Windows-based Keynote viewer would be non-trivial, as a) Keynote uses a “bundle” document format (a Keynote “document” is actually a collection of files) that isn’t recognized by Windows, and so exchanging files would be complicated, and the document would still have to be “exported” in some fashion, and b) Keynote relies on various OS X-specific technologies, such as Quartz rendering, for much of its beautiful appearance, and porting those over to Windows would be extremely difficult.
Besides, Keynote can export as QuickTime with pretty acceptable results, and far more Windows machines are likely to have that already than would ever install a custom viewer for one application.
Yeah, that’s so “right”. But what if the Keynote presentation wasn’t exported into any other Windows compatible formats as a start? Then it sounds like there’s nothing (yes, nothing!) on windows that can view the KeyNote presentation.
The only place for that poor keynote presentation file? It’s in my recycle bin!
Update:
I came across Zamzar which announced that they support convert Apple iWork Keynote files into a variety of different file formats, including PDF, HTML, PNG and more. According to their blog post announcement here, you can now convert Keynote files to:
html – Hypertext Markup Language
ipod – MPEG-4 Video File
jpg – JPEG compliant image
mov – Apple QuickTime Movie
pdf – Portable Document Format
png – Portable Network Graphic
tiff – Tagged image file format
So that might help ease some of the pain for people getting a keynote file and not sure how to open it in Windows.
ryan says
The fact remains that Keynote presentations are vastly better than PowerPoint presentations.
Buy a Mac
mus says
True. I will buy a mac and also to dual boot with vista.
Anyway, it isnt fair for us PC users too. Even POWERPOINT on mac looks beautiful!!! ARGH!!!
d says
Vista on a mac? That’s a waste… I love how people are now complaining about things aren’t working on PC. Being that apple had a lists of programs which couldn’t be used back in the day.
This blog post is just complaining how iwork is better and can’t be used on a PC. You should think that it’s Microsoft’s fault for having out of date technology.
muffinblighter says
just bought an ipad. just paid 30$ for the iwork suite. i’ve made two presentations in keywork, 2 labs in numbers, only to find out that it is impossible to export these files to my pc, or to the campus computers (also pc). the ipad kicks ass, but i hate steve jobs with every fiber of my being.
Peter says
You can export from the Ipad to a Mac, covert it to a .ppt file. The quality is not as good as the Mac format but it will work if you are in a pinch. It helps to have both operating systems to go back and forth. Good luck!
DBRDH says
Do ya research, Dork! If it was important to ya to stick with Redmond, should have made sure. Caveat Emptor. The iPad still kicks big ass! And Keynote even more so! Churlish complaint IMHO
linda says
Preach it, Brutha! Quicktime is ultimately available. What’s the problem.
name says
Another reason you won’t be seeing mac taking over the enterprise market (the market) anytime soon.
I love that “not a trival matter” bit. Bundle document format???
I would just throw out the mac pages file (or “bundle”???) and if it costs you money to have not easily viewable files not working all over your company, well look on the bright side, at least you don’t have all those ugly file extensions distracting and confusing your workers.
One word……
“Open Source”
Yeah, I know.
Constantinos Tsarouhas says
The bundle format is part of the open source file format specification of iWork and, heck, the whole UNIX/Linux universe. You just open the bundle file and you edit everything that inside: the open-source XML file containing the document contents and the resources (such as images). And there’s (third-party?) software that makes it much easier to use bundle files across Mac OS X and Wind-hose.
I know it isn’t handy. Apple should embed an optional Tornado compatibility feature (already available in the Mail app) that just does the job that Microsoft Office (finally) does: creating a ZIP file with an iWork extension. Anytime you want to use the file with another Doomsday machine, you just enable the checkbox.
annoymous says
Tell the person who created that to convert it to Office. On the Iworks program, you can easily convert any documents including slideshows, presentations and word processing into Office format
Alex says
That’s besides the point, what use is a presentation if only 5% of users can see it. A good App for this kind of thing has viewers on any platform or better still saves to a default standardised file. Dont be so elitist.
Constantinos Tsarouhas says
Most Mac users don’t have the problem of having only 5% (up to 10% — actually) of clients working. They simply bring their MacBook (Pro/Air) or iPad or use the one from someone working already there.
