Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!rutgers!sri-unix!ctnews!pyramid!oliveb!sun!plaid!chuq From: chuq%plaid@Sun.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) Newsgroups: comp.text.desktop Subject: Re: what is better (PageMaker,Ventura,Ready-Set-Go) Message-ID: <21515@sun.uucp> Date: Fri, 19-Jun-87 12:21:50 EDT Article-I.D.: sun.21515 Posted: Fri Jun 19 12:21:50 1987 Date-Received: Mon, 22-Jun-87 04:05:53 EDT Sender: news@sun.uucp Distribution: comp Lines: 99 Approved: desktop-request%plaid@sun.com From: todd@uhccux.UUCP (The Perplexed Wiz) Date: 19 Jun 87 09:59:18 GMT References: <20932@sun.uucp> Organization: U. of Hawaii, Manoa (Honolulu) In article <20932@sun.uucp> seismo!oddjob!sphinx!pre1 (Grant Prellwitz) writes: >appears that the two programs vying for the lead in the IBM-compatible >world right now are clearly Ventura Publisher and Pagemaker. I think that Ventura and PageMaker are really aimed at two different audiences. More on this opinion later... > >First, I would like to note that of the two, only Ventura will run >acceptably on any sort of a PC (and apparently fairly quickly on a >turbo PC) and that you should forget running Pagemaker on anything less >than an AT class machine. Agreed. I think that the reason lies in the underlying PC window environment chosen by Ventura and Aldus. Ventura Publisher runs under GEM which is relatively simple, non-multitasking, and relatively fast. Aldus PageMaker runs under Microsoft Windows which is a real porker in the speed department. > >Second, I would like comments on which is better for each of the following >applications: >1) a short 1 page item like an ad mixing text and graphics extensively PageMaker >2) a 3-4 page newsletter, mainly text, but some graphics PageMaker >3) a longer manuscript (100-200 pages) Ventura Publisher >4) does it support Hercules mono graphics and is it sufficient I should check the manuals to make sure. But I think a "sort of" answer is: If the underlying window manager (GEM or Windows) supports Hercules (I think Windows supports the Hercules). >I would like to know how they compare in terms of using a variety of fonts, >printer support, ease of flowing around pictures and entering text, whether Both seem to support a good number of fonts. >changes you make in an included document are reflected in both places, speed >of printing, and general speed. Of course, don't feel limited by these points >:-) assume running on a 10 MHz AT clone. Ventura is real slow in both screen updating and printer speed. PageMaker is relatively fast in printing to a HP LaserJet Plus. Even its screen update is pretty good (especially considering how slow Windows is!). A recent issue of PC World had a very nice side by side comparison of Ventura Publisher and Aldus PC PageMaker. A couple of comments. I found that PageMaker had a much shallower learning curve than Ventura. I was up and doing what I thought was pretty nice looking output very quickly (one afternoon). It was very easy to import text created by WordPerfect and graphics created by a variety of low-end drawing packages and merge the two together. I also ran into the limitations of of PageMaker very soon. Some characteristics to consider are: PageMaker does not handle widows and orphans PageMaker can import files better than Ventura Ventura can export formatted text back to your word processor very nicely; PageMaker cannot export at all It is pretty hard to handle tabs nicely with Ventura. PageMaker handles tabs in imported text very nicely Ventura's tagging feature lets you make global formatting changes in your document very easily. PageMaker does not have any such feature (at least none I can find) I found it much easier and faster to create short (less than 10 pages) documents with PageMaker than Ventura. However, if someone told me I had to produce a camera ready book, I would go with Ventura. Its tagging feature and the ability to export text back to my word processor gives it the edge when working with large documents. -- Todd Ogasawara, U. of Hawaii Center for Teaching Excellence UUCP: {ihnp4,seismo,ucbvax,dcdwest}!sdcsvax!nosc!uhccux!todd ARPA: uhccux!todd@nosc.MIL INTERNET: todd@uhccux.UHCC.HAWAII.EDU ---------------------------------------- Submissions to: desktop%plaid@sun.com -OR- sun!plaid!desktop Administrivia to: desktop-request%plaid@sun.com -OR- sun!plaid!desktop-request Paths: {ihnp4,decwrl,hplabs,seismo,ucbvax}!sun Chuq Von Rospach chuq@sun.COM Delphi: CHUQ Now, where did my ex-wife put my Fairy Dust?