Apple gets to work

In this week's column, read about Apple's iWork productivity suite. For a suite, it's a bit short on components, containing only presentation software and word-processing/layout (Microsoft's suites usually have at least four elements). But the learning curve is shallow and the templates mighty fancy. Shame compatibility with both MS PowerPoint and MS Word is spotty at best.

Don't forget, the next version of Apple's operating system, codenamed Tiger, is released on Friday. Selected shops around the country will be staying open late for the official launch at 6pm. Visit the Tiger site for details of where to go and watch out for a review in the paper next week.

In games, Doom 3 hits the Xbox and it's no Halo killer. Looks outstanding but plays like the last 10 years never happened, ie, linear and lacking in surprises (not counting the trouser-spoiling ones when the demons emerge from nowhere and close enough to smell).

Also reviewed are Viewtiful Joe 2, a second helping of the pseudo-balletic superhero (not much new to report but it was a humdinger to start with), followed by and Tak 2 (kids' platformer whose uneven difficulty is its worst enemy). Lastly, there's EyeToy: AntiGrav - a smart idea (using the motion-tracking camera to trigger the moves of an on-screen boarder) which doesn't come off because of technical troubles.