And about that “standardized” part, it’s just too difficult. We’re talking about software here and PDF was already a pain in the ass for so many developers wanting more features. iWork does way more than PDF, standardization would be extremely difficult. Something else makes it even MORE difficult: iWork supports some ingenious features not available in any of the alternatives, just think about Magic Move in Keynote and the page-style Numbers (instead of that old 1980s system used in every other spreadsheet alternative). Plus there’s no Quartz on the Windows front, and that is the — by the way, the Quartz file structure is open source because of its use of PDF — base of the Mac’s superior quality. Apple should really spend time on developing somehow a iWork viewer and Quartz player, denying the horrible effects on the 1990s-based Windows OS core.
christine says
i am working on a presentation that is at least 40 mb. Powerpoint should be able to handle this but it is now running excrutiatingly slow (2-3 seconds for something to select, 2-3 seconds for a typed letter to show up). I just uninstalled/reinstalled Office on my iMac. Worked fine for about a day. Now it’s slow again to the point that I downloaded and installed the keynote trial and it imported my ppt wonderfully and now I can work at a reasonable pace again.
I think it’s funny to complain about Apple’s proprietary formats when pptX can’t be opened on old MS office versions.
Also, you can export Numbers files to XLS and presentations to PPT form the iwork on either iPad or just the regular version on the mac.
Constantinos Tsarouhas says
Hint: iWork file formats never were proprietary or closed-source. There’s just one exception saying that it is illegal to modify iWork files that are created by the newest version of the software.
bus says
I totally agree every single thing about keynote is thousands of times better than powerpoint. Powerpoint is the real joke!!!
Get ANOTHER mac!)
Jonathan says
Better or not, closed formats are unacceptable. Apple needs to get into the open standards game or they’ll end up no better than Microsoft.
GNU/Linux/Google have the right idea. Proprietary software is out.
Constantinos Tsarouhas says
Apple does have an open format (XML!). The technology behind it, however, isn’t open, but that’s logical.
chuckbo says
Sounds to me like the creator doesn’t intend for it to be available on Windows machines.
If I make a Keynote presentation and want to make it available for any platform, I’ll export it as Quicktime. No big deal.
Closed formats are acceptable to me until a program using open formats is superior. So far, Keynote is gives me the best option for giving presentations — and it’s why I sneak my own Mac into meetings at work if I give an important presentation.
Richard says
D’oh, there’s me emailing back for a PDF/PPT version, then.
Dirk says
It’s not even necessary to export it as Quicktime
you can also export it as a Powerpoint, editable in Microsoft Powerpoint…
That’s with iWork ’08, so i’m not to sure about older versions.
David says
Yup, I understand that is achievable, given that the creator/author put in that effort to export it at the first place. The problem here is if someone get a pure keynote presentation file, there’s no way of opening it in Windows.
Bill Chapman says
Get QuickTime for Windows, it’s free. Whoever creates the Keynote file should export the Keynote file as QuickTime BUT make sure it is compressed using the H.264 compression standard NOT ‘Animation’… I did that recently for a client trade show display on his Vista laptop… it worked perfectly. Converting Keynote to PowerPoint I found to be really bad, although admittedly my version of pp is 2004. I can post step-by-step info on how to export Keynote ’08 to QuickTime 7.5.5 on a mac so it will play on windows. Just ask!
Emma says
hi! BILL CHAPMAN
Im trying to export my keynote to my prof…as quick time can you please help me by sending me steps to do it. im just getting used to my mac. and this is a presentation for class. thank you so much!
emma p.s. i have iwork ’09 and macbook.
Bill Chapman says
Yeah, Keynote is not cross-platform… I did a Keynote ’08 presentation for a client recently…. converted to quicktime using the H.264 compression standard and the presentation worked beautifully on my client’s Vista laptop at a trade show, like it was the Keynote file itself on a Mac!
uranusjr says
A side note for the article…
Apple now use a zip-like format to compress their iWork ’09 files, so from now on file bundles wold not be a issue.
But still to be noted is, what makes Keynote so nice-looking IS Quartz, and if Apple go for a way of not using it, the end product would not be Keynote anymore. I’m quite convinced that they did this for the iWork.com, which is something near a view-only cross-platform net-app.
