Appendix D: Switching from PageMaker

Overview

Because Adobe hasn't given PageMaker even a minor update since version 7.0 came out in 2001 ‚ and there are no plans to make it Mac OS X ‚ native ‚ it's clear that PageMaker is an all-but-dead product. So PageMaker users need to move to either InDesign or long-time rival QuarkXPress. However, most PageMaker users who would have switched to QuarkXPress have already done so. Most of the remaining users simply don't like the QuarkXPress structured approach to layouts, preferring PageMaker's more freeform style.

InDesign knows the PageMaker mentality , having adopted much of the PageMaker freeform approach since its very first version. (As InDesign has been updated, it has also taken on more of the structured QuarkXPress approach ‚ but without removing its PageMaker-like roots.) So InDesign is a natural upgrade for PageMaker users.