When announcing the latest version of its productivity suite of applications, iWork '09, Apple also unveiled an iWork.com public beta – a new service the company is developing to share iWork '09 documents online.

With these announcements out, interested parties can download the full iWork '09 suite and try it out for a whole month for free, as well as access the public beta. All you need to do is click the iWork.com icon in Keynote, Pages, or Numbers and, with your Apple ID at hand, start uploading your documents or invite others to give them a glance, and even provide their feedback.

Even better, those checking out your documents can also download a copy in iWork, Microsoft Office, or PDF formats. Apple also provides a consolidated online list of all your shared documents, which indicates when your viewers have posted comments.

As for the rest of the additions, Keynote '09 introduces advanced object transitions, which automatically animate them with a choice of effects and a new feature called Magic Move. Pages '09 shows off a new Full Screen view that helps you focus on your writing, adding a new outline mode with an organizing aim. The new version of Numbers introduces a quick way to group and summarize data, as well as simpler methods to create complex formulas.

iWork '09 system requirements call for Mac OS X versions 10.4.11 (the last version of Tiger) through Mac OS X 10.5.6 (the latest version Leopard) or later, a Macintosh computer with an Intel processor, PowerPC G5, or 500 MHz or faster PowerPC G4, 512MB of RAM (1GB recommended), 32MB of video RAM, QuickTime 7.5.5 or later, a DVD drive and 1.2GB of available disk space. Internet access is also required to use Keynote, Pages, or Numbers online – for the public beta.

NOTE: iWork.com Public Beta is not included with the purchase of iWork '09. Users must set up an account and activate it with Apple. The full version of iWork '09 costs $79 (US).

Download iWork '09 (Update / Free Trial / Buy)