Keynote (and Pages, I’m not sure about Numbers though) were based on some tools long used by Apple themselves, so their reluctance of going cross-platform is understandable, at least to me.
tronjhiem79 says
I like the great ready made templates that are available in iWork, an in Keynote, I like the effects and transitions. But it’s just not as user friendly (for me).
RK says
I dont agree with keynote having to be acceptable on windows. For years Microsoft has set out to stomp on its competition by putting out new formats and killing all chances of competitors programs on the windows operating system. Open office wont open in some instances of vista and why? because its free. Keynote is COMPETITION its meant to make you look at apples programming and persuade you to buy and apple(which are far better for any type of media now). Apple has even conceded and allowed you to run microsoft software along side thier work. Why should they put it on a windows format go buy an apple and make better presentations, make microsoft realise that they need to step up to the plate when it comes to presentations and media or be squashed. If you all continue to buy into this idea that everything should be windows compatible then you are still going to be using the same old tired powerpoint formatting that is out of date and out of touch. It hasnt changed they arent innovating or effectively researching new technology or the changing landscape of technology. You can get the same flashy effects as keynot with powerpoint but you must purchase outside source programming costing a small fortune. Why do that. What microsoft has done is paint you all into a corner when it comes to your choices leaving you with bland presentations.
David says
Interesting point of view you have there. After reading your comment, I started thinking the other way round, the same can be said about Microsoft Office – why can’t Microsoft Office’s Powerpoint open keynote’s presentation by default? The fact is that both powerpoint and keynote are different software, with keynote maybe having a bit of advantage in its capabilities of designing better looking presentation.
Glenn says
Simply create the slideshow in Keynote, pull down the Share menu, click export and select PPT on top. It will export at a powerpoint presentation, playable on any platform. Or you can do it as a .pdf. Or you can e-mail it to your Windows machine or colleague under the same menu. Problem solved. Let’s see Microsoft make something that easy.
Bill says
Saving a Keynote 08 file to PPT is problematic despite what others say… if you use ‘pop’ for instance, it simply won’t translate and some text transitions won’t either. Maybe ’09 works better. See my earlier posts re conversion to qt then running that on windows… that worked for me, but you still have to watch out re transitions… use ‘fade’ in place of ‘pop’ for images or type/text. Mind you, the simpler the presentation the better chance you’ll have I suppose… like bullet points and other boring crap.
Matt says
Ha!
Finally, a Windows user complaining about not being able to run Mac applications!
Has up become down??
James says
Somebody obviously don;t know what they are doing? I run both Windows and Mac. Mac at home and Windows in the office. I work on my presentations at home on the mac, export them to ppt and not once have I had a single problem presenting them.
David says
My point was that if the author didn’t export the keynote presentation to ppt, there’s no way of getting it open in windows
d says
How is that iwork’s fault? It’s more powerpoints fault… iwork can support powerpoint, it was created to you can view both. powerpoint wasn’t made or updated so you can view keynote’s presentations…
David says
D hit the nail on the head. How the crap could this possibly be considered Apple or iWork’s fault? Apple has created a program that bypasses the capabilities of MS PPT by LEAPS AND BOUNDS….AND apple even made their program capable of opening and reading those same clip-art filled MS PPT presentations. They even made it possible for you (assuming you’re intelligent) to personally export to SEVERAL different versions that the PC CAN read. YET – you’ve found a way to complain that Apple iWork hasn’t magically created some formula to bypass the MS OFFICE standards and allow you to open the native iWork files? wow….
that’s like me complaining to Mercedes because my Mitsubishi key won’t start my Benz.
Here are some tricks for anyone who’s wondering how to solve this problem…..
A. GET A MAC AND USE THAT MAC FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
OR
B. EXPORT THE IWORK FILES TO THE CORRECT FORMATS FOR PC TO READ
problem solved.
himminime says
How come when over the years Microsoft has been derided by Mac users, noone has learnt anything. Two wrongs don’t make a right. If Microsoft makes a program for a similar use that can’t be converted without using one of their programs first it’s unnacceptable but its ok now if Mac/Apple does the same thing…pull your heads in.
It was a basically a simple question of how to open a keynote file if it was not saved in a readable format for other systems made by a frustrated end user. If anyone has a constructive answer or workaround after the fact it would be helpful.
