Walt Mossberg is likely the new reigning king of all who’ve received flame mail from Mac fanatics.

That’s because the gray-bearded technophile from The Wall Street Journal pointed out in a written review on Thursday a few negative points about Apple’s iWork 08 office software. iGads!

The granddaddy of technology reviews said that compared with Microsoft Office, Apple’s office package is “elegant but wimpy.” He said Apple’s iWork software suite will serve you just fine—if you’re a designer. Mr. Mossberg said it meets only the most basic word-processing and spreadsheet needs of numbers jockeys.

“For office-suite users more concerned with function than form, I'd recommend sticking with Office,” he wrote.

Apple shares lost $6.76, or 5.6 percent, to hit $113.14 in midday trading before recovering slightly by market close.

Mr. Mossberg’s reviews can make or break products. His review of the iPhone, for example, was as closely watched as any for signs of whether Apple had hit the mark. In the case of Apple’s iWork, he tested it alongside Microsoft’s Office, both running on Macs.

“iWork simply isn't as powerful or versatile as Microsoft Office, especially when it comes to word processing and spreadsheets,” he wrote.

Apple last Wednesday at its Cupertino, California, headquarters released its updated iWork productivity suite of software, adding a new spreadsheet application dubbed Numbers.

iWork also has a word-processing application known as Pages and a presentation application called Keynote. The software package came out the same day the computer maker launched new aluminum iMacs.