Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!helios!bcm!dimacs.rutgers.edu!mips!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!ub!triantos From: triantos@acsu.buffalo.edu (Nick B Triantos) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.apps Subject: Summary: Word vs. MacWrite II Comparison Message-ID: Date: 28 Jun 91 22:42:28 GMT Sender: news@acsu.Buffalo.EDU Distribution: comp Organization: The University at Buffalo Lines: 52 Nntp-Posting-Host: lictor.acsu.buffalo.edu Originator: triantos@lictor.acsu.buffalo.edu Hi, all! I promised a summary of a comparison of Word 4.0 to MacWrite II for those of you, like me, who aren't really sure which would be more bang for the buck. Thanks to all the people who send me in responses...I will footnote everything below to those who have credit due. Basically, most people definitely recommended MacWrite II over Word 4.0. The reasons? Well, mainly, Word's interface with the user is just not as constant with the "standard" guidelines (*2)(*3), and therefore, much easier to learn. On the other hand, Word does have an ability for the user to configure the menus to contain any commands that the user may like (*5), and so I imagine one could simplify them down to being more tame for the average user. Word has an ability to include ruler information (tabs, indent, etc.) into the Style sheets (*2)(*3), but its mail merging function stinks, whereas MacWrite II is supposed to be really cool (*4). MacWrite also blows Word out of the water in the Find/Replace department: MWII can find all instances, for example, of the word, "foo" in Helvetica 12 pt. and change it to "bar" in Geneva 24 pt., plus underline it (*??). For those interested in conserving disk space, here are two neat features of MWII: It takes up less space than Word (*3), but it also allows other Claris Apps to utilize its dictionary/hyphenation files, so no repetition is necessary (I think that's really neat, no?) (*3) Word has what appears to be a lot more features (*1)(*2)(*3)(*4), but most of them are features which the normal user will never need, and almost never want. "Fluff" seems to come to mind when I read other people's opinions. I did have someone send me a rather extensive comparison of Nisus to Word, which seemed to show Nisus blew everything away, but at a lot of $$. I also happened to read a review in the (May? June?) '91 issue of MacUser of Taste, and it seems like for normal word processing capabilities, this app is the best, dollar for dollar. Obviously, though, it isn't an industry standard (yet?), and so I'm going to sway away from it for now. Lastly, I'm basing my decision on the fact that all of my dealings with Claris have left me in a state where I just wanna stick an "I love Macintosh" pin on my shirt, while dealings with Micro$oft make me want to reach for my Tylenol. Actually, the *real* last thing is that both MS and Claris offer substantial discounts for students, either through your school (if available), or directly through the company (at least, Claris does). Check into it before buying anything from these companies. Hope this helps everybody! -Nick Triantos -- __ | _____ | University at Buffalo / \ o _ |/ / | \ _ o __ __ -+- __ ___ triantos@acsu.buffalo.edu | ||/ |\ | / \|/ |/ \ | / \(___ \ /|\_ | \ | | |\_/|| | \_\__/ ___) "Bus Error: Passengers Dumped."