Aaron says
Sorry himminime,
I don’t know one reasonable person who has ever given Microsoft flack for not creating a method for native mac program files to be opened. It’s such a ridiculous request that it’s completely laughable. This guy had it all backwards from the beginning. Iworks created a way for native powerpoints to be opened on a mac, but office did not create a way for native keynote to be opened on pc. Yet somehow that’s apples fault?
Again, hilarious. This is the essence of pc the stereotype. A mac always works how you want it to and a pc never does…but a pc user will always find a way to blame mac.
There’s no workaround for stupidity or idiocy. If you want to open a keynote in PowerPoint, click the export button on keynote and choose .ppt
Jim A says
It’s not idiocy to lack a program capable of opening a file someone has given you.
It arguably IS idiocy on the part of the person who created the file to offer it to you in a format you can’t use. In fact, if sharing the file is the objective (as distinct from having it look awesome during a presentation), I’d say it’s foolish to insist on keeping it in a native format that most of the world cannot open. (A group which, most infuriatingly to me, includes users of older versions of Keynote, along with the multitudes whose only presentation app is PowerPoint.)
The fact that Keynote CAN save files in PPT format means nothing to a Windows user who receives a native Keynote file from its author. A Mercedes Benz is useless if its wheels are up on blocks and the its windshield is painted black.
ChrisZehn says
It’s funny to see how far away this discussion went from the starting point. We have a clear setting, a user looking for a way to open a keynote presentation on windows. Instead of either helping the guy or shutting up, i see a huge discussion coming up about whether or not mac or windows is the thing.
I assume that you all are grown ups, so why does that happen?
Anyhow, first of all we’re talking about presentations which should – at least from what you get taught recently – only support a speech. So the speech is the most important thing. Anything fancy will distract the audiences concentration away from the speech to the presentation. And to be honest, the content of the speech is what will stay in the audiences memory, not how fancy the presentation was. This – imHo – renders all the discussion about how cool keynote is or how much powerpoint sucks useless.
Create a good speech, and you won’t need anything fancy to happen in your presentation.
In the end, if i was speaking to an audience on a regular basis, i wouldn’t think of how to make it cool but how to make it easily playable. And you know very well how i would do that. Anything else might look pretty, but if you can’t play your presentation in the end, what’s the use? None.
IF apple was the more widespread platform, i would use apple, but face the facts: Windows is ahead in terms of availability. I work for an event tech company, and they mostly use windows machines, but on request, we also install mac machines-
BUT – and that’s what i can say out of my own experience – it seems that mac users are ignorant enough to ASSUME that there will definately be a mac machine. And if they realise that there isn’t, they’re pissed (how can that be?) – well, let’s talk about it, huh?
Talking about reality knocking on the doors of perception.
Have a nice day.
Aaron says
Chris…it started with the title of his question and the premise behind his statements.
Plenty of solutions were offered by reasonable people
Ols says
At the end of the day Powerpoint is pretty incapable for most things, the number of times i have seen Powerpoint muck up in lectures and just be generally useless is too many to count. the reason that so many people are switching to Keynote is that it is simply better, it is a far more professional product and delivers better results and Keynote presentations take far less time to create.
I’m not trying to bash Microsoft here but simply apple is better, all these years we have had to live with Microsoft’s incapability and incompatibility, I think the statement here is the wrong way round, Powerpoint is a joke for Microsoft users, Windows is a joke for Microsoft users, it is Microsoft that causes incompatibility and problems, everyone else gets on just fine.
TomUnderhill says
Having been a Windows user/administrator since the early days of Windows 3.0 (and before!), I too believe that Microsoft’s predicament is of their own making.
Full disclosure: Since 2007 I ran Vista 64 on a tri-monitor system and had few of the problems most users complained of. I have not used Windows 7, nor do I really care to. I felt it was unfortunate that Microsoft waited until Vista to off-load desktop window compositing to the video card. When many people experienced lower performance on Vista compared to XP, I immediately saw a 20-40% increase due to finally utilizing my video cards for what they were meant to do. OS X has done this since the introduction of Quarts Extreme with OS X 10.2 in 2002.
