Keynote (presentation software)

Infobox Software
name = Keynote



caption = Keynote '08 (4), part of iWork '08
developer = Apple Inc.
latest_release_version = 4.0.3
latest_release_date = April 3, 2008
operating_system = Mac OS X
genre = Presentation
license = Proprietary
website = [http://www.apple.com/iwork/keynote/ Apple: Keynote]

Keynote is a presentation software application developed as a part of the iWork productivity suite (which also includes Pages and Numbers) by Apple Inc. Released in August 2007, the latest version, Keynote 4, runs on Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger and 10.5 Leopard only.

History

Keynote began as a software program for Apple CEO Steve Jobs to use in creating the presentations for Macworld Conference and Expo and other Apple keynote events. [http://www.macdevcenter.com/lpt/a/3099/ O'Reilly's MacDevCentre Article by Daniel H. Steinberg; Jan 10, 2003] ] The program was first sold publicly as Keynote 1.0 in 2003, competing against existing presentation software, most notably Microsoft PowerPoint. In addition, Keynote includes truly three-dimensional transitions, such as a rotating cube or a simple flip of the slide.

In 2005 Apple began selling Keynote 2.0 in conjunction with Pages, a new word processing and page layout application, in a software package called iWork. At the MacWorld Conference & Expo 2006, Apple released iWork '06 with updated versions of Keynote 3.0 and Pages 2.0. In addition to official HD compatibility, Keynote 3 added new features, including group scaling, 3D charts, multi-column text boxes, auto bullets in any text field, image adjustments, and free form masking tools.

In the fall of 2007, Apple released Keynote 4.0 in iWork 08, along with Pages 3.0 and the new Numbers 1.0 spreadsheet application.

Notable uses

Former Vice-President Al Gore made extensive use of Keynote during his international talks on global warming and the software was featured in the film "An Inconvenient Truth". Gore once remarked at addresses at UCSD and EPFL that his position on Apple's board allowed him to petition for the reintroduction of "bounce" feature taken off in previous versions.

Lawrence Lessig and Aaron Swartz frequently use Keynote for pitching using a technique referred to as "slides as chorus" or the Lessig Method. [http://presentationzen.blogs.com/presentationzen/2005/10/the_lessig_meth.html The Lessig Method] ] The presenter speaks fluently and never refers to the slides or reads from them. Each slide contains either a simple graphic or a very short string of text, sometimes a single word. While speaking, the slides are advanced in sync with what is being said, so there can be several slides displayed per sentence.

Ever since its introduction, Keynote has been used in every MacWorld Conference & Expo as well as every Apple Expo and WWDC.

Features

* Themes that allow the user to keep consistency in colors and fonts throughout the presentation, including charts, graphs and tables.
* OpenGL-powered 3D slide transitions and builds that resemble rolling cubes or flipping pages, or dissolving transitions that fade one slide into the next.
* Dual monitor support: the presenter can show the presentation on a screen and still see the desktop or notes from his or her laptop.
* Exports to PDF, QuickTime, Flash, JPEG, TIFF, PNG, HTML (with JPEG images) and PowerPoint. Keynote also uses .key (presentation files) and .kth (theme files) bundles based on XML. [http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn2002/tn2067.html]
* Supports all QuickTime video formats (including MPEG-2 and DV) in slideshows.
* Version 3 brings export to iDVD with clickability
* Compatibility with Apple Remote

Version history

See also

* Presentation program
* Slideshow
* Microsoft PowerPoint
* Pages
* Numbers (software)
* iWork

References

External links

* [http://apple.com/iwork/keynote/ Official website of Keynote]
* [http://www.keynotethemepark.com/ Source for Keynote Themes]