Microsoft’s PowerPoint may not be perfect, but it is without a doubt the industry standard when it comes to presentation software. There’s little else that comes near PowerPoint in terms of features and tools for presenters. But PowerPoint is a bit dull on the outside. It lacks the refinement of Keynote, a typical Apple product. We compared the two programs.

PowerPoint is part of Microsoft Office. It is integrated with Excel and Word. Why is it then, that Excel is not automatically opened when you want to add chart data and charts to a PowerPoint presentation? Instead, you get a data editor with very limited capabilities for importing your data. Probably some hard to understand programming logic that Microsoft has patented.

But it does work, and charts and diagrams can easily be added to a PowerPoint slide. The data editor even understands importing CSV files and of course native Excel files. Although the PowerPoint Gallery has less stunning designs, they are immediately usable for someone on a tight schedule. If you want to create a presentation fast, without much thought about design details, PowerPoint is an obvious first choice.

Giving presentations with PowerPoint is easy and efficient too, with a number of tools to make presenting slides a no-brainer. There’s a timer, on-screen buttons, and all sorts of aides for the presenter. Also, PowerPoint works with a number of toys that make presenting fun, like the Logitech Cordless 2.4 GHz Presenter.

Fast and reasonably good-looking, that seems to be PowerPoint’s strongest selling point.

Keynote, the looks

Keynote, and certainly Keynote 2, is conceived on a different basis. Keynote doesn’t so much focus on creating something fast, but on creating something pleasing to the eye. Keynote presentations can be fashionable, extremely good looking with lots of eye candy. Keynote 1 lacked a number of necessary features for professional presenters, but version 2 is much more robust in that area as well.

Keynote has a better interface than PowerPoint. The latter overwhelms, even with dimmed palettes. Keynote doesn’t overwhelm, by leaving out a few palettes that you can activate from menus and using keyboard short cuts. Keynote’s Inspector palette is well designed, with all the elements in the right places, making it easy for even an amateur presenter to find his/her way through the features.

Keynote shines in supporting designers. PowerPoint templates can be quite powerful, but reality dictates that all PowerPoint presentations are somewhat uniform by design. If you have ever seen a presentation given by a marketing manager at IBM, Lotus, Microsoft, or Oracle, you know what I’m talking about. The logo goes in the upper left corner, the heading at the top, dead center. Transitions are limited to sliding text from the left or the right, and that’s about it.

PowerPoint does enable these people to be more creative, but the tools are more hidden than with Keynote. Keynote almost forces you to be creative. Keynote templates, like the professional ones created by some companies like Keynote Theme Park and Keynote Pro, are usually gems in terms of originality and looks.

Keynote users’ eyes won’t glaze at terms like “alpha channel” and “gradient mask”, PowerPoint users’ will.

Keynote, what’s new

In version 2, Keynote has become more mature. It’s not just looks anymore, it’s about creating efficient presentations and presenting them in a professional manner.