Starting with several office machines at my publishing company, I have made a full transition to Macs over the last year. My personal system is now a MacBook Pro 17 with 10.6.2.
I appreciate that Apple had the foresight to end legacy system support with 10.6. It has been frustrating to watch Windows perpetuate the same issues across multiple versions for the sake of maintaining “compatibility”.
At the end of the day, I felt short-changed when most of the “bleeding edge” technologies Microsoft promised during development ended up becoming vaporware. Many technologies they did include have been hampered by backwards compatibility. I thought the SQL-based file system could have solved many problems for file storage and indexing.
Yesterday my chiropractor frantically called me after he “lost” a file on his XP-based laptop. Whether it was due to a lack of training or because the system doesn’t make sense to him, he was terrified by the loss. In either case, he felt the computer was working against him. Within about three minutes I found the lost file in the trash bin.
I’ve had plenty of derogatory names for “users” like this. My favorite is “client”. Their lack of understanding of the OS has provided a reliable revenue stream over the years.
I have no misconceptions that Apple always delivers and Microsoft always fails. I don’t believe Apple is “good” and Microsoft is “evil”. Nor do Macs “just always work”.
I can measure a difference in my productivity on my Mac. I spend less time hampered by the technology and more time doing what I need to do. My laptop with a Core2Duo, 4GB RAM and a 5400RPM drive is as fast or faster than my Vista desktop with two faster video cards, three monitors, a Core2Quad, 8GB RAM and a RAID of three 7200RPM hard drives. Each of the components in my Vista box are much faster than the MacBook Pro, but the laptop runs better and more efficiently.
I guess today I’m less about stats and more about being able to enjoy the journey and destination.
FastRDust says
1 linux on PC is same as mac OS but open source so that would be even better than a mac because every thing is free it’s lighter and fast.
the hardware may be cheaper for PC but it is evenly powerful ( why else would we see intel processors in mac? )
2 yes windows sucks but seen that you can make games on mac but never see them coming out on them makes me feel strange.
like filming something and never see it back :S
3 mac is only faster because it is lighter, mac is linux based ( and should be free because of that ) so yes it is faster but from price poit i think you’ll get more power on pc hardware than a box from mac
my pc is dominating the mac because i only have the OS X installed on it.
and the cheap hardware of PC ( and the option to upgrade it when needed )
TomUnderhill says
From my understanding of history, Mac OS is based on the NeXT/Mach Kernel and BSD, not Linux as we have it today.
In my publishing world, I really don’t care about games. I care about getting my work done in a timely manner. I’m more productive on a Mac, and my projects tend to look better upon completion.
I’ve built more DOS or Windows computers than most people will ever own. Low cost parts thrown together with an “industry standard” OS like Windows equals the experience I’d rather not repeat. Perhaps I’m just too old now to be a practicing geek.
So many people I know are car snobs and drive highly-engineered cars. They love the experience. Sometimes the differences between their car and a “standard” car are just attention to detail. Fit and finish. Small things.
Then they show me their low-end (“cheap”) PC and complain about screen quality, processor speed or keyboard usability. Funny how “you get what you pay for” just doesn’t sit well with them. Check out blog.directaccessbooks.com for more comments on this.
Like the guy who buys a luxury car for the refinements, I’ve made my choice and I’m happy with it.
Enjoy your PC.
PC User says
Maybe that’s why a Macbook Pro goes for $1700 – $2400 and a reasonably decent laptop (not bottom of the line) you can get for under $600.
Macs are great. But Mac owners are like Yankee fans…Holier than thou, no one or nothing is better.
But the funniest thing I hear from Mac users are how Macs don’t “crash” or otherwise fail. The company I work in, I use a PC laptop (which I got for about $800) and it “crashes” MUCH less than the 8 Macs we have in use. Much of the reason PC’s fail so often is uneducated users. Most mac users I know started on PC’s and moved (mostly because they bought in to the Apple propaganda), but they know how to use and maintain a computer.
