Apple reminds iWork.com users of impending closure
In unifying its online services around iCloud, Apple reminds its users that it will be shuttering its other online services by July 31.
If you have Apple's iWork productivity suite and have used Apple's iWork.com collaborations, Apple has sent out another notice to remind users that this service will be canceled on July 31. The service, which was always in a beta release status, was an attempt to provide an online storage and collaborative environment for iWork programs, similar to Microsoft's SkyDrive and SharePoint options for its Office suite.
Apple's decision to shutter iWork.com comes after its transition of its MobileMe service to iCloud, which provides an online syncing and storage option that is system-wide and usable by any program designed for it, and not only for a specific suite of tools.
Apple initially released a notice about iWork.com closing down in March of this year, and mentioned that any documents stored on the service would no longer be available after July 31. As this date approaches, Apple is again urging people to access their accounts and remove their documents, and then use its iCloud service as an alternative to iWork.com.
Removing files from iWork.com is relatively straightforward, and just requires that you log into your account at iWork.com (this should be your Apple ID), and then go to the Shared Documents page followed by clicking the down arrow next to the documents you want to save. Next select the format of the documents (Office, iWork, or PDF), and save them to the desired location on your computer.
This transition to iCloud mirrors a similar transition to this service from Apple's MobileMe online tools; however, while many of the MobileMe tools such as calendars, contacts, and Mail will continue to work in iCloud, others will not. These so far include Apple's iDisk, online photo gallery, and the Website hosting service.
While the iWork.com beta is scheduled to end on July 31, these MobileMe services will end a month earlier on June 30, so be sure that in addition to iWork.com, you access your iDisk and remove any files on it that you wish to keep, and also do the same for your Web sites and photo galleries. Apple has a FAQ available for the transition from MobileMe to iCloud, which should answer any questions about changes with the services.
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