Re: Wordprocessing software


John Freck wrote:
> Here's anouther good topic for this NG: What wordprocessing software do
> you use? which is best?
> To answer my own question:
>
> At home I use an Apple iMac computer, and use the standard
> wordprocessor that came with the computer. Apple Works' wordprocessor
> meets my needs. In the future, I hope to get a new computer loaded up
> with professional software. Also, I am using an old Typing Tutor
> program to improve my typing. >
> John Freck

I have just switched to OpenOffice after using Microsoft Word for
years, and, before that, FullWrite Professional and AmiPro. So far I
have been very pleased with it. It is much more than a word processor:
The package includes a word processor, a spread***, a database, a
math equation editor, a vector-based drawing program and a presentation
module (similar to Powerpoint). For those who make extensive use of
spreadsheets it may have avoided some of Excel's more egregious errors
and problems. It is available for Macintosh, Windows and Unix systems.
So far, it seems to read and write MS Office files quite well thus
allowing me to work in OpenOffice but send files to colleagues in
Microsoft formats.

I am just getting started with it but the price was right, free. The
word processor component appears to be the equal if not the superior of
Word or or AmiPro although I have not used AmiPro in several years. I
am particularly taken with the way OpenOffice uses Styles to give a
great deal of control over a large document.

I can now change page numbering and headers and footers without the
usual 45 minutes of trial and error I would normally go through with
Word. A real bonus, to me is that spell-check dictionaries and language
packs to customize to languages other than English are available. I had
to pay extra for a French dictionary some years ago for FulWrite which
then did not work with a new upgrade. With Open Office French and
English dictionaries, customized for Canadian usage were about 5 clicks
of the mouse away.

If you are interested in updating your software to "professional"
standards have a look at what is available as Open Source software such
as OpenOffice. This generally means free for the downloading and
usually of comparable quality to commercial alternatives. So far I've
replaced Microsoft Office with OpenOffice, Internet Explorer with
Foxfire (a far superior browser ) and downloaded a text editor and a
very sophisticated statistics package. If I could think of a use for it
I would probably download the Scribus, the desktop publishing package.

Some interesting examples of what is available can be seen at
http://ca.geocities.com/jrkrideau/opensourcereview.pdf. For Mac users,
there is a variant of OpenOffice called NeoOffice as well as an
OpenOffice version.

One problem I have encountered is that my bibliographic software does
not work with OpenOffice, although I have found Endnote will work in a
non-Write&Cite fashion. I am having to transfer my references to an
Open Source bibliographic program (Bibus) that currently is not as
flexible as I would like but which does have Write & Cite capability.

John Kane
Kingston ON Canada

.