Like I do – with my DELL Laptop – that I paid so little for in comparison 😉
So please…save it for the uneducated 😉
Aaron says
stop it TomUnderhill! you’re making too much sense!!!! 🙂
i agree completely. i’m not dropping $1500+ on a “gaming system”. i work in film/photography/design and nothing can touch the performance, capabilities, and user friendliness of my Macs. I worked for a software company for some time and the software was completely PC based. I bought the top of the line dell and maxed out just about every option i could. a couple of years later and that computer struggles to turn on correctly, while all of my macs work like they’re brand new.
there’s a reason the market allows apple to charge what they charge….and IMHO, they’re worth every penny.
magallanes says
Hi there:
As a designer/developer, a OSX is not a option.
Truly, even photoshop is way better in Windows than in OSX (but it is equally unstable on both version). Also, there are several other alternatives and if you are a real pro, then you are not tied to a simple tool.
For Apple, pro is equal to standard graphics card and a lousy 9600m gt (even Acer have notebook with real pro card such FireGL and Quadro). Luckily, Apple rejected the idea to use only glassy screen.
OSX is not for designer, who was the fool that said otherwise?. For example, in OSX is easy to play with quicktime videos but quicktime is not the best guy around here, neither the standard.. for heaven sake, OSX is unable to play even some matroska and xvid, and not to say about to work with it. Sorenson stink!.
Anyways, even if you love osx, then it is useless if you can’t export for windows, because most customers uses windows.
ps :i use both OSX and windows xp/7 and frankly while OSX is pretty but is limited, not only in games but in almost every single task. Powerpoint (also present in OSX) may be is not too cool but at least i can send it to a customer and i known that he will be able to open it (with a free viewer, converting or using the office).
Aaron says
Magallanes…there’s nit a single OSX program that can’t export for windows that I’m aware of. Windows programs on the other hand….no dice.
Also with years of experience in filmmaking, design, and photography….I could NEVER go back to pc.
TomUnderhill says
I remember the days when Macintosh was non-interoperable with Windows. Fonts and images wouldn’t transfer. And, unfortunately at the time, most Windows design programs (Aldus PageMaker, Quark Xpress, Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw) were nowhere near their Mac counterparts.
Because the Mac OS has underlying technologies lacking in Windows (Quartz, Core Animation, etc.) programs that take advantage of the technologies will not “export” well. Keynote is one example.
I started drafting an email yesterday to my high school German teacher. Expecting every word to be “misspelled” and red squiggly underlined, I started typing in German. Without any input from me, the OS shifted the spelling dictionary to German and even auto-corrected a few misspelled German words. When I shifted back to English for part of the email, the dictionaries automatically shifted back. I’ve even gotten spam in properly-formatted Hebrew (written right-to-left).
If Adobe chooses not to take full advantage of OS X, I don’t believe that speaks of the state of the OS. I have seen Adobe’s product quality slide downhill on both platforms over the last few editions.
penguin says
Great to see a windows user whinging about proprietary unaccessible formats! I thought that problem was invented by windows…
PC User says
How “proprietary” is something when, like, what, 80% of the market are PC users – using Windows?
Hmmm…
Caesar says
“proprietary”, let us remember, does not relate to market share 🙂
Putibundo says
THATS WHY WINDOWS SUCKS!!!
TomUnderhill says
Having been a long-time Windows administrator, user and abuser, I don’t believe Windows sucks. At this point in my life, I’m tired of all the baggage that comes with Windows.
Windows is for those who don’t know any better or just don’t care.
I compare it to people who have always been happy driving American cars and have never tried an import. They can’t appreciate the finesse and quality difference.
And by the way, we have a Suburban because it’s the only vehicle large enough to hold my family and carry any appreciable amount of stuff at the same time. However, at 50,000 miles we have many rattles and loose trim pieces to deal with.
sbeaber says
Looks like the army of mactards have struck again.
The point is, if all he has is a .key file given to him by a co-worker/student/friend he cant open it! Hell, open office cant even open it.
Aaron says
Lol…sbeaber….AGAIN, how is that apples fault?!?!
You give me a ppt file and i can open it in keynote. You think Microsoft is to commend for that?
And any businessman that creates something in keynote, and only saves a keynote file and doesn’t export any other versions (while not even testing on PowerPoint) doesn’t deserve any business he was trying to get.
Go ahead and keep sticking your Toyota keys in Bentley’s and see if they open…but don’t get mad at bentley when the key doesn’t work. (well, unless you’re a moron…if so, by all means create thread posts about how much bentley sucks)
Fashion Victim says
Mactards, I like it. Just about sums it up for me. I’ve been sent a .key file in work, in a university, and all the thousands of computers here are PC’s…
I got into the .key file using a zip archiver, but inside it contains highly compressed s**t looking jpegs and one .apxl file… so now I need to try and find a way to open that.
Hopefully one day M.S. will buy Apple and close it down and do us all a favor, there is almost identical hardware inside a Mac or a decent PC these days anyway…
Aaron says
lol! you pc hacks are just non-stop comedy
Konker says
That keynote file couldn’t get 3d shapes up. The ppt one got them in it.
虾 says
i want to use i work .but i don’t konw how to do in windows.
Fletch says
I worked with a Mac for a year while taking classes for graphic design and I wasn’t impressed enough to change from Windows at home. Both Mac and Windows ran Adobe products pretty much the same, and for me, a PC is cheaper and does more for the cash. If you look at Operating System market share at http://marketshare.hitslink.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=8
Windows – 91.46%
Mac – 5.32%
Linux – 1.05%
So, most people are using Windows. Doesn’t seem much point in changing to an OS that just over 5% of people use…
Tom Underhill says
That seems to be about the same percentage of folks who drive BMWs. Somehow I don’t think your logic would hold with them.
Andy says
Just because they hold the majority market doesn’t mean a thing? People can trash talk OS’s all they want, but at the end of the day it’s personal preference. I can’t abide Windows anymore. I like OSX & Ubuntu. Both are great.
I plan to build a computer for around £800 and then have two hard drives, one with Snow Leopard (the real thing, not a dodgy rip off) and Ubuntu.
And as Aaron says beneath, his old Mac still runs. So does my eMac & my old Windows PC – it’s in PC heaven now.
Aaron says
If your reason to go PC is “most Americans do it” then go right ahead 🙂
btw…right around 85% of Americans still have tube tv’s vs LCD, LED or plasma. You’re saying it’s because they’re better?
Another note, mac recently overtook pc in market share value.
Either way, I work with mac and pc. I’ve gone thru 3PCs in the past 2 years, while my 5 yr old mac is still truckin..
Sean says
Well if keynote is so much better and helps the homeless, creates world peace and feeds the children, why have they not capitalized on that and made a windows version? Sounds like lots of people would buy it but it must just be the usual mac snobbery. I can do things with Open Office that go far beyond what most people are capable of on a mac but that has to do with creativity and skill, not tools.
Aaron says
sean,
that’s like saying “since ashton martin makes such superior cars, why don’t they make engines that fit in the KIA Sorento!?!?!”
sidenote 1: open office is not part of microsoft, so don’t see the relevance. i do agree it’s better than the MS office suite.
sidenote 2: someone with the same level of “creativity and skills” as you, but with far better tools – will subsequently be able to create better products than you can with more ease.
sidenote 3: how the crap would making a software for a broken OS be capitalizing on anything? the mac version is completely open for saving to and opening MS office files, which MS office can do NEITHER of to ANY extent.
go try keynote out….you’ll see it’s superiority in look, user interface, capabilities, flexibility, quality, etc.
sids says
lol..agree with this article…._ mac sux
Andy says
Sids you’re wrong. So, so wrong. Also, lean to spell & punctuate. The simple answer is to the guy who bitched in this blog.
You can CONVERT THEM FOR FREE on the internet you doofus. Yes it’s a pain, but shut up moaning like a little girl. God forbid you ever think before you spout crap.
Matthew says
This article could be summed in one sentence. “Apple Keynote files are not readable on a Windows PC so you will need to convert them to a different format.”
Woop tee doo.
Derek says
Actually, it can be better summed up as: “Apple Keynote files are not readable on any other platform, so the author will need to convert them to a different format before anyone else can make use of them”.
rkitect says
Sounds like the solution is to buy a Mac…
Derek says
“Sounds like the solution is to buy a Mac…”
Is this an example of Mac “humour”? Do Mac users really not care _at all_ about interoperability with other systems?
Xiong says
The only reason why Apple Mac OS isn’t number one is just because they’re little pricey.
Constantinos Tsarouhas says
Mac OS X costs $29. Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate (thus about half of the Mac’s functionality) costs $220 (upgrade). I always thought that $29 is much less than $220, or am I wrong?
Derek says
The only reason why Apple Mac OS isn’t number one is just because they’re WAY TOO pricey. Oh, and lack of interoperability.
Fixed that for you.
Constantinos Tsarouhas says
I’ll fix you again…
a) Mac OS X costs $29. That’s much less than the upgrade price for that garbage everyone calls Windows. Windows 7 Ultimate upgrades cost $220.
b) Mac OS X is the BEST operating system for interoperability. Mac OS X supports most file and networking protocol of Windows, plus makes it really easy to install Windows. Apple promotes it already with Bootcamp, which is already embedded into the system. Mac OS X supports (mostly) Microsoft Office, even if you didn’t install Microsoft Office (Viewer), in QuickLook, in TextEdit, in iWork,… What about Windows and Microsoft? Why don’t they support the OPEN-SOURCE (not the proprietary ones of Micro$oft which make Apple cry) HFS+? Why don’t they support the OPEN-SOURCE iWork format? Why don’t they support first-party most open-source standards, in general, like PDF?
Please learn more about Mac OS X and do the whole tech world a favour. I’m not gonna give you a link, just use Google. 😉
Praveen says
I have downloaded a presentation from slideshare.net
It shows the file extension as “.key”
How i open this file in windows xp.
I couldn’t find any software to do that.
Anything is possible I know but not possible it seems.
David says
Praveen, as this post has probably point out, there’s just no way of opening a keynote *.key file in Windows.
If anyone knows how (without involving exporting *.key to *.ppt in Mac), I’m all ears.
Aaron says
Here’s a solution, ask Microsoft why Office can’t open it.
I wish steve jobs would just go the same route as bill gates in blocking every cross-compatabillity option out there, instead of building a system that essentially allows it’s users to do any thing, with any file, in any program and any browser.
Billy says
What an ignorant person you are.
Fillduck says
Keynote has to be able to open .ppt files because most of the people use PowerPoint. Bertrand Serlet even said that Microsoft office is the de facto standard for enterprises.
However for Microsoft, they don’t have to support Keynote formats simply because they don’t need to. They can live with PowerPoint and Office itself.
João says
You people are sooooo intelligent, I’m an electronics engineer, graduated last year, I use a mac, I’ve to have W7 and XP installed for professional reasons, but I still find OSX superior. iWorks is sublime, and I don’t know what you’re all complaining about. I exchanged my keynote presentation as well as my pages documents with my masters teachers who ALL use windows systems and no one ever had any trouble, know why? Because there’s something called pdf format which is universal… stop hating just for hating please…
David says
yeah, if you export keynote or whatever from IWork into pdf format and hand it over to any windows user, that’s fine. The point i was trying to make wasn’t about whether windows or mac is more superior than the other, but the fact that i simply don’t have any way of getting a Keynote (in its purest form, not exported/converted to pdf etc) file viewable in windows. Smart mac users knows that not everyone uses mac and thus will export their keynote presentation to powerpoint or other format so that it’s viewable in windows/linux as well.
rolf says
go to the cloud. Try
http://www.apple.com/iwork/iwork-dot-com/
JAMES says
http://www.apple.com/iwork/iwork-dot-com/
David says
that looks like a solution…
1. upload keynote presentation and let apple do the conversion, then
2. view it in a browser
I wonder what the limitations are?
Does it only work in Safari?Update: For the best slideshow viewing experience on iWork.com, use Safari 5 or later to play your Keynote slideshow.Derek says
Sorry, but this is NOT a solution. How can I (as a Windows or Linux user) access/view a KeyNote that someone has already uploaded to the web??
What one needs is a KeyNote Viewer running on multi-OS’es, or a web-based solution – I pass in a URL (link to file on web) and it returns a “viewable document” (be that in my browser or a new file).
David says
Derek, I think there’s already a “web based solution”.
From http://www.apple.com/iwork/iwork-dot-com/
This might also be helpful, How to embed a Keynote slideshow in another webpage – http://help.apple.com/iworkcom/index.html#iwc72fa5d6c
Derek says
However, to use iWork, you must “”Sign up for iWork.com using the share menu in your iWork application”. I am assuming you need to have a Mac to run an iWork application, so how can I upload a Keynote, that is already on the web, without this?